Land Acknowledgement

SYRCL works throughout the Yuba River watershed on the Ancestral and Traditional homelands of the Nisenan Tribe, and includes shared boundaries with the Mountain Maidu, Konkow, and Washoe peoples. These tribes have lived here for millennia and live here still. We acknowledge and mourn the painful history of genocide and the devastation of lands and waters irreversibly altered.  We are grateful for opportunities to partner with the tribes to create a shared vision and rebalance our relationship to this place. 

YFN Updates and News

The next Yuba Forest Network quarterly meeting will be on Friday, February 6th, 2026, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. This meeting will be hybrid, with an in-person option at the SYRCL office and Nevada City and a Teams option as well. If you are interested in presenting at a future quarterly meeting, please email Kat Perlman at kat@yubariver.org to discuss opportunities. The recaps of previous quarterly meetings and discussions held are in the meeting notes saved in the YFN Google Drive.  Please email Kat Perlman at kat@yubariver.org for more information.

**If you would like to sign up for the YFN bimonthly newsletter on forest health/resiliency related topics you can register here for the listserv.

**If you have any shapefiles to add to the Stakeholder Mapping Tool please zip them up and send them on over to Anne Marie at annemarie@yubariver.org.

Yuba Forest Network: 2025 Year in Review

Congratulations to our Yuba Forest Network partners for all of your hard work and accomplishments in 2025! You brought an incredible amount of forest projects planning, implementation, and cross-boundary coordination to the Yuba and Bear River watersheds. Here are just some of the amazing accomplishments for the Yuba Forest Network region that were shared at our November 2025 quarterly meeting- thank you, YFN!

Yuba Forest Network activities across the landscape in 2025 (from left to right): Chris Friedel of Yuba Watershed Institute leads a YFN field tour to the ‘Inimim Forest Restoration Project; the Nevada Irrigation District’s English Meadow Floodplain Restoration and Enhancement Project; the North Yuba Forest Partnership admires the North Yuba landscape on their annual NYFP field tour. Photos courtesy of SYRCL.

Sierra Streams Institute: Progress on Sierra Foothills Forest and Climate Resilience Project near Jones Bar and Yulića Project, including 150 acres treated on BLM lands through a Fuels and Community Assistance grant. SSI is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.

Yuba Watershed Protection and Fire Safe Council: Completed Yuba County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Brownsville-Oregon House and Oregon Ridge fuel breaks projects completed. Progress made on roadside fuels work in Dobbins-Oregon House for community protection, and continued progress on defensible space projects, including cost-share and chipping programs.

Yuba Water Agency: Progress on New Bullards Bar Forest Health project, including completion of Cal VTP analysis for all Yuba foothills, in partnership with SPI and as part of California Climate Investments program.

Yuba Watershed Institute: South Yuba Rim Hazardous Fuels Reduction project continued on the San Juan Ridge in partnership with Nevada County OES, with an eye towards FEMA funding for implementation dollars. Total planning area is 9,000 acres. Ongoing work at ‘Inimim Forest Restoration Project in collaboration with BLM, entering phase 3 with a timber harvest component. Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project covering over 200 acres outside of Nevada City on BLM and private land wrapped up this fall. Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project is using goat grazing maintenance for fuel break maintenance, with goats supplied by First Rain Farm & Land Stewardship Services (learn more about targeted goat grazing here.

Yuba College: Has been developing a Natural Resource training and Forest Management Resilience Certificate for the past few years. The certificate just completed its third year, with the first round of students in the program finishing their certificates! Yuba College has entered a new partnership with Yuba Environmental Science Charter Academy to bring in students for certification classes. They are working on developing a summer internship program to provide on-the-job training for these students and look forward to partnering with Yuba Forest Network to bring students to work on our landscapes.

American Rivers: Hoyt-Purdon Fuel Reduction and Prescribed Fire Project (project area over 900 acres on private land parcels) is in the process of prescribed burning target project acres. American Rivers is also working with SYRCL on priority meadow assessment for over 1,100 acres on the North Yuba.

Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative: The TCSI Project Tracker is almost ready to integrate Forest Service treatment data (“FACTS data”) into its system- a huge step for representing Forest Service project data on a region-wide project tracking system. TCSI held its annual Collaborative Convening in October, hosting over 60 people from collaboratives across the Tahoe-Central Sierra region with many speakers sharing examples of cross-boundary work around the region. The Convening allows region-wide stakeholders to share lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities to increase collaborative work.

Sugar Bowl Ski Resort: Sugar Bowl continued work under their Truckee Fire Measure T Community Wildfire Prevention Fund on their Forest Fuels Reduction project. They completed mastication and operational fuels reduction on over 190 acres, and began prescribed burning operations this fall. They are starting to track and plan for more fuels work.

Sierra Pacific Industries: This year, SPI signed a Master Stewardship Agreement ($75 million) with Forest Service Region 5 for fuels work, particularly shaded fuel breaks, for over 400 acres over the course of the next three years. They will be working on the Pike Magnus Fuel Break Project on the Tahoe National Forest under another Forest Service Agreement, piloting this type of Forest Service collaboration. SPI completed a tethered-logging fuel break project near Truckee as well as completing almost 600 acres of fuels reduction by Martis Camp.

SYRCL: SYRCL received WCB funds for implementation of the Salmon & Packer Creek Aspen Restoration Project to restore aspen and manage conifers across over 290 acres in the North Yuba headwaters. SYRCL also installed beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and floodplain restoration in the Haskell Peak meadows, and continues to seek planning funding for additional meadow assessment and restoration across the Yuba River watershed. Phase 2 of implementation at Van Norden meadow was completed. Watershed condition monitoring efforts were conducted on the North Yuba for riparian health and water quality assessments in the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project footprint.

Nevada County OES: Quarterly Wildfire Stakeholder Collaborative group met quarterly throughout the year and will be finalizing their Collaborative Charter at the annual conference in December. OES is now working on a third Good Neighbor Authority Agreement with the Tahoe National Forest, including work to be completed on Cruzon Grade Road. Check out their Roadside Vegetation Management Tracker here. Phase 2 of their Woodpecker Ravine Shaded Fuel Break Project is moving forward to address vegetation management on over 700 acres of private property. The Lower Deer Creek Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project had its kick-off for planning and design. OES continues working with the Fire Safe Council on critical evacuation projects, education, and prep.

Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County: (formerly Fire Safe Nevada County Coalition) Helped a dozen new FireWise Communities gain recognition or complete applications for recognition. Held 13 workshops with topics ranging from safe pile burning, organizing and engaging volunteers, and tools for fuels. Held two quarterly meetings of the FireWise Coalition. Developed contract with Nevada County OES to form more engaged FireWise Communities. Held seasonal education campaign to provide communities with key actionable focuses of each season, with the winter educational focus being on trees and roads awareness including winter walks with forest professionals and a planned educational event called Too Many Trees, Not Enough Good Fire. Accelerated Middle Yuba large-landscape multi-county project including private parcels with 80% of planned acreage in FireWise Communities, and goals to scale up prescribed burning and working with the RCD to increase prescribed fire education.

Tahoe National Forest : It was a big year for getting biomass off of the Forest, with over 1600 log trucks moving through and new targets of removing seventy million board feet off of the Forest annually in coming years. The Tahoe is in discussions to plan for forest implementation for the South and Middle Yuba parts of the Forest by 2028-2029. The Tahoe, in conjunction with the North Yuba Forest Partnership, signed a second Record of Decision for North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project for forest treatments around New Bullards Bar and community of Camptonville. The Partnership also held their annual field tour in October. The Tahoe welcomed Chris Feutrier as the new Forest Supervisor and Amber Waters as the new Deputy Forest Supervisor in 2025.

