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.
Task Force Advisory Panel Seeks Input on Northern California Regional Profile
Task Force Advisory Panel Seeks Input on Northern California Regional Profile
In advance of the October 5 Regional Meeting, the Science Advisory Panel is developing the Northern California Regional Profile, a publicly available resource that will summarize the socio-ecological context of the region’s resilience to wildfire. The Panel is requesting those who live, work, or own property in Northern California to participate in a survey to understand regional perspectives on improving ecosystem health and community resilience to wildfire. The survey is open until Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects:
State Coastal Conservancy $78 Million for Climate Resilience, Public Access, Habitat Restoration and Wildfire Resilience: On June 1, the State Coastal Conservancy approved nearly $78 million for 34 projects to protect and restore coastal lands, increase coastal resilience to climate change, improve public access to the coast, and reduce the impact of wildfire on coastal lands.
SNC Approves $22.5 Million to Build Resilience, Boost Recreation, and Conserve Land: On June 1, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) approved roughly $22.5 million for 24 different projects that will benefit wildfire recovery and forest resilience, expand recreation opportunities, and conserve strategic land throughout California’s Sierra-Cascade region.
State and Federal Agencies Make Significant Investments in Urban Greening
State and Federal Agencies Make Significant Investments in Urban Greening
USFS Grants Will Increase Equitable Access to Urban Tree Canopy: The U.S. Forest Service is requesting proposals from entities that are working to provide equitable access to trees and green spaces and the benefits they provide. The funding, made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, is part of a $1.5 billion investment in the USFS’ Urban and Community Forestry Program. Of the total funding, the USFS is allocating nearly $47 million directly to the Pacific Southwest Region — $43.2 million to California. The application period ends June 1.
CNRA Invests Over $47 Million in Urban Greening: On April 6, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) awarded 23 grants totaling $47.5 million through the Urban Greening Grant Program. The selected projects will create more sustainable communities by using natural and green infrastructure approaches, such as replacing schoolyard asphalt with native trees, plants, pollinator gardens and nature-based outdoor play areas, restoring wetlands or riparian corridors, or constructing new commuter paths to reduce vehicles miles traveled.
CAL FIRE Forest Health Awards
CAL FIRE Awards $142 Million For Critical Wildfire Resilience Projects Statewide
CAL FIRE recently announce that $142.6 million has been awarded for statewide investments in projects intended to enhance carbon storage while restoring the health and resilience of existing and recently burned forests throughout California.
CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program awarded 27 grants to local and regional partners implementing projects on state, local, tribal, federal, and private lands spanning over 75,000 acres and 24 counties. Fuels reduction and prescribed fire treatments funded under these grants are aimed at reducing excess vegetation and returning forest and oak woodlands to more fire, drought, and pest-resilient conditions.
“These investments demonstrate CAL FIRE’s ability to deliver on the Governor’s Action Plan and are vital to protect the health of our forests and the safety of our communities.”
– Patrick Wright, Director, California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force
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
USFS Invests Nearly $200M to Reduce Wildfire Risk to Communities
USFS Invests Nearly $200M to Reduce Wildfire Risk to Communities
USFS Invests Nearly $200M from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Reduce Wildfire Risk to Communities across State, Private and Tribal Lands: On March 20, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $197M in funding for 100 projects across 22 states and seven tribes as part of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program. Grants to California counties, cities and tribes totaled over $97M across 22 projects including: $10M in Tuolumne County; nearly $10M in Siskiyou County; $9.9M in Lake County; $7.2 M to the City of Ukiah and Mendocino County; $6.8 in Plumas County; and $6.4M in Butte County. Originally announced in 2022, the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program makes $1 billion available over five years to assist communities impacted by severe disaster, those with high or very high wildfire hazard potential or classified as low income.
RESOURCES
Forest Stewardship and Post-fire Forest Resilience Projects 2022 Annual Report
Forest Stewardship and Post-fire Forest Resilience Projects 2022 Annual Report
Launched in 2019 in response to a recommendation by Governor Brown’s Forest Management Task Force the UC ANR Forest Stewardship Education Initiative established the Forest Stewardship and Post-Fire Resilience Programs. These programs involve forest landowners in managing and protecting their forests through the development of a forest management plan. Since 2020, 368 people have completed one of the 19 workshop series offered across the state. The 2022 Annual Report summarizes the impact of the programs.
Regional Resource Kits and Profiles Are Now Available
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.