NFWF Announces 9 Large Watershed Planning Grants Totaling $53 Million for California National Forests
June 24 2024 - 4:00PM
Today the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced
$53 million in grants to protect and restore forests and watersheds
in California using voluntary, targeted headwater resilience
planning and monitoring. The grants leverage $31.4 million in
matching contributions, for a total conservation impact of $84.4
million.
The awards were made possible by a first-of-its-kind agreement
between the USDA Forest Service and NFWF. This effort pools
multiple funding sources from public and private organizations to
meet the level needed for effective landscape-scale projects to
tackle California’s wildfire crisis.
“Our partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
helps us mutually support communities throughout California.
Combining our resources, we can use the best available science and
monitoring to protect our vital watersheds,” said Jennifer
Eberlien, regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region.
“These investments help ensure future generations have healthy,
productive forests and help the region combat the effects of
climate change.”
In California, 12 of the state’s largest 20 wildfires occurred
within the last 10 years. The threat of unnatural, high-intensity
wildfire has increased due to decades of fire suppression,
droughts, insect infestations, and challenges from more homes in
the wildland urban interface. This partnership is designed to help
restore Forest Service-managed lands affected by wildfire and
develop tools and data to guide restoration against future fires
and drought.
“This innovative agreement showcases the potential of
large-scale projects to enhance resilience across the millions of
acres of national forests throughout California,” said Jeff
Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “By funding larger
scale projects with more federal, state and private funding, NFWF
can enable on-the-ground partner’s ability to take on more
impactful fuels management, post-fire restoration, and forest
health projects that improve habitat and community.”
Projects supported by these nine grants are designed to improve
forest health and watersheds by increasing the pace and scale of
post-fire restoration. These efforts focus on improving forest
health and resilience, providing sustainable ecological benefits,
protecting communities in and around federally protected public
lands, and encouraging shared stewardship of Forest Service lands
through expanded partnerships and cooperation.
“NFWF is leading the way in aligning federal, state, and local
funding to restore our highest priority forests and watersheds,”
said Patrick Wright, Director of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest
Resilience Task Force. “These funding partnerships are essential to
support landscape-scale projects beyond the capacity of each
agency.”
Launched in 2018, the California Forests and
Watersheds program supports the improvement, protection and
rehabilitation of ecosystems and watersheds within the National
Forest System lands impacted by fire-scarred watersheds and funds
meadow restoration throughout the Sierra Nevada meadows range.
Visit the California Forests and Watersheds program
webpage for a list of the 2024 grants.
About the National Fish and Wildlife
FoundationChartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation’s
fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal,
corporate, foundation and individual partners, NFWF has funded more
than 6,800 organizations and generated a total conservation impact
of more than $10 billion. NFWF is an equal opportunity provider.
Learn more at www.nfwf.org.
About the USDA Forest Service – Pacific Southwest
RegionThe Forest Service manages 18 national forests in
the Pacific Southwest Region, encompassing over 20 million acres
across California, and assists state, private and tribal forest
landowners in California, Hawai'i, and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific
Islands. National forests supply 60% of the water in California and
form the watershed of most major aqueducts and more than 2,400
reservoirs throughout the state. For more information,
visit www.fs.usda.gov/R5.
Rob Blumenthal
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
(202) 857-0166
rob.blumenthal@nfwf.org