Yuba Forest Network 2025: Meetings and Field Tours

YFN Spring Field Tour: YFN held a spring field tour in May led by Chris Friedel of the Yuba Watershed Institute (YWI) to their ‘Inimim Forest Restoration Project. Chris led tour attendees on a walk through the project area, showcasing the variety of forest health treatment methods being used and exploring the complexities of collaborative restoration projects. The ‘Inimim Project covers almost 2,000 acres of public and private lands nestled along the San Juan Ridge between the South and Middle Yuba Rivers, and has become a beacon of community-led forest stewardship. The project is managed by YWI in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

YFN Summer Quarterly Meeting: For our summer quarterly meeting, YFH held a presentation from Nicholas Coleman, Senior Planner with Placer County Regional Forest Health, overviewing Placer County’s prioritization process for identifying key areas of needed action for forest restoration and wildfire resilience across Placer County. Nicholas shared updates on Placer County’s Ten-Year Regional Forest Health Action Plan including primary restoration goals and project focused areas identified via a modeling assessment from Vibrant Planet of all forested areas in the County. Placer County Forest Health is working towards completing localized assessments and building regional coordination with neighboring jurisdictions to increase capacity for forest projects. Nicholas highlighted project areas of interest along Placer-Nevada County borders and shared how Placer County plans to integrate this prioritization process into Placer County’s upcoming Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). This presentation was a great step for YFN in opening the collaborative conversation for forest project coordination across county lines.

YFN Fall Field Tour– The YFN coordinated a fall field tour to the headwaters of the Middle Yuba to see Nevada Irrigation District’s English Meadow Restoration Project. The tour was led by Neysa King, NID’s Environmental Resource Administrator and Project Manager, who led a walk across the 375-acre project area to highlight the process-based restoration approaches being utilized to repair the natural water supply infrastructure, including over 60 woody debris and gravel/cobble structures. The project is intended to enhance meadow habitat, increase snowpack and surface flow, reduce conifer encroachment, and mitigate wildfire risk.

News and Upcoming Events

Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County

The Fire Safe Nevada County Coalition has been renamed to the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County. Check out their homepage here for more news updates and for upcoming events and news!

Join the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County for their upcoming quarterly meeting – December 9th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm at the Gene Albaugh Room of the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City. This is the regular quarterly meeting of the Coalition Committee (part of the Fire Safe Nevada County Coalition). Preview of winter educational theme and materials to share with your friends, family, neighbors and Firewise Community.

Subscribe to the WRCNC newsletter.

Join the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County for this first-of-its-kind event to show your love for Nevada County’s FireWise Communities! Enjoy live music, great food, interactive “Show Your Love” art, and engaging fire stories. Mark your calendars for February 13th from 5 – 9pm.

The event is jointly hosted by the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County and the Nevada City Office of Emergency Services as part of a Neighbor-to-Neighbor grant—a program of California Volunteers, Office of the Governor. This will also serve as a fundraiser for the volunteer-driven Wildfire Ready Coalition. Let’s come together to make our community—and ourselves—ready for wildfire. Resilient in the face of fire. Built to withstand the blaze. More info here!

Bear Yuba Land Trust

Check out BYLT’s exciting roster of fall and winter events below!

Join BYLT at Rice Crossing Preserve for

• WHAT: A day of trail building, trash collection, meadow restoration, and cookie exchange!
• WHEN: Saturday, December 6th, 9 am
• WHERE: Rice’s Crossing Preserve North at the Yuba Rim Trailhead
• HOW: More info and Sign up here!

I’d Rather Be Walking

WHAT: Informal walking series at some of BYLT’s favorite trails!

WHEN: Friday, December 12th 9:00 am – 10:30 am

WHERE: Wolf Creek Trail – parking lot of Northstar Mining Museum on Allison Ranch Road

HOW: More info and registration here!

What: Take a tour of local fungi with expert field botanist, Shane Hanofee!

When: December 20th from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Where: Orene Wetherall Trail at BYLT’s Woodpecker Wildlife Preserve.

How: More info and registration here!

Sierra Streams Institute

Congratulations and happy anniversary to Sierra Streams Institute as they celebrate 30 years of working to keep our local lands and waters healthy! Sierra Streams comes from grassroots beginnings on Deer Creek and has grown to have region-wide influence and leadership in watershed science, restoration, science education, research, and community science. The Yuba Forest Network is so grateful to have the Sierra Streams Institute as one of our leading Network organizations and a powerful force for good in the YFN Region of Influence. Thank you, SSI!

