SAN FRANCISCO (August 27, 2019) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced more than $3.5 million in grants to restore forests and watersheds impacted by wildfires within the Eldorado and Lassen National Forests, and targeted instream improvements for salmon and steelhead within the Klamath, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests in northern California. The grants will leverage more than $1.3 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $4.9 million.
The projects were awarded through the Northern California Forests and Watersheds grant program, a partnership between the Eldorado and Lassen National Forests, the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region and NFWF. Today’s announcement marks the program’s second round of annual grant awards. A complete list of the 2019 grants made through the Northern California Forests and Watersheds program is available here.
“We are proud to award another round of grants with the Forest Service that will enhance watershed and habitat resiliency to benefit wildlife,” said Candace Leong, NFWF’s northern California forest manager. “This round of grant-making also includes the program’s first awards supporting watershed infrastructure projects that will remove fish passage barriers and improve transportation infrastructure and watershed health.”
“By collaborating with NFWF, our partnership allows us to manage watershed infrastructure such as roads and culverts while benefiting watersheds,” said Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore. “These projects represent a new chapter to improving key fish habitat and watershed infrastructure simultaneously.”
The Northern California Forests and Watersheds program’s 2019 grant slate awarded over $3.8 million across 14 projects including over $3.5 million funded in partnership with USDA Forest Service and over $290,000 funded in partnership with Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 2004 Power Fire on Eldorado National Forest burned 14,000 acres in the Mokelumne River watershed. The 2000 Storrie Fire on Lassen National Forest burned 27,000 acres in the North Fork Feather River and Butte Creek watersheds, along with 25,000 acres on Plumas National Forest. Combined, these two fires burned more than 65,000 acres of national forest and left a significant impact on the landscapes, watersheds and ecosystems of the region.
The program funds projects that address five key watershed and forest restoration strategies:
- Watershed restoration and management
- Species management
- Forest and upland restoration and management
- Management of recreational and non-natural features, and
- Watershed infrastructure improvements and management
MCWRA Associate Member “Jacobson James & Associates” developed and submitted the grant application in partnership with and on behalf of MCWRA. MCWRA’s executive director John Kingsbury said, “Jan Jacobson, Co-owner and Principle, had the vision to create a large spatial scale fire fuels reduction analysis and strategic plan to identify innovative, efficient and cost-effective fuels reduction and biomass management plans for fuels reduction projects.”
The identified project will be within the Panther Creek, Bear River and Cole Creek watersheds of El Dorado National Forest. The project will recommend fuel reduction and biomass management strategies that will produce improved ecological benefits to the forest and watersheds.
MCWRA is very grateful to Jan, Linda Mercurio, Project Manager, and the entire JJ&A team that developed the scope of work and assembled the application. Kingsbury said, “this grant award is exciting for MCWRA and will help promote its regional and statewide watershed stewardship interests.” MCRWA is especially thankful to NFWF’s Candace Leong and JJ&A Linda Mercurio for all the coordination and collaboration on the development of this proposal. MCWRA is looking forward to working with the USDA Forest Service and JJ&A on this project!
