FOREST CONSERVATION

CAL FIRE ANNOUNCES $10 MILLION AVAILABLE FOR

FOREST CONSERVATION

Competitive grants offered to protect working forest landscapes



The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is announcing up to $10 million in funding for Forest Legacy Grants to conserve and protect environmentally important privately-owned forestland. This funding supports California’s goals of conserving working forests to help protect natural landscapes threatened with conversion to other uses, promote sustainable and resilient forest practices, and encourage long-term stewardship in line with the goals of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force.

Under this competitive grant program, CAL FIRE purchases or accepts donations of conservation easements or fee titles of productive forest lands from willing sellers, to encourage long-term conservation throughout the state. 

The solicitation for these grants is two-part: first, a pre-application must be submitted, which will be ranked and scored; second, successful pre-applicants will be invited to complete a full application that will be considered for funding. The pre-application period is open from March 18, 2024, to April 16, 2024. Invitations to complete a full application will be made by May 7, 2024, with the full application period open until June 7, 2024. A field visit by CAL FIRE staff to the potential project properties is required.

Additional application information including grant guidelines, eligibility requirements, and deadlines can be found on the Forest Legacy Program website. All grant work must be completed by June 30, 2028. 

Funding to conserve working forests is provided through the Budget Act 2023. Administered by CAL FIRE’s Forest Legacy program, this critical funding works to ensure that forests are safeguarded for future generations while also aiding the state in meeting critical climate and carbon goals. Protection of California’s forests through these grants ensures they continue to provide such benefits as wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, watershed protection and open space, and supporting sustainable wood product economies. 

Please direct any questions to forestlegacy@fire.ca.gov.

Thank you,

Forest Legacy Program

forestlegacy@fire.ca.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Thursday, March 14, 2024                              MEDIA INQUIRIES ONLY:                                           916-492-3566 main                     Michael Soller: 916-661-0556 cellGabriel Sanchez: 213-418-5338 cell     Email inquiries: cdipress@insurance.ca.gov

Commissioner Lara announces next phase of Sustainable Insurance Strategy to safeguard Californians’ access to insurance Catastrophe modeling regulation promotes transparency, insurance availability, and wildfire safety SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara released his catastrophe modeling regulation that will help restore options for all Californians, the latest phase of his Sustainable Insurance Strategy to safeguard the integrity of the state’s insurance market. The Department of Insurance will hold a public workshop on April 23 to take input before starting the process of submitting the regulation for approval by the Office of Administrative Law.   Today’s announcement keeps California on track for a December 2024 goal of enacting the state’s largest insurance reform in over 30 years. It follows Commissioner Lara’s release last month of a new regulation to improve oversight and handling of insurance rate filings. Catastrophic insurance losses are defined as those that are larger and affect multiple policyholders as a result of a severe event, such as a wildfire affecting dozens of homes compared to a common house fire. For more than 30 years, California regulations have allowed insurance companies to apply a catastrophe factor to insurance rates based on historical wildfire losses. These outdated rules have contributed to rate spikes and balloon premiums following major wildfire disasters without fully accounting for the growing risk caused by climate change or risk mitigation measures taken by communities or regionally, as a result of local, state, and federal investments.  Currently, the Department of Insurance allows the use of catastrophe models for earthquake losses and fire following earthquake. The proposed regulation expands the allowable use of catastrophe models to include wildfire, terrorism, and flood lines for homeowners and commercial insurance lines. Commissioner Lara’s strategy addresses a major limitation of Proposition 103, passed by voters in 1988. Under that law, insurance companies are free to propose rates at any level needed to cover future losses but, unlike public utilities, are not required to cover all residents. With the combination of climate-intensified disasters, rising costs of repair and rebuilding, and global economic forces, major companies have increased rates while pulling back from higher-risk properties where the FAIR Plan is now the only option.  “My Sustainable Insurance Strategy is intended to address decades-long neglected issues. Under outdated rules, the growth of climate-driven mega fires has supercharged insurance costs for many Californians while making insurance harder to find,” said Commissioner Lara about the second in a series of a proposed regulatory changes where he is seeking public comment and review. “ We can no longer look solely to the past as a guide to the future. My strategy will help modernize our marketplace, restoring options for consumers while safeguarding the independent, transparent review of rate filings by Department of Insurance experts, which is a bedrock principle of California law.”   Commissioner Lara’s proposed regulation will have major benefits for Californians in the form of:  More reliable rates: Insurance consumers will have more stable costs than under current regulations, which have resulted in sudden and steep increases for those at higher risk of wildfire.   Greater availability of insurance: Insurance companies will increase their writing because they can better anticipate future losses, rather than making abrupt decisions to non-renew higher-risk policyholders, pause writing, or rapidly increase rates. Stronger oversight: The Department of Insurance will have strong public oversight of modeling, which is already being widely used by insurance companies outside of rate-making and across the nation.  The Department will have access to models and build expertise, so California can continue to lead on consumer protection. Safer communities: Catastrophe models can capture efforts taken by federal, state, and local governments, property owners, communities and utility companies to mitigate the exposure of communities to catastrophic events – encouraging and rewarding those efforts.   The regulation corrects a major shortfall of using historical data, which fails to account for wildfire mitigation. The regulation specifies that any model must incorporate the best available scientific information on risk mitigation at the property, community, and landscape scales, including risk mitigation initiated by local and regional utility companies. This forward-looking change will also enhance a recent regulation that Commissioner Lara spearheaded and now enforces, requiring wildfire safety discounts for homeowners and businesses and aligning with record investments in wildfire mitigation by Governor Newsom and the California Legislature.   The regulation complies with California’s strong consumer protection laws, which requires that anytime an insurance company seeks to change its rates, it must provide a complete rate application with all information that the Insurance Commissioner requires for review. The proposed regulation creates a new process for review of models by a panel of experts overseen by the Department of Insurance — before insurance companies can use them in a rate filing and meet the stringent transparency requirements under Proposition 103. The panel would evaluate the appropriateness and soundness of each model and a Department of Insurance official would determine what information about the model must be included in rate applications. Any member of the public can participate in this review.  The Department of Insurance will hold a public workshop to take input on the proposed regulation on April 23, 2024, at 2PM/PT.  # # # Media Notes:View the draft text of the catastrophe modeling regulation.View the workshop invitation. Catastrophe models are computerized processes that simulate potential catastrophic events. Catastrophe models have been rapidly evolving since their introduction in the 1980s, incorporating historical data, technology, scientific research, engineering methods, and statistical analysis to model complex scenarios and events. Catastrophe models were developed to estimate the probability of loss due to extreme weather events but have expanded to apply to non-weather risks including casualty or liability loss, terrorism, and cyber-attacks.

