California Awards $19.5 Million for Multi-benefit Wildfire Resilience Projects Across the State

California Awards $19.5 Million for Multi-benefit Wildfire Resilience Projects Across the State
California state boards and conservancies are continuing to distribute funding in all reaches of the state to protect communities and promote wildfire and landscape resilience.
June 5, 2026 – Sierra Nevada Conservancy Awards $4.5 Million in Wildfire Resilience and Recreation Grants: The Sierra Nevada Conservancy approved nearly $1.5 million to new early action wildfire-resilience projects and just over $3 million projects to help boost recreation and tourism in the Sierra-Cascade.
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- In Nevada County, the city of Grass Valley was awarded $720,000 to treat approximately 240 acres of forested land in Wolf Creek, Boston Ravine, and other locations in the southernmost portion of the town.
- The Mariposa County Fire Safe Council was awarded $756,179 to reduce fuels on 192 acres in the southwest region of Mariposa County near the communities of Ahwahnee, Nipinnawasee, and Ponderosa Basin.
- $3,153,998 in funding from the Sustainable Recreation, Tourism, and Equitable Outdoor Access Directed Grant Program will help with planning and implementing of work to improve and restore trails and facilities in Butte, Kern, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Tehama, and Trinity counties.
June 2, 2026 – Rivers and Mountains Conservancy Awards $7 Million to Wildfire Resilience Projects in the LA Area: The San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) Governing Board awarded over $12 million across four projects. These projects will increase wildfire resilience in some of the highest need areas within the RMC’s territory ahead of wildfire season, provide safe-healthy passage, and increase biodiversity across South Bay Cities. The projects include:
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- $3,520,000 to the National Forest Foundation for San Gabriel Mountains Wildfire Resilience Project which will implement hazardous fuel reduction on priority sites across the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
- $1,600,000 to the South Bay Council of Governments for the South Bay Biodiversity Plan and Demonstration project which will deliver actionable biodiversity recommendations for local governments and educate residents, while advancing co-benefits such as water conservation, stormwater capture, heat mitigation, and habitat restoration.
- $2,238,000 to the Catalina Island Conservancy for Pre-Fire Intervention and Nature-Based Solutions Project to reduce wildfire risk and create buffer zones on Catalina Island.
May 28, 2026 – CA Wildlife Conservation Board Approves $8 Million for a Multi-Benefit Project in Alpine County: The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) awarded an $8 million grant to Western Rivers Conservancy and Alpine County to acquire 1,688 acres near Markleeville to increase wildfire resilience, protect wet meadows, springs, riparian habitat, mixed conifer forest and sage-steppe in the Eastern Sierra. Alpine County will manage the property for conservation, including continued grazing to help reduce fuel loads and support wildfire resilience, and year-round public access, including hiking, fishing, hunting and winter recreation.
CAL FIRE and SNC Announce Availability of Forest Health Research and Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Funding

CAL FIRE and SNC Announce Availability of Forest Health Research and Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Funding
June 5, 2026 – Sierra Nevada Conservancy Starts New Landscape and Wildfire Resilience Grant Programs: The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) Board approved new guidelines for its Wildfire and Forest Resilience program and guidelines for a new Landscape Grant Program that will increase the pace and scale of forest health and community protection.
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- The 2026 Wildfire and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program focuses on funding high-impact forest health planning or implementation projects that deliver strong, direct benefits to communities, critical infrastructure, or unique natural resources.
- The new Landscape Grant Program is part of SNC’s Landscape Investment Strategy and funds projects and activities that are designed to address ecological and community priorities, such as forest health, wildfire resilience, and watershed protection across a large landscape. Unlike many SNC grant programs, the Landscape Grant Program, also funded through the Climate Bond, does not have an open application process. Instead, SNC will identify potential Investment Ready Landscapes and collaboratives through an internal evaluation process based on regional expertise and longstanding engagement with partners and will invite selected collaboratives to participate in the program in fall 2026.
June 11, 2026 – CAL FIRE Announces Availability of $7.5 Million for Forest Health Research Grant Funding: CAL FIRE announced the availability of $4.5 million in California Climate Investments (CCI) funding and $3 million in Proposition 4 California Climate Bond (Prop 4) funding through the Forest Health Research Grants Program. These grants are intended to support research that delivers direct benefits to landowners, resource agencies, fire management organizations, and decision-makers across the state. Proposals are due 3:00 PM PST on July 30, 2026.
Governor Signs Legislation Investing $170M for Wildfire Prevention

Governor Newsom Signs Legislation Investing $170 Million for California Conservancies to Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires
April 14, 2025 – Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 100, which allocates over $170 million in accelerated funding to conservancies for forest and vegetation management across California. The bill also allocates $10 million to the Karuk Tribe to construct a first-of-its-kind Regional Fire Resiliency Center in northeastern Humboldt County. Funding to State conservancies includes:
• $30,904,000 to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy
• $23,524,000 to the California Tahoe Conservancy
• $31,349,000 to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
• $30,904,000 to the State Coastal Conservancy
• $30,904,000 to the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy
• $23,524,000 to the San Diego River Conservancy
In addition, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to ensure that the wildfire safety projects funded under AB 100 benefit from streamlining under a previous emergency proclamation issued in March.
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.
SNC Celebrates 20 Years of Impact and Awards $27.5 Million to Forest Resilience & Community Protection Projects

SNC Celebrates 20 Years of Impact and Awards $27.5 Million to Forest Resilience & Community Protection Project
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) released a report of accomplishments made with its partners over the past 20 years. SNC is keeping up the good work with the announcement of $27.5 million to 16 different projects that help with the planning and implementation of forest-health efforts that promote recovery and resilience throughout the Sierra-Cascade. Of the 16 projects awarded, eight went to the implementation of shovel-ready projects in Amador, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tulare counties.
