Deadline: 19-May-21
CAL FIRE through its Forest Health Grants is inviting local partners to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in forests throughout California.
They seek to significantly increase fuels management, fire reintroduction, treatment of degraded areas, and conservation of forests.
CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program funds active restoration and reforestation activities aimed at providing for more resilient and sustained forests to ensure future existence of forests in California while also mitigating climate change, protecting communities from fire risk, strengthening rural economies and improving California’s water & air.
Forest Health projects must focus on large, landscape-scale forest lands composed of one or more landowners, which may cover multiple jurisdictions.
Large landscapes will usually include watersheds, fire sheds, or larger logical management units. The total project area should aim to be no less than 800 acres in size; landscape units do not have to be contiguous.
Forest Health projects must further the regulatory goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and applicants will be required to include a quantitative estimate of the net GHG benefit in terms of metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per the Forest Health Quantification Methodology (QM) and Calculator Tool.
Objectives
CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program awards funding to landscape-scale land management projects that achieve the following objectives:
- Restore forest health and disaster resilience to California’s forests.
- Protect upper watersheds where California’s water supply originates.
- Promote long-term storage of carbon in forest trees and soils.
- Minimize the loss of forest carbon from unnaturally large high severity wildfires.
- Further the goals of the California Forest Carbon Plan, California’s Natural and Working Lands Implementation Plan and AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan
Funding Information
- Eligible Forest Health projects must be large capacity, landscape-scale, with multiple benefits. The minimum grant amount requested for management activity projects should be no less than $750,000, with a maximum allowable request of $5 million.
- Projects awarded with funding from the 2020/2021 fiscal year must be able to complete grant-related work by March 31, 2025.
Note: Preference will be given to projects that have environmental compliance (CEQA, NEPA, etc.) completed before the project application is submitted. Applicants must agree to complete all needed environmental compliance work within one year of award and must demonstrate progress toward completing the work within six months of award.
Project Activities
Project activities funded by CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Grant Program may include:
- Forest fuels reduction
- Prescribed fire
- Pest management
- Reforestation
- Biomass utilization
- Conservation easements and/or land acquisition through the Forest Legacy Program
- Research through the Forest Research Program
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants include:
- Local, state, and federal agencies including federal land management agencies;
- Universities;
- Special districts;
- Native American tribes;
- Private forest landowners; and
- Non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations (e.g., fire safe councils, land trusts.)
For more information, visit https://www.fire.ca.gov/grants/forest-health-grants/