Sacramento – The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announced the availability of up to $240 million for Fire Prevention and Forest Health grant projects. CAL FIRE is soliciting applications for projects that prevent catastrophic wildfires, protect communities, and restore forests to healthy, functioning ecosystems while also sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
CAL FIRE’s Fire Prevention Grants Program seeks to award up to $120 million for local projects in and near fire threatened communities that focus on increasing the protection of people, structures, and communities. Qualified activities include hazardous fuels reduction, wildfire prevention planning and wildfire prevention education with an emphasis on improving public health and safety while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Grant Program will award up to $120 million to landscape-level forest restoration projects that increase forest resilience to catastrophic disturbance. Eligible activities include forest fuels reduction, fire reintroduction, reforestation, and the utilization of forest biomass.
These grant programs are part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.
These programs are designed to complement the 2018 Strategic Fire Plan for California and the State Forest Carbon Plan, which propose to protect lives, property, and resources of California and increase the ability of our natural and working lands to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Official Call for Applications:
Fire Prevention Grants Program: The call for applications opens on December 8, 2021 and will be due by 3:00 PM on February 9, 2022.
Forest Health Grants Program: The call for applications opens on January 3, 2022 and will be due by 3:00 PM on March 3, 2022.
Public workshops, in person and virtual will be held. Please check the Fire Prevention and Forest Health Grants web pages for dates, times, and locations. These workshops will be recorded and made available on the corresponding grants web pages. The Fire Prevention Grant Program will host its first virtual workshop on December 17 at 10 a.m. Visit Fire Prevention Grants for additional details.
For more information and to sign up for grant email announcements, visit www.fire.ca.gov/grants.
