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.
Old‑growth redwood forests store more above‑ground carbon than any other forest type on Earth. Unfortunately, only 5% of old‑growth redwood forests survived extensive colonial logging in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Now, thanks in part to California Climate Investments funding awarded through CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program, a partnership is working to establish the old‑growth forests of the future on California’s northern coast.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In collaboration with forest industry and utility partners and the Modoc National Forest, the Pit Resource Conservation District is implementing a $5 million California Climate Investments Forest Health grant to increase forest resilience in Modoc County. The fuels reduction and prescribed fire activities funded by this project will take place on public and private lands to increase forest resilience, accelerate reforestation of severely burned forests, and reduce the risk of future catastrophic fire impacts to local communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. This project complements efforts by state, federal, and local agencies to increase the pace and scale of fuel treatments in California’s forests.
The Ukiah Emergency Fuels Reduction Project is performing vegetation management activities along ridgetops in strategic locations for firefighting and protecting critical infrastructure. The project built 14 miles of shaded fuel breaks at the edges of densely populated housing in Ukiah and the forested mountains that surround the Ukiah Valley.
Replanting and restoration are underway a few thousand acres at a time, and the California Climate Investment program is helping bring the King Fire area back to life. $1.9 million from the State’s Cap-and-Trade auctions is being put to work on CAL FIRE’s King Fire Rehabilitation and Reforestation Project.
