USFS Invests $179M to Confront Wildfire Crisis
USDA Forest Service Invests Nearly $179 Million for Priority Landscapes in California to Confront Wildfire Crisis
On February 20, the USDA Forest Service announced it will invest nearly $179 million into priority landscapes across California as part of a $500 million national investment to expand work on the Wildfire Crisis Strategy to reduce risk to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources from the nation’s ongoing wildfire and climate crisis. This builds on the $2.8 billion already invested by Governor Newsom and California’s Legislature to take proactive actions to reduce catastrophic wildfire risks, protect communities, and restore the health of our landscapes.
“These and other federal investments are vital to match the Governor’s $2.8 billion investment over the last several years. They will also strengthen our partnership with the Forest Service, California’s largest landowner, in taking an ‘all-lands’ approach to improve the health of our forests and the safety of our communities,” said California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force Director, Patrick Wright.
Funding has been designated for the following projects:
| Regional Landscapes | FY24 Allocation |
| Stanislaus | $57,663,352 |
| North Yuba | $16,489,560 |
| Sierra and Elko Fronts (includes CA & NV) | $27,692,340 |
| Klamath River Basin (includes CA & OR) | $36,831,090 |
| Plumas Community Protection | $3,522,500 |
| Southern California | $1,915,000 |
| Trinity | $34,749,886 |
| Total Allocation FY24: | $178,863,728 |
An additional $100 million will be allocated across 24 qualifying states under a new Forest Service program — the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program which will expand work in high-risk wildfire areas outside the 21 priority landscapes. The Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program will use hazardous fuels funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to treat areas in other high-risk wildfire areas where national forests and grasslands meet homes and communities.
2023 Year in Review
Thank you for being interested and involved in wildfire and landscape resilience efforts in California. Here’s a brief review of 2023 and a preview of what's ahead in 2024. The Task Force Team wishes you and your families a safe, happy and healthy 2024.
2023 highlights
Regional Resource Kits Finalized
Regional Profiles and Regional Resource Kits are now available for all four regions of California. The kits bring together the scientific data needed to help regional entities plan, prioritize and monitor projects.
Treatment Dashboard Launched
The Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Interagency Treatment Dashboard is a highly interactive online tool that displays the location and size of wildfire and landscape resilience treatments throughout the state, helping to guide practitioners on where to plan new projects.
Planscape Beta Available
With a full launch expected in 2024, Planscape can be accessed now to test the early functionality and share feedback. This unique wildfire resilience decision support tool helps regional planners prioritize landscape treatments to mitigate fire risk, maximize ecological benefits, and help landscapes adapt to climate change.
Joint Strategies Completed for Beneficial Fire and Sustainable Outdoor Recreation
Task Force Work Groups completed and launched their Joint Strategies as required in California’s Wildfire & Forest Resilience Action Plan. Click below to see them, and look forward to Reforestation Pipeline, Resilient State Lands and Private Landowner strategies to be published in early 2024.
Regional Meetings in Southern, Central and Northern California
There’s no better way to align resources than bringing people together to focus on regionally specific issues. Three regional meetings were held in 2023, and three more in Sacramento. Hundreds of people came away from the meetings having learned new information, and having made new connections, and inspired to make positive change.
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Promote the Task Force in Your Communications
The Task Force is an important source of vital information on the combined efforts of those involved in landscape resilience and wildfire prevention in California. Please follow and share Task Force communications when you can.
Join us at our Upcoming Meetings
April 4-5: Southern CA Region
June 20: Sacramento
September 26-27: Sierra Region
December 13: Sacramento
RESOURCES
ABOUT THE TASK FORCE
The California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force was created by the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom to directly confront the near perfect storm of climatic and human-caused conditions that have brought the threat of devastating wildfire and its far-reaching effects to the doorstep of nearly everyone in our state, and beyond.
The Task Force is a collaborative effort to align the activities of federal, state, local, public, private, and tribal organizations to support programs and projects tailored to the priorities and risks of each region and bring the best available science to forest management and community protection efforts.
The critical work of the Task Force effects all Californians, and Task Force meetings offer an ideal opportunity for members of the press to hear directly from those involved in the comprehensive, coordinated efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and create safe communities while ensuring healthier, more sustainable natural environments.
CAL FIRE Funding Grants Available for 2024
CAL FIRE Funding Grants Available
- Wildfire Prevention: CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Prevention Grant Program will award up to $117 million to local projects that address the risk of wildfire and reduce wildfire potential to communities. Applications are due January 10, 2024.