Agenda

Please join us on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, starting at 5:30 PM for our monthly Fire Safe Council of Siskiyou County meeting.

 Joining us will be presenters:

Mike Bradley, of Pacific Forest Trust and Nathan Johnson,  Lead Facilitator, of Siskiyou Climate Collaborative

Agenda coming soon and please check for updates on our Facebook or at firesafesiskiyou.com

See you then!

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Open Requests for Proposals

Registered Professional Forester (RPF)/Environmental ConsultantCalifornia Fire Safe Council seeks a qualified Registered Professional Forester (RPF)/Environmental Consultant to provide professional and technical services related to the planning, development, and implementation of ground-breaking wildfire mitigation projects as funded by the California Fire Safe Council to ensure environmental and regulatory compliance. Proposals are due by March 29, 2024. Learn more here.

Job Positions Open

Grant Specialist(s)The California Fire Safe Council (CFSC) is seeking applications for Grant Specialists at the junior level (Associate Grant Specialist), intermediate level (Staff Grant Specialist), and advanced level (Senior Grant Specialist). Learn more here.Finance ManagerThe Finance Manager oversees the fiscal management functions for the CFSC. Under executive supervision, the Finance Manager supervises and facilitates the accounting and financial management of the organization, including project and grant business activities between grant managers, program staff, and accounting. Learn more here.  Senior Grant Finance SpecialistThe Senior Grant Finance Specialist (SGFS) manages the fiscal component of CFCS’s grants and subgrants. Under the supervision of the Finance Manager, the SGFS facilitates project and grant business activities between grant managers and accounting staff. Learn more here.

2023-2024 State Fire Capacity Grant Program

The California Fire Safe Council (CFSC) announces the availability of approximately $1,575,000 in grant funds to support hazardous fuels reduction, community wildfire prevention planning, and education and mitigation activities in California and the Tahoe region of Nevada. Funding for the 23/24 State Fire Capacity (SFC) Grants Program is provided through master grants to CFSC by the Cooperative Fire Program of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Department of Agriculture, Pacific Southwest Region.     Grant applications are available as of February 1, 2024. Completed applications are due on March 15, 2024.     Grant Application Webinars were held on February 5, 2024, and February 12, 2024. The webinars covered everything necessary to equip you with the tools to apply on time and correctly. These topics include federal grant basics, the ZoomGrants online application, and what to expect as the application process continues. Watch the Grant Application Webinar here.  For more information about this opportunity, please contact Senior Grant Specialist Morgan Galliano lgalliano@cafiresafecouncil.org.   More details, important deadlines, and helpful resources are available on our website.

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