Sierra Streams Institute is leading a 30th Anniversary Campaign—is a year-long initiative designed to honor three decades of science, stewardship, and education. With a goal of raising $100,000, this campaign will include storytelling, events, and community engagement activities that celebrate SSI’s history and illuminate the path forward. The campaign will culminate in a celebratory event in May 2026, bringing together Sierra Streams founders, partners, volunteers, donors, and community to mark this important occasion—and to invest in what comes next.

Click here to support the next 30 years of incredible work from Sierra Streams Institute!

South Yuba River Citizens League

Come join SYRCL as a volunteer for the 2026 Wild and Scenic Film Festival! SYRCL’s 24th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival will take place February 19-23, 2026, and VOLUNTEER SHIFTS ARE NOW OPEN. We need your help to make this year’s event our most impactful yet.  In 2025, 269 volunteers filled 475 shifts, contributing 1,880 hours to make the festival a success. Join us to make 2026’s Festival even bigger!

Click HERE for more information and to sign up to volunteer!

The theme of the 2026 Wild and Scenic Film Fest is Mobilize: a call to action and a celebration of movement and progress towards tangible change. As arts and science organizations throughout the nation navigate a tumultuous landscape, “Mobilize” reminds us that meaningful change happens when people come together. Stories that mobilize elevate voices, organize efforts, and address challenges with urgency and persistence. From grassroots resistance to international coalitions, from Indigenous land stewards to youth climate strikers, this year’s festival honors those who are mobilizing to create change. 

Yuba Watershed and Fire Safe Council

Volunteers needed! The Yuba Watershed Protection and Fire Safe Council seeks volunteers to help with community outreach. If you can contribute a couple of hours per week or per month and would like to help with events, social media, our tow chain covers or reflective address safety signs programs, Mitigation Reviews, or photography, please contact Outreach Coordinator Lex Matteini at (530) 205-5751 or lex@yubafiresafe.org, or visit yubafiresafe.org/volunteer.

Interested in the staying in the loop on Yuba Watershed and Fire Safe Council meetings in 2026? Click here for more updates and information: https://yubafiresafe.org/meeting-info/

State and Local Resources

Remember: Ready Nevada County Dashboard is an excellent fire season resource!

Governor’s Monthly Update: California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force

Next full Task Force meeting: December 12th, 2025 at the CNRA Auditorium in Sacramento. Click here for more information.

Upcoming Regional Meeting: Sierra Region, March 19-20, 2026- Learn more and register here.

Read the monthly update from the Governor, including information on upcoming regional meetings, forest health grant awards, federal updates, legislation watch, and the state Press Box- read the monthly update here.

Latest news on the ground from the Task Force – click here!

California Annual Progress Report: Pathways to 30x 30

In August, Governor Newsom announced the release of the Pathways to 30×30 Annual Progress Report, a major leap forward toward California’s historic 30×30 target. An incredible 26.1% of lands and 21.9% of coastal waters now meet the state’s definition of durably conserved and managed for biodiversity. Check out the full report here.

Fire Adapted Communities Network

These graphics were developed in the spring of 2025 in collaboration with the Washington Fire Adapted Communities Network, Liz Walker, PhD, and a number of partners in the public health, air quality, and wildfire fields. They were developed over a series of listening sessions and verbal and written feedback. Visit the website for more information.

Sierra Business Council

Northern Rural Energy Network is live! The Sierra Business Council has launched the Northern Rural Energy Network’s residential programming, and we’re now offering our services to homeowners and renters alike! You can learn more about this regional program designed to help families in Northern California save money, boost energy efficiency, and build energy independence through free Energy Efficiency Kits, Home Energy Assessments, and accessible Rebates at NorthernREN.org. Also, check out the Promotional Toolkit for the new network.

Check out the Sierra Business Council Blog for relevant news and monthly legislative updates from SBC’s Government Affairs Team.

Wildfire Solutions Coalition

Alongside partners at The Nature Conservancy and the Northern Sierra Partnership, Sierra Business Council is working behind the scenes on the Wildfire Solutions Coalition, which was created in response to the growing urgency of California’s wildfire crisis. The cross-sector Coalition is unified in the critical need to move the state from wildfire response to wildfire risk reduction.

