State and Federal Investments Conserve Forestlands in Perpetuity

October 29, 2024 – CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service have announced grant awards to protect forestlands threatened with conversion to non-forest uses. Together, these investments improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk throughout the state.

CAL FIRE awarded $8.5 million through California Forest Legacy to four projects that ensure long-term land stewardship on properties that will continue to provide, in perpetuity, such benefits as sustainable timber production, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, carbon sequestration, watershed protection, and open space. One funded project will enable the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe to acquire the Owl Creek property in Placer County; while Placer Land Trust will hold a conservation easement to ensure protection of the property, the Tribe will manage the land using Indigenous management practices.

The USFS awarded more than $265 million to 21 projects nationwide through the federal Forest Legacy program to conserve nearly 335,000 acres of private forestlands. In California, a $1.5 million grant will conserve 94 acres of unique montane mixed-conifer forest in the recreation destination of Lake Arrowhead, east of Los Angeles. The property provides habitat for 7 federal and 4 state species of concern.