| CAL FIRE is announcing up to $8 million in funding available for Wildfire Resilience Block Grants to support private forestland owners. Application guidelines, eligibility requirements, and deadlines are now available on the Wildfire Resilience Program website. Proposals can be submitted starting January 29, 2024, when the application portal will go live. Proposals are due no later than February 26, 2024, at 5 PM PST. All grant work must be completed by December 31, 2027. The purpose of the Wildfire Resilience Block Grant is to meet action items 1.10, 1.11, 1.13 and 1.14 of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force Action Plan. Full details can be found on page 17 of the Action Plan. For action item 1.10, applicants will provide for educational programming on the full range of forest management practices. Applicants submitting projects addressing action item 1.10 are limited counties, resource conservation districts, special districts, and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. There is $1 million dollars allocated for this category. For action items 1.11, 1.13 and 1.14, applicants will provide for technical and financial assistance to groups of nonindustrial forestland owners ranging in size from 3 to 5000 acres in a specific region. Under this grant, the grantee will serve as a sub granting entity to deliver a program offering technical and financial assistance to nonindustrial forestland owners. Applicants submitting projects addressing action items 1.11-1.14 are limited to Resource Conservation Districts and special districts capable of acting as lead agency for CEQA projects. These applicants must demonstrate they have the capacity to deliver a forestry based technical and financial assistance program to non-industrial forest landowners. There is $7 million dollars allocated for this category. Funding to support private forestland owners is provided through the Budget Act of 2022/23 and 2023/23 and supports California’s goals of improved forest health, resilience to climate change, and reduced forestland impacts due to devastating wildfires. |