The collective goal of the Coalition is to secure the funding necessary to achieve California’s wildfire resilience goals and dramatically reduce the impacts of catastrophic wildfire across the state. Coalition members include the Bay Area Council, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, the Association of California Water Agencies, the California Farm Bureau, the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the California Council of Land Trusts, and the Tahoe City Public Utility District. The Coalition is actively recruiting members, and you can find out more about joining the Coalition here. 

Action Alerts

Are you trying to understand how all of the new executive orders are effecting your organization? The National Council of Nonprofits has created a resource that tracks whether and how Executive Orders issued by the Trump Administration affect nonprofits directly or indirectly.

Recurring Meetings and Events

Sierra Nevada 30×30 Regional Meeting: Contact Lis Olearts at liesbet@sierranevadaalliance.org for more information. Meetings occur monthly on the second Wednesday from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, with the next meeting on December 10th on Zoom. 

Sierra County Fire Safe Council: The Fire Safe Sierra County Board of Directors meets on the 4th Thursday of the month at 10:00 am at either the Sierraville Ranger Station, Sierraville School, or the Sierra City Community Hall. Meetings are open to the public. Check the website for information about upcoming meetings.

Forest Business Alliance: The FBA provides technical assistance, workshops, and a peer-learning network to increase local and regional capacity for applicants to CAL FIRE’s Business and Workforce Development Program.

CA Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force 2025:  Sacramento Meeting December 12, CNRA Auditorium, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm. Regional meeting in the Sierra Region, March 19-20, 2026. Location TBD.

Yuba Forest Network Quarterly Meeting: Email Kat Perlman at kat@yubariver.org for more details. The next Quarterly Meeting will be Friday, February 6th, 2026 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm hybrid. Teams: Click here to join the meeting.

Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County: This is the new website of the previously-titled Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities. More information on their meetings coming soon.

Yuba Watershed Protection and Fire Safe Council Meeting: The YWPFSC is changing their meeting structure! Check the linked website for more information. Contact Sandie Huckins for more information at programs@yubafiresafe.org. 

California Biodiversity Network Roundtable Discussions: Hosts roundtable discussions including Sentinel Site Network Roundtables, Stewardship Roundtable Bioinformatics and Community Science Roundtable, and Systematic Conservation Planning Roundtable- visit website for upcoming meeting information. Click here to sign up.

California Landscape Stewardship Network: Peer Learning Exchange every first Monday of the month. The next Peer Learning Exchange is on Monday, December 1st from 1:00 – 2:00 pm. Email Devin Landry at coordinator@clsn.org for more information.

Sci Pub: Sierra Streams Institute hosts SciPub at the Gold Vibe Kombuchary in Grass Valley every 4th Tuesday of the month. This is a science education lecture series on a variety of topics. Stay tuned for information on the future of SciPubs in 2026!

Webinars

Climate Transformation Alliance (CTA): meets quarterly and public is invited to join. Meetings held on the second Friday of the quarter (January, April, July, October) from 9-11am at the Truckee Tahoe Airport. More information on upcoming meetings here. Check out the meeting recordings and notes on the CTA website here.

California Climate and Energy Collaborative: December 9, 11 am – 12 pm. Part of the Sierra Business Council, the California Climate and Energy Collaborative (CCEC) hosts monthly Local Energy Resources Network (LERN) meetings every second Tuesday from 11am – 12pm to exchange knowledge, resources, input, and opportunities to help California local governments pursue their energy and climate goals. Register here for LERN.

Check here for upcoming webinars from the Soicety for Ecological Restoration!

PRE-RECORDED WEBINARS

Prescribed Fire and Wilderness: Barriers and Opportunities in a Time of Change. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Spring 2024

Wildfire and Resilient Landscapes: New Tools for Detailed Analyses. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Spring 2024.

Reading the Tea Leaves: A WestWide Rangeland Fuel Assessment. Rocky Mountain Research Station, February 2025.

