Utilities Corridor in Tahoe

Liberty Utilities Partners for Powerline Resilience Corridor Project

Utilities Corridor in Tahoe

Liberty Utilities Partners for Utilities Powerline Resilience Corridor Project


To protect the remarkable Lake Tahoe Basin from wildfire risks, Liberty Utilities’ Powerline Resilience Corridor Project is reducing fuels along powerlines and working alongside the U.S. Forest Service, the National Forest Foundation, and the California Tahoe Conservancy to expand fuels treatments to increase energy safety and promote wildfire resilience in this ecologically and economically important region. Multi-partner collaborations like this project are imperative to Task Force goals to scale up treatments from individual project to landscape scale.

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Lisa Lien-Mager Appointed CNRA Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildfire Resilience

Lisa Lien-Mager Appointed CNRA Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildfire Resilience


On September 5, Lisa Lien-Mager was sworn in as CNRA’s new Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildfire Resilience. This position oversees a wide swath of programs, all intended to promote forest health for wildfire and community resilience. Prior to her appointment, Lien-Mager served as CNRA’s Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications since 2021 and as Deputy Secretary for Communications since 2017. Tony Andersen, formally the Deputy Director for Strategic Communications at CAL FIRE, will succeed Lien-Mager as CNRA’s new Deputy Secretary of Communications.

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New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects

New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects


On August 29, the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force launched the beta version of a first-of-its-kind Interagency Treatment Dashboard beta that displays the size and location of state and federal forest and landscape resilience projects in California.

The dashboard offers a one-stop-shop to access data, provide transparency, and align the efforts of more than a dozen agencies to build resilient landscapes and communities in California. It reports treatment activities such as prescribed fire, targeted grazing, uneven-aged timber harvest, mechanical and hand fuels reduction, and tree planting. Users can sort treatments by region, county, land ownership and more.

The beta version of the dashboard will continue to be refined to include additional data, including projects by local and tribal entities, along with revisions based on public feedback. An official launch is expected in spring 2024 with more complete data on projects implemented in 2022.

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California Launches Online Tool to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects

California Natural Resources Agency Logo
California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force Logo
Logo of the United States Forest Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 29, 2023 

California Launches Online Tool to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects

New beta statewide tracking system brings local, state, and federal wildfire resiliency projects into one place to reflect significant progress.

(Sacramento, CA) – Today, the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force (Task Force) launched the beta version of a first-of-its-kind Interagency Treatment Dashboard that displays the size and location of state and federal forest and landscape resilience projects in California.

The dashboard offers a one-stop-shop to access data, provide transparency, and align the efforts of more than a dozen agencies to build resilient landscapes and communities in California. It reports treatment activities such as prescribed fire, targeted grazing, uneven-aged timber harvest, mechanical and hand fuels reduction, and tree planting. Users can sort treatments by region, county, land ownership and more.

“Thanks to historic funding from our Legislature and Governor Newsom, over 1,000 wildfire resilience projects are in motion across the state to protect communities and our diverse landscapes from catastrophic wildfire,” said California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot, co-chair of the Task Force. “Now we can track our progress like never before through this public Interagency Dashboard. It identifies where projects are happening, what kind of work is happening in a given location, and how much overall resilience work is being done. It’s one more step forward in building a comprehensive, durable approach to increasing our wildfire resilience in years to come.”

“This dashboard delivers a new tool for collaboration among agencies and communities,” said U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien, who co-chairs the Task Force with Secretary Crowfoot. “Having access to treatment information in this format will allow us to coordinate landscape scale activities aimed at restoring and enhancing ecosystem resilience.”

The dashboard compiles data from a broad range of organizations and government departments—many of which have different reporting requirements guiding how they capture information. While individual reporting tools and data will sometimes differ from this statewide snapshot, the dashboard brings these different reporting approaches together as a single and streamlined reporting tool. Key differences are addressed in the dashboard website FAQs .

“It takes everyone to create a more wildfire resilient California and this dashboard reflects the strides being made to get us there,” said CAL FIRE Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler. “This dashboard shows how far we’ve come, the significant efforts underway, and our firm commitment to future work. As our many partners share data and outcomes to a central place, the mission of protecting communities and natural resources will remain the common thread driving our work. This new tool will also provide first responders a snapshot of where treatment has occurred to help inform fire suppression efforts.”

The dashboard is an important step to increase the pace and scale of statewide actions addressing California’s wildfire crisis and is a key deliverable of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan , issued by the Task Force in January 2021.
The beta version of the dashboard will continue to be refined to include additional data, including projects by local and tribal entities, along with revisions based on public feedback. An official launch is expected in spring 2024 with more complete data on projects implemented in 2022
.

 

Contact Information: 

 

Sky Biblin, Communications Coordinator 

Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force 

sky.biblin@resources.ca.gov 

916-502-6527 

 

Albert Lundeen, Director of Media Relations 

California Natural Resources Agency 

albert.lundeen@resources.ca.gov 

916-606-3990 

 

D’Artanyan Ratley, Public Affairs Specialist 

USDA Forest Service 

d’artanyan.ratley@usda.gov 


CAL FIRE conducts advanced live fire training in Williams, California.

Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot

Prescribed Fire

Liability Claims Fund Pilot


The Need

One of the primary obstacles to increasing the use of prescribed and cultural fires in California is the difficulty of obtaining adequate liability coverage. While escape rates are very low, there is always some risk when working with fire. Liability coverage protects qualified practitioners, property owners, and the public from the associated financial risk. However, many practitioners on private or tribal land are unable to obtain affordable private insurance for beneficial fire operations.

The Legislation

In September 2022 Governor Newsom signed into law SB 926, which established a pilot Prescribed Fire Claims Fund. This legislation authorizes claims covering certain losses arising from prescribed fires and cultural burning until January 1, 2028. This claims fund is intended to both encourage increased beneficial fire use and demonstrate that prescribed and cultural burning is low risk, to entice private insurers back into the market.

The Fund

Administered by CAL FIRE, the $20 million allocated for the Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control, providing up to $2 million in coverage for prescribed fire projects led by a qualified burn boss or cultural practitioner. The fund is meant to demonstrate that carefully planned, resourced, and implemented beneficial fire is a low-risk land management tool to mitigate high-severity wildfires and promote healthy and resilient landscapes.

To Enroll

Enrollment in the Fund is done by completing the California Prescribed Fire Claims Fund Online Application. To be eligible to enroll in the Fund, a prescribed fire must be conducted or supervised by a Burn Boss or a Cultural Fire Practitioner for a Cultural Burn.

> APPLICATION

Questions

CAL FIRE offers a detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions, covering everything from enrollment, application approval, claims submissions, coverage limits and much more.

> GUIDELINES/FAQ’s

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Forestry and Fire Protection Report Cover
Read the Guidelines & FAQ

Interview with Lenya Quinnn-Davidson on the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund


Read the Press Release

California Takes a Big Step to Help Insure Private Companies That Fight Fire With Fire

Read the Article in LAist

Pathways to 30x30 California Annual Progress Report Cover

CNRA Publishes Annual Report on 30x30 Initiative

Pathways to 30x30 California Annual Progress Report Cover

CNRA Publishes Annual Report on 30x30 Initiative


30×30 is California’s landmark commitment to conserve 30 percent of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. This important target has launched a collective initiative that leads the world in protecting, restoring and preserving our natural environment. Real, tangible progress is being made toward realizing this goal. On May 18, CNRA released its annual report showing that California added approximately 631,000 acres of conserved land since April 2022, bringing the statewide total to 24.4 percent of lands and 16.2 percent of coastal waters protected. The report details investments of $116 million in 83 different conservation projects, and shows meaningful progress on 79 of the 112 Pathways to 30×30.

View The Report

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30x30 California


Planscape Header (A Planning Tool to Maximize Wildfire Resilience + Ecological Benefits)

Planscape now lives on the Task Force website

Planscape Header (A Planning Tool to Maximize Wildfire Resilience + Ecological Benefits)

Planscape Now Lives on the Task Force Website


A collaborative effort between CA Natural Resources Agency, USFS, UC Berkeley, Spatial Informatics Group and Google.org, Planscape is a decision support tool that empowers regional planners to prioritize resilience treatments across the landscape and inform the funding process. Planscape partners provided a demonstration of the tool at the March 30 Task Force meeting. This version of the tool is available for beta testing, with the region-specific scenarios released this summer through fall.

Go To Planscape

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Person On Snowmobile in the Mountains

California’s Joint Strategy for Sustainable Outdoor Recreation & Wildfire Resilience

Person On Snowmobile in the Mountains

California’s Joint Strategy for Sustainable Outdoor Recreation & Wildfire Resilience


This Joint Strategy, developed by the Task Force Sustainable & Accessible Recreation Key Working Group, provides a roadmap for improved access to sustainable outdoor recreation, with a focus on areas where wildfires are impacting those opportunities throughout California.

Read the Joint Strategy Report

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Regional Resource Kits Header

Regional Resource Kits and Profiles Are Now Available

Regional Resource Kits Header

Regional Resource Kits and Profiles Are Now Available


The Task Force’s Science Advisory Panel has completed Regional Resource Kits and Regional Profiles for both the Sierra Nevada and Southern California regions. These invaluable tools are now available here on the Task Force website.

Regional Resource Kits offer critical tools and data to guide regional partners and collaboratives in their efforts to reduce wildfire hazard and improve the conditions of forested and shrub landscapes.

Likewise, Regional Profiles bring together the best available scientific information and a wide range of input from stakeholders throughout the region.

The Science Team will now focus on collecting data and tools for the Central Coast in preparation for the May 2023 Task Force meeting.

Regional Resource Kits

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Regional Resource Kits

Regional Resource Kits

The 2021 Caldor Fire (One Year Later) Header

The 2021 Caldor Fire: One Year Later Video Series

The 2021 Caldor Fire (One Year Later) Header

The 2021 Caldor Fire: One Year Later Video Series


October 21, 2022, marks exactly one year since the Caldor Fire was completely contained.

Over the last year and with months of research and collaboration, the Eldorado National Forest released a four-part series examining the Caldor Fire. This series reviews the suppression efforts that took place, the fire behavior challenging firefighters, the road to rehabilitation and restoration, and what is being done now to lower the future risk of fire to communities.

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Episode 1: Initial response and experiences of firefighters who not only worked but also lived in the area

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Episode 2: How fire behavior and fuel conditions made for a challenging fire fight

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Episode 3: What restoration and rehabilitation work has occurred and its importance

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Episode 4: What is being done to reduce extreme wildfire behavior

WATCH