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

Nature Based Solutions

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Creating an Emerald Necklace of Parks in the Los Angeles Basin

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Creating an Emerald Necklace of Parks in the Los Angeles Basin

California Natural Resources Agency

Amigos de Los Rios, a Southern California-based nonprofit, is using California Climate Investments funding received through the Urban Greening Program, administered by the California Natural Resources Agency, to create an Emerald Necklace, a 17-mile loop of parks and greenways connecting disadvantaged communities to urban green spaces. The nonprofit recently transformed the exterior of Mary Jackson Elementary School in Altadena and revitalized a section of the Rio Honda Bike Path, integrating native plants and natural infrastructure to capture carbon and filter groundwater.

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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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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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Successes in Soil Stewardship: Funding Community Composting Across California 

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Successes in Soil Stewardship: Funding Community Composting Across California 

California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s (CalRecycle) Community Composting for Green Spaces Grant Program is funding community composting at hundreds of sites across California. In the first cycle of funding, the grant program awarded $1.5 million to the People, Food, and Land Foundation, which supported community composting at 117 sites throughout California, planted 488 trees, created 4,418 cubic yards of compost, and reduced emissions by 2,508 MTCO2e of GHG emissions. An additional $4.2 million was awarded to the California Alliance for Community Composting and LA Compost in the second cycle of the program. Through the establishment or expansion of community composting sites, communities receive benefits such as part time jobs and training on composting practices, fresh produce from adjacent gardens, training on farming practices, an increase in shade from tree planting, and the development of green spaces.  

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Improving Sacramento Valley Soil Health with Winter Cover Crop Species     

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Improving Sacramento Valley Soil Health with Winter Cover Crop Species     

In 2020, Sarah Light, agronomy advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension, partnered with the Colusa County Resource Conservation District, Davis Ranch, Richter Ag, and the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service to apply for a CDFA Healthy Soils Program Demonstration Grant. The team received $99,832 of grant funding to conduct a demonstration project on cover crops on two fields in the Sacramento Valley from fall 2020 to spring 2024.

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Hoopa Valley Tribe Brings Fire Back to the Land

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Hoopa Valley Tribe Brings Fire Back to the Land

In the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s homelands, California Climate Investments funding is helping the Hoopa Valley Tribe re‑introduce fire to an important oak woodland ecosystem. The work is supported by a $1.36 million grant from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program.  The eastern side of the Hoopa Valley, on the current Hoopa Valley Reservation in what is known today as Humboldt County, has historically been home to extensive oak woodlands. Fire has always played an important role on this landscape—the people burned the hillsides for generations to maintain the oak trees and promote growth of other culturally important plants.  

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Ambitious Partnership Delivering the Next Generation of Old-Growth Redwood Forests 

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Ambitious Partnership Delivering the Next Generation of Old-Growth Redwood Forests 

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. 

Carr Lake Park and Wetland Planning and Design

Carr Lake Park and Wetland Planning and Design

State Coastal Conservancy

Thanks to $488,760 from the Climate Ready Program, the Big Sur Land Trust has taken a big step towards transforming Carr Lake into a new park and greenspace for residents in the heart of the City of Salinas. The community has long imagined transforming Carr Lake into a multi-benefit green space, serving as a “central park” in the heart of Salinas. 

The Ocean Ranch Restoration Project

The Ocean Ranch Restoration Project

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

The California State Coastal Conservancy is restoring wetlands at Ocean Ranch along the Eel River with support from a $2 million grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wetlands Restoration Program. The Eel River was once one of the Pacific Coast’s greatest producers of salmon and steelhead. Over the years, extensive human activities have reduced the Eel River Delta. As the estuary shrank, so did populations of salmon and other native species, and carbon sequestration rates. At the same time, non-native species proliferated.

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.

Supporting Farmers and Rancher’s Access to Grant Funding

Supporting Farmers and Rancher’s Access to Grant Funding

Supported by $3.57 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Climate Smart Agriculture initiative provides technical assistance to help farmers find funding and implement projects that support their work while helping to achieve the State’s climate goals. These funds, which were leveraged by California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Strategic Growth Council, support 10 Community Education Specialists, a group of technical experts with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Since 2019, these Community Education Specialists have assisted over 850 farmers and ranchers across the State with applications to programs under the Climate Smart Agriculture initiative.