Wildfire Policy Forum: California FWD. This Forum convened state leaders and subject matter experts across wildfire, land use, finance, insurance, and economic development to provide a grounding on actionable pathways to strengthen California’s adaptability and resilience. May 2025.

Four Resources on Cultural Burning in Northern California and Oregon: Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network.

Grants

WCB APPLICATIONS FOR PROPOSITION 4 GRANTS ARE OPEN!

Please visit the WCB’s Grant Opportunities page to find out more.

Sierra Nevada Conservancy Wildfire and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program: funds projects within the Sierra Cascade region that reduce wildfire risk to people and communities that result in a combination of multiple watershed, ecosystem, and community benefits.

Rolling applications

Indian Land Tenure Foundation Cultural Awareness Grants: fund projects that maintain strong cultural and spiritual ties to the land in order to preserve traditional practices and Native American religious beliefs for future generations.

Rolling applications

Urban Streams Restoration Program (USRP): established by Water Code section 7048 which declared that urban creek protection, restoration, and enhancement are best undertaken by local agencies and organizations with assistance from the State. The USRP funds projects and provides technical assistance to restore streams impacted by urban development to a more natural state.

Rolling applications

The Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous People: Land, Water, and Climate Grant Program: supports the traditional land and water stewardship and life systems practices of federally recognized tribal nations and Indigenous-led nonprofit organizations.

Rolling applications

Vadon Foundation Grants support innovative community-based initiatives that sustain healthy, thriving, Indigenous nations in perpetuity, including language revitalization, food insecurity, community leadership, etc.

Rolling applications 

Trek Bicycle Corporation: The Trek Foundation Public Trail Development and Land Protection Initiative protects land, develops trail systems for public use, and provides more riders access to great places to ride.

Rolling applications

US FWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program: provides free technical and financial assistance to plan, design, supervise, and monitor customized habitat-restoration projects

Rolling applications 

The Headwaters Economics Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) Program is a technical-assistance program that provides support for communities to reduce wildfire risks through improved land-use planning, compelling communication, and applied research.

Rolling applications

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation: National Register Signage Grant Program: provides funds to government entities and nonprofit organizations to defray the costs of plaques or signs for public properties and historic districts that are placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Rolling applications

The CA WCB 30×30 Grant Program: Land Acquisition supports high-priority land acquisition projects associated with the implementation of a natural community conservation plan (NCCP) and/or habitat conservation plan (HCP).

Rolling applications

The CA Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program  funds projects that provide climate adaptation and resilience on California’s natural and working lands.

Rolling applications

The CA Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) Forest Conservation Program for protection, restoration, and improvement of upper watershed lands in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, including forest lands, meadows, wetlands, chaparral, and riparian habitat, in order to protect and improve water supply and water quality, improve forest health, reduce wildfire danger, mitigate the effects of wildfires on water quality and supply, increase flood protection, or to protect or restore riparian or aquatic resources.

Rolling applications

The CDFW Beaver Conflict Resolution Grant Opportunities: Nature Based Solutions: Beaver Restoration Program: supports the implementation and promotion of human-beaver coexistence strategies through funding for technical assistance and implementation of non-lethal beaver damage deterrence.

Rolling applications

The CDFW Restoration Grant Opportunities: Nature-Based Solutions (Part A): Wetlands and Mountain Meadows Restoration: expands nature-based solutions across California that will advance an approach to restoration that works with and enhances nature to help address societal challenges. Up to $2 million of this will be available for non-lethal beaver damage management. More information can be found in the Beaver Conflict Resolution Grant Opportunities Call for Projects.

Rolling applications

The Headwater Economics Community Planning and Assistance for Wildfires (CPAW) Program provides interdisciplinary teams that collaborate with communities to develop site-specific planning recommendations regarding wildfire risks.

Rolling applications

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sacramento District California In-Lieu Fee Program provides funding for on-the-ground implementation of aquatic-resource restoration, establishment, enhancement, and/or preservation projects in specific Sierra Nevada watersheds. Contact Chris Gurney for the most recent Notice of Funding Availability.

