CCC
Shannon Bell
California Conservation Corps Fuels Reduction ...

With support from California Climate Investments, the California Conservation Corps (CCC) is reducing wildfire risks by removing hazardous fuels in Paradise, Lake Tahoe, and Arcadia as part of the Training and Workforce Development Program. Through fuels reduction projects, Corpsmembers have treated over 90 acres of fire-prone land, creating defensible space and improving community safety. These efforts not only protect residents but also provide young adults with hands-on experience in forestry and wildfire mitigation, preparing them for careers in fire management and conservation. 

California Conservation Corps Fuels Reduction Projects Improve Wildfire Resilience Across the State
Farmers
Guest User
New Equipment on a Turlock Dairy Farm Reduces ...

California Department of Food and Agriculture

Supported by a $565,470 grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Alternative Manure Management Program, Paul Danbom of Brindeiro & Danbom Dairy Farms in Turlock took a significant step towards improving the efficiency of his dairy operation and installed a new solid separation system. Instead of flushed manure being discharged directly into a settling pond and storage lagoon system, it is now pumped through a separator capable of capturing a large portion of manure solids, keeping that organic material from entering and decomposing in a liquid environment where it would produce methane.

New Equipment on a Turlock Dairy Farm Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Produces Co-Benefits

CAL FIRE

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Canyon Fire: All Hands on Deck

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Canyon Fire: All Hands on Deck

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

In August of 2024, the Canyon Fire ignited in the Tuolumne River Canyon, quickly becoming a threat to nearby subdivisions. Fortunately, the Tuolumne Fire Safe Council had received California Climate Investments funding through the Wildfire Prevention Grants program and completed the Ponderosa-Mira Monte Shaded Fuel Break just two years prior. The fuel break gave wildland firefighters leverage in slowing and ultimately extinguishing the blaze, saving area homes and lives.

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Bringing Southern Sierra Forests Back from the Ashes

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Bringing Southern Sierra Forests Back from the Ashes

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees and an iconic California species, face increasing risk due to severe wildfires brought on by unnaturally high fuel loads and climate change. To avoid further losses and promote new growth, a group of partners, with funding from California Climate Investments, is restoring and protecting southern Sierra sequoia forests.

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Leveraging Existing Carbon Incentive Programs to Increase Utilization of Woody Biomass Residues

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Leveraging Existing Carbon Incentive Programs to Increase Utilization of Woody Biomass Residues

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

In 2021, the Forest Health Research Program awarded California Climate Investments funding towards research aimed at determining how to leverage existing carbon incentives to increase utilization of woody biomass residues. The project, which seeks to increase biomass utilization throughout the state, examines the return on investment for a variety of low-value forest products for which the market is unpredictable or simply doesn’t exist.

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Protecting Vulnerable Forests and Communities in Butte County

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Protecting Vulnerable Forests and Communities in Butte County

Wildfires have burned over 40% of Butte County in the past decade, destroying homes, communities, and vital forestland. Since 2021, the Butte County Fire Safe Council has been restoring nearly 10,000 acres of forest with over $22 million in California Climate Investments funding, granted by CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program. When the Park Fire raged across northern Butte County, efforts to reduce fuels aided firefighters in diverting the blaze from residences and saving mature trees. Using techniques like thinning, mastication, reforestation, and prescribed burns, these efforts are reducing hazardous fuels and strengthening wildfire resilience. Through continued investment in wildfire mitigation, the Butte County Fire Safe Council is helping to protect communities and ensure forest health for the future. 

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Improving Forest Health in the Yurok Community Forest and Salmon Sanctuary

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Improving Forest Health in the Yurok Community Forest and Salmon Sanctuary

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

A $4.3 million grant from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program to the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District is funding work to protect natural, cultural, and spiritual values in a key watershed in the Yurok Tribe’s ancestral homeland.

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Saving San Diego's Last Mixed Conifer Forest

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Saving San Diego's Last Mixed Conifer Forest

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

A collaborative of landowners led by the San Diego Fire Safe Council and the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County is implementing a landscape-scale restoration project aimed at improving forest health on Palomar Mountain. Forests in San Diego county have experienced heavy losses from catastrophic fires and invasive pest infestations. Now at the home of one of San Diego county’s last mixed conifer forests, project partners are working to ensure Palomar Mountain’s forests are resilient to future wildfires. 

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Landscape-Scale Fuels Reduction and Forest Health in the Western Klamath Region

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Landscape-Scale Fuels Reduction and Forest Health in the Western Klamath Region

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

A $5 million CAL FIRE Forest Health Program grant is supporting the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership in their efforts to restore fire resilience at the landscape scale along the Klamath River. This project is part of a larger effort by the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership to improve forest health and resilience across a 1.2 million acre planning area that includes much of the Karuk Tribe’s ancestral homelands.

Forest Health Project Helps Save Yosemite Sequoias from the Washburn Fire

Forest Health Project Helps Save Yosemite Sequoias from the Washburn Fire

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Forest resilience treatments funded through a $2 million grant from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program helped to save some of the world’s most iconic trees in one of the world’s most famous national parks. Protecting the ancient, majestic giant sequoias in the largest and most popular of Yosemite’s sequoia groves was an immediate concern for land managers when the Washburn Fire broke out near Mariposa Grove on July 7, 2022. Fortunately, a partnership that includes the Mariposa County Resource Conservation District, the National Park Service and local tribal forest crews had completed the important fuels reduction work that reduced the fire’s severity and helped firefighters protect the invaluable trees.

