Emergency Forest Restoration Team Accelerates Caldor Fire Recovery
Caldor Fire Recovery Demonstrates Success Using EFRTs
October 17, 2024 – While non-industrial private forests make up roughly a quarter of California’s forested land, they often don’t have any pre-established funding or plans for immediate restoration after a wildfire. To address this critical gap, the Task Force Action Plan (Action Item 1.14) calls for the establishment of Emergency Forest Restoration Teams (EFRTs) to help small private forestland owners recover their lands. In 2021, three pilot EFRTs were developed in response to the Dixie, Tamarack and Caldor fires. By the end of 2023, the three programs had removed dead trees from 2,500 acres and planted new trees on 1,400 acres. On October 11, a field tour showcased how the Caldor EFRT has enabled the area to restore its natural landscapes, open recreational access and recover economically. These pilot EFRTs are proving successful and there are now 15 EFRT programs established across the state.
California Protects 11,000 Acres of the Upper Trinity River Watershed
California Protects 11,000 Acres of the Upper Trinity River Watershed
August 5, 2024 – Pacific Forest Trust has purchased 11,000 acres of the Upper Trinity River watershed from a timber company and transferred it to the Watershed Research and Training Center as a conservation easement. This marks a major step in the state’s efforts to safeguard vital water resources, protect biodiversity, and conserve ecologically important landscapes.
The purchase was funded by state and federal agencies, including support from the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The easement aligns with Task Force goals by assuring the property will be managed to mitigate extreme wildfire risk. It also demonstrates the critical intersection between efforts to promote wildfire resilience with enhancements of watersheds, wildlife habitats, as well as recreation and economic opportunities.
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.
California IBank Invests $25M in Wildfire Innovation Fund
California IBank Invests $25M in Wildfire Innovation Fund
September 3, 2024 – California’s Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) announced $25 million from the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund will be invested in the California Wildfire Innovation Fund to reduce wildfire risk. Funds will be used to restore California forests, improve forest health, and put new biomass technologies to work.
The California Wildfire Innovation Fund is managed by Blue Forest, a conservation finance non-profit that supports entrepreneurs and companies working toward forest restoration and economic revitalization.
The fund offers flexible, low-cost financial support for emerging opportunities across California’s forest restoration and wood utilization sectors.
U.S. Forest Service Announces Funding to Reduce Wildfire Risk
U.S. Forest Service Announces Funding to Local Businesses and Underserved Populations to Reduce Wildfire Risk
$25M Funding Opportunity to Reduce Wildfire Risk
August 6, 2024 – The U.S. Forest Service announced a funding opportunity through the Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program to reduce wildfire risk, increase market opportunities, and support local jobs.
The program is available to local businesses that remove hazardous fuels from national forests and transport the material to be processed for wood products or services. Transporting the materials out of the national forest prevents them from being burned in the forests or left in place where they are subject to insects and diseases that increase the risk for wildfire.
The funding focuses on the removal of hazardous fuels with little commercial value, creating economic opportunities while improving overall forest health and resilience.
$15M to Help Underserved and Small-Acreage Landowners Access Climate Markets
August 28, 2024 – The U.S. Forest Service announced it is investing $15 million to connect underserved and small-acreage forest landowners with emerging climate markets. These investments will expand access to markets that were previously out-of-reach for underserved and small-acreage landowners to access new economic opportunities to maintain healthy working forests as pressures increase to convert forests to other uses. In California, nearly $2 million will go to the Shelterwood Collective, a 900-acre Indigenous, Black, Disabled, and Queer-led community forest and collective of land protectors and cultural changemakers.
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.
UC Berkeley Launches Tool to Select Plant Seeds in a Changing Climate
UC Berkeley Launches Tool to Select Plant Seeds in a Changing Climate
July 14, 2024 – UC Berkeley released a new spatial tool to help land managers in California select plant seeds for resilience to climate change. With the new online tool, called Seeds of Change, users can search by plant species, specify species parameters and climate change scenarios.
Users can search by plant species, specify species parameters and climate change scenarios, and click on the map to identify places to collect seeds to plant or places to plant with seeds from that site. Users can export a geographic information system (GIS) file of the results.
Climate resilient planting is an important strategy to create and maintain healthy landscapes that are less susceptible to catastrophic wildfire and adapted to a rapidly changing climate.
CNRA Webinar on the State of Wildfire in California
CNRA Webinar on the State of Wildfire in California
August 8, 2024 – California Natural Resources (CNRA) Secretary Wade Crowfoot hosted a webinar on the state of wildfire in California as part of the Secretary Speaker Series.
Secretary Crowfoot was joined by representatives from the Task Force, CAL FIRE, U.S. Forest Service, the Karuk Tribe, and others for a conversation on current efforts to protect California from dangerous wildfires and restore the health of our landscapes.
New Web Resources Help Californians Find Relief from Smoke and Prepare for Wildfires
New Web Resources Help Californians Find Relief from Smoke and Prepare for Wildfires
June 24, 2024 – Clean Air Centers Maps Shows Where to Find Relief from Wildfire Smoke: The California Air Resources Board announced the launch of an interactive, statewide map that offers a one-stop-shop for information about the location and services available at Clean Air Centers. Clean Air Centers will offer Californians who don’t have access to adequate air filtration a safe place to go during periods of heavy smoke. Built in collaboration with local air quality control districts, the online map makes it possible to see where Clean Air Centers are located and provides easy-to-access information, including operating hours, contact information and on-site resources like free Wi-Fi.
CAL FIRE Updates Wildfire Preparedness Website: In preparation for the fire year, CAL FIRE has updated the ReadyForWildfire.org site. This one-stop-shop provides advice and guidance on everything from home hardening and defensible space, to what to pack for evacuation, to what California is doing to enhance and protect forest health.