Rolling applications

The USDA Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program provides technical and financial assistance to plan and implement authorized watershed project plans for the purposes of flood prevention, watershed protection, public recreation, etc.

Rolling applications

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Landowner Support: Supporting Underserved and Small-Acreage Forest Landowner Participation in Emerging Private Markets Grant Program – Track B: supports the participation of underserved and/or small-acreage landowners in emerging private markets for climate mitigation or forest resilience. Track B is for projects with budgets up to $2 million.

Rolling applications

The Hind Foundation Standard Grants Program: supports community-based projects proposed by nonprofit organizations in several areas, including plant and wildlife protection, historic landmark restoration, and ecosystem conservation.

Rolling applications

Sustainable Recreation, Tourism, and Equitable Outdoor Access: Sierra Nevada Conservancy is accepting concept proposals for its Sustainable Recreation, Tourism, and Equitable Outdoor Access Grant Program. This program will distribute approximately $4.1 million of remaining Proposition 68 funds to projects that enhance, promote, and develop sustainable recreation and tourism within SNC’s Sierra-Cascade service area.

Concept Proposals due by December 1, 2025. Review of final proposals in March 2026.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Healthy American Forests Initiative: supports watershed restoration and vegetation-management projects on National Forest System lands to achieve healthy forest ecosystems.

Due January 13, 2026

 30×30 Funding Resources: link to an excel Google Document for 30×30 related funding opportunities.

Remember to check the grants page on Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s website for more current grant and funding opportunities or to sign up for their funding opportunities newsletter!

Research and Planning Tools

A new online streamlining request process from the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force now makes it easier to get State approval to implement critical wildfire risk reduction projects. Information on project eligibility, the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan, FAQs, and the request form are available on the Task Force website.

PROJECT STREAMLINING REQUESTS WEBPAGE

California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force: Wildfire Project Technical Assistance Contact Page. Find your local contacts from State Departments and Regional Agencies.

Prescribed Fire Smoke Planning Tool

The SmokePath Explorer has been developed by Sonoma Technology in partnership with CAL FIRE as a new planning tool for prescribed fire. The tool analyzes 20 years’ worth of meteorological variables to generate the probability of smoke impacts from a prescribed fire. It also identifies the population, educational facilities, and healthcare facilities that have the potential to be affected by smoke. Essentially, it was built to help practitioners plan in advance the time window that would be best to burn and whom to contact to warn of potential smoke impacts.

UC ANR: Forest Stewardship Mapping Forest Features

New in Fire Science: Stanford Study on Controlled Burn

A new Standford-led study finds that controlled, low-intensity fires (prescribed burns) can slash wildfire intensity and dangerous smoke pollution across the western United States. Read more here!

Collaborative Conservation Tools & Resources

Western Collaborative Conservation Network (WCCN) and the Center for Collaborative Conservation (CCC) have put together a collaborative, live document: “Collaborative Conservation Tools and Resources”.

Free and Open-Source Geospatial Tools

A self-published book by Vance Russell (owner of VR Conservation Collective) provides resources and examples of open-source geospatial software and solutions. The book is intended for beginners with some knowledge of desktop tools such as ArcGIS Pro or QGIS and a limited understanding of coding using Javascript or Python.

The Behave Fire Modeling System is one of the most widely used tools to model both wildfire and prescribed fire behavior. It is used by fire analysts, burn bosses, students in fire behavior courses, fire personnel, and other professionals involved in fire management. The system uses mathematical models to predict elements of fire behavior and the fire environment. 

The Incident Strategic Alignment Process (ISAP) (US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station) is a structured yet flexible approach to collaboratively develop, discuss, and communicate risk and strategy during wildfire and all-hazard incident response. It incorporates best practices, science-backed risk analytics, and clear guidance to support Incident Management Teams and Agency Administrators to lead as safely, effectively, and efficiently as possible.

Stewardship Workforce Training Database

There is now an online database of stewardship workforce development programs across California, designed to support individuals and organizations interested in obtaining training, hiring stewards, and funding environmental workforce education. Share and explore opportunities to take stewardship action!

Find trail skills training (or add your own) and connect with well-trained, effective volunteers, contractors, and trails professionals.