In a significant step toward enhancing California’s wildfire
response and resilience, CAL FIRE has awarded $90.8 million in
grants to 94 local wildfire prevention projects across the state.
These grants are part of the Newsom Administration’s ongoing
efforts to bolster community resilience and protect lives and
property from the growing threat of wildfires. Over the past five
years, CAL FIRE has distributed more than $450 million through
its Wildfire Prevention Grants Program, funding over 450 projects
statewide.
The awarded projects focus on hazardous fuels reduction, wildfire
prevention planning, and education, with many targeting
low-income and disadvantaged communities. Notable county projects
include:
Alameda County: Funding for tree trimming and
removal along evacuation routes in Oakland, creating a
significant fuel break along vulnerable corridors.
Fresno County: Removal of 12,000 dead or dying
hazard trees and 50,000 cubic yards of ground fuels to protect
1,000 habitable structures, alongside wildfire prevention
education for property owners.
Mendocino County: Hazardous vegetation removal
along roads and driveways near Leggett, enhancing fire safety
for 300 habitable structures in an area that has not burned in
the last half-century.
Nevada and Placer Counties: Fuel reduction
projects near Truckee by the Tahoe Truckee Airport District to
improve forest health and restore fire resilience through
maintenance on existing fuel breaks and prescribed burning.
Orange County: A multi-phased project to
remove hazardous fuels, including 953 eucalyptus species,
safeguarding 1,228 single-family homes.
Riverside County: Enhancing defensible space
and roadside protection within Murrieta, improving fire safety
for more than 115,000 residents and over 32,000 structures.
San Luis Obispo County: Nineteen wildfire
prevention projects in nine wildland urban interface
communities, involving prescribed grazing, shaded fuel breaks,
roadside clearance, forest thinning, and prescribed fire.
Santa Cruz County: Roadside fuel reduction on
critical evacuation routes and a county-wide chipping program
to support residents’ defensible space requirements.
Siskiyou County: Fuels reduction, thinning,
and burning in and around the City of Weed to lower fire
hazards in communities previously affected by the Mill Fire in
2022.
These projects are part of California’s broader Wildfire and
Forest Resilience Action Plan and are supported by California
Climate Investments, which utilizes cap-and-trade funds.