- Forest Health: CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program will fund up to $120 million forest fuels reduction, prescribed fire, pest management and reforestation projects and $50 million post-fire reforestation and regeneration projects. View the virtual workshop. Applications are due January 15, 2024.
- Forest Health Research: CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Research Grant Program will award $4.5 million for scientific research projects that address wildfire and forest health issues critical to the State of California. Concept proposals are due January 24, 2024.
- Business and Workforce Development: CAL FIRE Wood Products and Bioenergy expects to open a solicitation for a new round of funding on January 15, 2024.
Explore the Treatment Dashboard - Take The Survey
Recap: Treatment Dashboard Virtual Workshop
On Tuesday, November 14 the Task Force hosted a Virtual Public Workshop on the CA Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Interagency Treatment Dashboard. The goal of the workshop was to gather input from those using the Treatment Tracking System and Dashboard to improve how data is accessed and displayed, and to ensure we are providing transparency and effective planning information on statewide wildfire resilience treatments.
If you missed the workshop, or want to look back at what was covered, click on the buttons above to watch a video of the presentation from Alan Talhelm, Assistant Deputy Director for Climate and Energy at CAL FIRE, and a key architect of the Dashboard. You can also view and download Alan’s presentation and take a moment to answer a quick survey for gathering additional input on how the Dashboard can be most effective.
Wildfire & Forest Resilience Treatment Tracking and Mapping
Wildfire & Forest Resilience Treatment Tracking and Mapping
At the March 30 Task Force meeting, the Task Force’s Monitoring, Reporting and Assessment Work Group gave an update on their efforts to build an interagency treatment tracker. The group is assembling federal, state, local, private data on planned, active, and completed projects statewide, including those on forests, grasslands, shrublands, and covering approximately 60 different activities (type of work completed). The goals include tracking progress toward state/federal acreage targets; facilitating regional planning and monitoring; and assessing benefits/costs beyond “acres treated.” The Task Force anticipates having a publicly available treatment tracking map and dashboard by summer 2023.
RESOURCES
Planscape now lives on the Task Force website
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.
RESOURCES
California's Year in Fire
California's Year in Fire
One of the highlights from the March 30 Task Force meeting was a preview of the Annual Wildfire Data Explorer which depicts California’s Year in Fire. A project of the Climate and Wildfire Institute, UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, California’s Year in Fire is a framework that works to more comprehensively account for annual wildfire impacts on social and ecological systems. This project will help decision makers better understand how wildfire impacts are trending and identify areas where we need additional investment. Next step in this project is to finalize the documentation for public review, with the results eventually housed on a public-facing website, updated annually. Sign up for updates.
CAL FIRE Updates Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map
CAL FIRE Updates Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map
Will Host 57 Public Hearings For Comment Throughout California
After years of planning and collaboration with fire scientists, firefighters, stakeholders and local community partners, the new map reflects changes in fire hazard in unincorporated, rural areas, as experienced in California over the past five years.
CAL FIRE’s fire scientists and wildfire mitigation experts developed the map using a science-based and field-tested model that assigns a hazard score based on the factors that influence fire likelihood and fire behavior. Many factors are considered, such as fire history, existing and potential fuel (natural vegetation), predicted flame length, blowing embers, terrain, and typical fire weather for an area. These zones fall into the following classifications – moderate, high, and very high.
Overall the map shows increased fire hazard, reflecting California’s increase in wildfire occurrence and severity because of many factors, including a changing climate.
CAL FIRE is inviting public comment on the map until February 3, 2023.
Governor Reflects on a Year of Progress and Resilience
Governor Reflects on a Year of Progress and Resilience
In November, Governor Newsom and state and local officials announced an end to peak wildfire season in California. CAL FIRE Director, Joe Tyler, highlighted favorable weather conditions, strategic investments in firefighting equipment, aerial resources, and fuels reduction and forest management projects, coupled with the hard work of firefighters and the diligence of of local communities resulted in an 85% reduction in acres burned and a 78% reduction in structures destroyed from 2021.
Synthesis Report: Wildfire Crisis Strategy Roundtable
Synthesis Report: Wildfire Crisis Strategy Roundtable
In spring of 2022, the National Forest Foundation (NFF), together with the USFS, hosted a series of virtual ten roundtables for employees and partners of the agency to gather input on the USFS’s Confronting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and associated Implementation Plan. NFF has published a report synthesizing key themes and opportunities for action that emerged from the roundtables.
The NFF will host a webinar on Monday, November 14, 2-3:30 p.m. EST, to share more information about the report, discuss next steps, and provide an opportunity for Q&A with Forest Service leadership.
RESOURCES
National Forest Foundation Roundtables