U.S. Forest Service Thinning Projects Protect Southern California Communities
U.S. Forest Service Thinning Projects Protect Southern California Communities
November 13, 2024 – Two of this year’s larger fires in Southern California, the Line Fire and the Bridge Fire, demonstrated how fuels treatments protect communities and natural landscapes. The Line Fire was fueled by high winds and steep terrain and quickly spread toward the community of Angelus Oaks. Luckily for firefighters defending Angelus Oaks, previous wildfire mitigation work in San Bernardino National Forest, including prescribed fire and mechanical thinning, enabled firefighters to suppress the wildfire before it was able to burn through Angelus Oaks.
A few days later, the Bridge Fire was heading toward the community of Wrightwood but first hit Forest Service fuel breaks, where trees had been thinned out five years prior. When the fire reached the fuel breaks, fire behavior altered, slowed, and allowed firefighters to contain the blazes before the fire could reach the 5,000 residents of Wrightwood. These success stories on the importance of preventive treatments build on effectiveness reporting by CAL FIRE and other Task Force partners that are doing the proactive work to protect landscapes and communities before wildfire strikes.
U.S. Forest Service Completes Record Setting Year for Prescribed Fire
U.S. Forest Service Completes Record Setting Year for Prescribed Fire
November 20, 2024 — The U.S. Forest Service successfully treated over 325,000 acres for forest health on national forests in California during the 2024 fiscal year. This includes over 72,000 acres of prescribed burning alone. The previous U.S. Forest Service record for prescribed fire was set in 2018 when 63,711 acres were treated. This marks significant progress toward the USFS target of deploying 150,000 acres of beneficial fire in California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire.
California Passes Proposition 4 — Providing $1.5 Billion for Wildfire Resilience
California Passes Proposition 4 — Providing $1.5 Billion for Wildfire Resilience
November 5, 2024 – Californians passed Proposition 4, the first-ever climate bond to go before California voters. The proposition provides $10 billion in bond funds for critical wildfire, flood protection, and other climate resilience projects around the state, including $1.5 billion for wildfire resilience. This funding will enable agencies to improve landscape health and resilience and protect communities from wildfire risks through programs such as the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program. The funding also includes $50 million for long-term capital infrastructure projects that utilize wildfire mitigation waste for non-combustible uses.
In addition to funding wildfire resilience, $1.2 billion will be used to protect natural lands and preserve biodiversity, with $870 million directed to the Wildlife Conservation Board to help the state to meet its goal to protect 30% of lands by 2030. The approval of Proposition 4 is a major advancement for California’s efforts to increase the pace and scale of wildfire and landscape resilience treatments, adapt to a changing climate, and reach goals set in the California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
CA State Parks and Partners Treat Over 900 Acres with Beneficial Fire
photo by: Richard Rappaport
CA State Parks and Partners Treat Over 900 Acres with Beneficial Fire
From October 29 to November 1, California State Parks with the assistance of CAL FIRE and the USFS treated 914 acres in the South Grove Natural Preserve at Calaveras Big Trees State Park with prescribed fire.
State Parks, CAL FIRE, USFS and contractors spent years organizing interagency collaboration and preparing the perimeter along with the giant sequoia trees for beneficial fire. Preparation included using mechanical treatments appropriate for State Parks Natural Preserves to remove large fuels from the surrounding fire road and using hand tools to remove large material from the base of over 700 mature giant sequoias.
The entire South Grove Natural Preserve is over 1,300 acres. Critical to giant sequoia stewardship and regeneration, State Parks will continue to be prepared to treat the remaining acres and bring fire back to the entire landscape in regular intervals. This project restores and maintains a complex forest community, promotes giant sequoia regeneration and wildfire resilience, reduces hazardous fuel loads, improves wildlife habitat, and protects park infrastructure.
SNC Awards Cultural Burning Grant to Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Nonprofit
SNC Awards Cultural Burning Capacity Grant to Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Nonprofit
August, 2024 – The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) has awarded $250,000 for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe to reduce hazardous fuels through cultural-burning practices and demonstration of traditional ecological knowledge forest management practices on highly visible lands in the wildland urban interface of Nevada City, CA. The funding will support partnership development, training, planning, permitting, and implementation of a cultural burn, along with replanting culturally and ecologically important plants in the restored landscape.
CAL FIRE Funds 94 Wildfire Projects
CAL FIRE Funds 94 Wildfire Projects to Build Climate and Community Resilience
August 20, 2024 – CAL FIRE announced grants with $90.8 million in funding for 94 local wildfire prevention projects across California. Wildfire Prevention Grant projects include hazardous fuels reduction and wildfire prevention planning and education, with an emphasis on improving public health and safety while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Over two-thirds of the projects will go to communities that are low-income and disadvantaged. These grants bring CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Prevention Grants Program total funding to $450 million that have supported over 450 projects across the state which have collectively accelerated progress toward the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
New Website Offers a Deep Dive into Intentional Fire
New Website Offers a Deep Dive into Intentional Fire
July 25, 2024 – Intentionalfire.org, a new educational website from the Climate & Wildfire Institute, offers an immersive, interactive view into the use of intentional fire, including prescribed fire and cultural fire. The website provides concise and easy to understand information about the benefits and importance of intentional fire. It also features engaging audio and video clips, project case studies, and actionable steps for people to help advance intentional fire in their communities. Increased use of intentional fire is a critical component of California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire.
California National Forests Complete Record Number of Prescribed Fire Acres
California National Forests Complete Record Number of Prescribed Fire Acres
As of June 24, 2024 the USFS has treated 63,878 acres with prescribed fire on national forests in California. The previous record was set in 2018 when 63,711 acres were treated. USFS fire managers are using prescribed fire to reduce hazardous fuels and reduce threats to communities from extreme fires. Reintroducing fire also minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease, recycles nutrients back to the soil, and improves natural conditions for native flora and fauna.