Partnership Helps Protect San Diego County Forests

Partnership Helps Protect San Diego County Forests

The Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County (RCD) is using their $1.4 million grant awarded in 2019 from the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program to develop the region’s capacity to restore the health of its forests and protect them from severe wildfires in the future. To carry out this work, the RCD has partnered with several California Native American Tribes, the Cleveland National Forest, a private cattle company, and the Palomar Observatory to manage the region, which includes the last mixed conifer forest in San Diego County. The RCD is also developing training programs for several Fire Safe Councils in San Diego County serving 46 communities, so they can support this work.

Healthy Soils Through Whole-Orchard Recycling

Healthy Soils Through Whole-Orchard Recycling

David Viguie of Viguie Farming is revitalizing soil health on 44 acres of a 28-year-old French prune orchard located in the city of Winters. Prior to receiving a Healthy Soils Program grant, David conventionally farmed his orchard. In his pursuit to restore the property's soil health, David applied to the Healthy Soils Program and received a $38,378 grant from California Climate Investments to achieve his goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing soil carbon by removing a prune orchard through whole-orchard recycling.

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Advancing Ecological, Cultural, and Community Resilience with Tribal Nations in Southern California

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Advancing Ecological, Cultural, and Community Resilience with Tribal Nations in Southern California

With a $990,350 award from the Climate Change Research Program, the Resilient Restoration project – led by the Climate Science Alliance Tribal Working Group, University of California Riverside, and San Diego State University – is promoting Tribal resilience by developing knowledge and supporting actions that enhance persistence of cultural practices with a focus on preserving the ecosystems and species that are integral to Tribal communities.

New Community Composting Program Sequesters Carbon While Providing Local-Level Benefits

New Community Composting Program Sequesters Carbon While Providing Local-Level Benefits

The California Alliance for Community Composting (Alliance)is helping community groups develop or expand 50 community composting sites in disadvantaged and low-income communities across California using funds from the Community Composting for Green Spaces Grant Program. Altogether, these sites are expected to prevent nearly 11,000 tons of organic waste from going to landfills by creating compost, which prevents the release of greenhouse gases during its decomposition. The Alliance’s work will also provide communities with additional benefits, including free compost, job training, and more.

Coyote Valley Prime Farmland Preserved in Perpetuity

Coyote Valley Prime Farmland Preserved in Perpetuity

Thanks to a $780,000 grant provided by the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) program, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (the Authority), in partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Santa Clara County Planning Department, were able to purchase a 60-acre farm located in the Coyote Valley of Santa Clara County. This purchase adds to Coyote Valley’s growing network of protected lands and helps combat climate change by protecting prime farmland from being converted to more carbon-intensive land uses. This purchase also furthers the implementation of the comprehensive Santa Clara Valley Agricultural Plan finalized in January 2018, which Andrea Mackenzie, General Manager of the Authority defined as “a roadmap to protecting the multiple benefits that our region’s remaining farmlands and working lands provide.” This plan was also made possible by an award from the SALC program.

Restoring the Central Coast's "Crown Jewel" Salt Marsh

Restoring the Central Coast's "Crown Jewel" Salt Marsh

The Blue Carbon at Elkhorn Slough Project is restoring 66 acres of rare salt marsh habitat and native plants while buffering the surrounding areas against future sea level rise. The Tidal Wetland Program at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve guided the project with input from more than 100 local partners, scientists, regulators, and community members.

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Mountain Meadow Restoration Sequesters Carbon and Builds Resilience

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Mountain Meadow Restoration Sequesters Carbon and Builds Resilience

Meadows in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges act as nature’s sponge and filter, accumulating high amounts of organic soils that help provide California with a year-round water supply. Acting like a mini-reservoir, the meadows store carbon as they capture and clean water.

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Supporting Ecosystem, Community, and Cultural Resilience at Clover Valley Ranch

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Supporting Ecosystem, Community, and Cultural Resilience at Clover Valley Ranch

With help from a $680,974 grant from California Climate Investments through the Wetlands & Watershed Restoration Program, the Sierra Fund and project partners are carrying out multi‑benefit restoration efforts at the 2,655‑acre Clover Valley Ranch. Initiated in 2017, this project will sequester nearly 188,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent while halting stream incision; increasing biodiversity; and improving hydrologic function, flood reduction, sediment filtration and water quality. However, the goal of this project extends beyond of ecosystem function and carbon sequestration benefits; these activities will also support community and cultural resilience through the promotion of cultural skills and activities.

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