Forest Health Research Looks to Indigenous Burning Practices to Help Manage Invasive Beetle

Forest Health Research Looks to Indigenous Burning Practices to Help Manage Invasive Beetle

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

With a $100,000 grant from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Research Program, Joelene Tamm a master's student at UC Riverside and Squaxin Island Tribal member, is partnering with the La Jolla band Luiseño Indians to investigate how indigenous cultural burning practices and traditional ecological knowledge can be used to support management of the invasive goldspotted oak borer, an invasive beetle.

Forest Health in San Mateo County – A Collaborative Approach

Forest Health in San Mateo County – A Collaborative Approach

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

A $2.5 million grant from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program is supporting the San Mateo Resource Conservation District (RCD) and a network of regional partners in their efforts to improve forest resilience, increase carbon sequestration, and reduce wildfire risk to vulnerable communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Turtle Rock Biomass Collection Site Helps Reduce Wildfire Severity

Turtle Rock Biomass Collection Site Helps Reduce Wildfire Severity

Alpine County was awarded $120,810 from the Fire Prevention Grants program to support the operation of The Turtle Rock Park Biomass Collection site. The facility provides communities in eastern Alpine County with a place to send green waste and biomass removed while creating defensible space around their properties to reduce the risk of future wildfire damage. By reducing the intensity of future wildfires, defensible space practices also reduce the emission of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Long Beach Urban Wood Recovery Apprenticeship Program Prepares Youth for the Future Workforce

Long Beach Urban Wood Recovery Apprenticeship Program Prepares Youth for the Future Workforce

Funded in part by a nearly $1,000,000 grant from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, the Conservation Corps of Long Beach (CCLB) is implementing an urban wood recovery apprenticeship program that has the potential to be a model for other programs across California. This program is teaching Corpsmembers how to remove hazardous trees throughout the city, control insects and diseases, and divert woody biomass from landfills to help keep greenhouse gases sequestered in the wood. Additionally, trees will be replaced to mitigate poor air quality, a lack of urban green space, and improve storm water retention in disadvantaged communities. Ultimately, this program will provide a foundation for Corpsmembers interested pursuing jobs in urban forestry.

Expanding Capacity at the Turtle Rock Park Biomass Collection Site

Expanding Capacity at the Turtle Rock Park Biomass Collection Site

The project is a continuation of the Turtle Rock Park Biomass Collection site which serves communities in eastern Alpine County. The facility provides a location to collect green waste and biomass that is cleared from private property to create defensible space and thereby reduce wildland fire risk.

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Reclaimed Urban Wood Supports Small Businesses and Reduces Landfill Emissions

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Reclaimed Urban Wood Supports Small Businesses and Reduces Landfill Emissions

A $996,600 grant from California Climate Investments through the Urban and Community Forestry program will help Urban Salvaged and Reclaimed Woods, Inc. pilot a shared storefront project. This storefront will allow businesses handling salvaged wood from urban areas to combine resources to better process, market, and sell their products.

Urban Wood Rescue Project Trains Youth and Sequesters Carbon

Urban Wood Rescue Project Trains Youth and Sequesters Carbon

Urban Wood Rescue, a program administered by the Sacramento Tree Foundation, is transforming dead trees from around the Sacramento region into useful lumber.

El Centro Free Trees Program Provides Education, Shade, and Cleaner Air

El Centro Free Trees Program Provides Education, Shade, and Cleaner Air

The El Centro “Free Trees” program is an Urban Forest Expansion and Improvement project that will plant and maintain 1,000 climate appropriate trees within the city of El Centro.

Reviving Stockton's Urban Tree Canopy

Reviving Stockton's Urban Tree Canopy

The San Joaquin County Urban Tree Canopy Revival (SJCUTCR) project sets Stockton on a trajectory to restore the city’s once proud urban forest by planting over 1200 new trees in Stockton’s disadvantaged communities and maintaining them for the life of the grant to ensure their success.

Suppressing Wildfire with Fuel Breaks in Elk Creek and Stonyford

Suppressing Wildfire with Fuel Breaks in Elk Creek and Stonyford

The Elk Creek Fuel Break, one of the 35 emergency fuel reduction projects prioritized in the Governor’s 2019 Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Report, was completed in part with $325,000 in California Climate Investments funds. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection implemented the project to protect lives, property, and valuable agricultural resources in the communities of Elk Creek and Stonyford, which are adjacent to the Mendocino National Forest. During the 2020 Butte/Tehama/Glenn Lightning Complex Fire, the Elk Creek Fuel Break helped contain the fire with eight miles of fire line.

Growing Trees and Community Capacity in San Bernardino County

Growing Trees and Community Capacity in San Bernardino County

Spreading the green has a whole new meaning in part of Southern California. That’s because the Incredible Edible Community Garden (IECG) and CAL FIRE are using a $615,000 grant to plant shade trees throughout communities in south San Bernardino County.

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Keeping Fire on the Landscape: Maintaining Carbon Balance and Forest Resilience

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Keeping Fire on the Landscape: Maintaining Carbon Balance and Forest Resilience

At the University of California’s Blodgett Forest Research Station in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, the long running Fire and Fire Surrogate study has provided critical information to forest managers and landowners on the use of prescribed fire and restoration thinning. With a $454,772 grant from California Climate Investments through the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Forest Health Research Program, Dr. John Battles, Dr. Scott Stephens, and other researchers are continuing this important work with an eye towards understanding the value of repeated application of fuel reduction treatments on Sierra Nevada mixed‑conifer forests. Forest managers and landowners throughout the state and beyond will be able to use the results of this study to inform their management actions and policy decisions in the face of warming climate and increasing wildfires.

California Climate Investments | Cap-and-Trade Dollars at Work