CAL FIRE Grants
CAL FIRE’s California Climate Investments Wildfire Prevention Grants
CAL FIRE administers the California Climate Investments Wildfire Prevention Grants Program, which provides funding for fire prevention projects and activities in and near fire threatened communities that focus on increasing the protection of people, structures, and communities. Funded activities include hazardous fuels reduction, wildfire prevention planning, and wildfire prevention education with an emphasis on improving public health and safety while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of funding-qualifying hazardous fuels reduction activities include:
· Vegetation clearance in critical locations to reduce wildfire intensity and rate of spread;
· Creation or maintenance of fuel breaks in strategic locations, as identified in CAL FIRE Unit Fire Plans, a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, or similar strategic planning document;
· Removal of ladder fuels to reduce the risk of crown fires;
· Creation of community-level fire prevention programs, such as community chipping days, roadside chipping, and green waste bin programs;
· Selective tree removal (thinning) to improve forest health to withstand wildfire;
· Modification of vegetation adjacent to roads to improve public safety for egress of evacuating residents and ingress of responding emergency personnel;
· Reduction of fuel loading around critical infrastructure to maintain continuity of government and other critical services, including, but not limited to fire, police, water, sewer, roads, etc.;
· Purchase of fuel modification equipment not to exceed $250,000. Equipment is an item of $5,000 or more per unit cost and has a tangible useful life of more than one year;
· Supplies include items under $5,000 per unit cost. Chainsaws are an example of a supply item and are not considered equipment;
· Projects to improve compliance with defensible space requirements as required by Public Resources Code Section 4291 through increased inspections, assessment, and assistance; and
· Projects to reduce the flammability of structures and communities to prevent their ignition. Examples of funding-qualifying wildfire prevention planning:
· Wildfire risk or related mapping;
· Creation or update of strategic wildfire planning documents, such as: o Evacuation plans, o Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP),
o Local Hazard Mitigation Plans,
o Safety Elements, and
o Wildfire prevention or mitigation plans. Finally, examples of funding qualifying educational activities (subject to CAL FIRE approval):
· Development and implementation of public education and outreach programs. Programs may include technical assistance, workforce recruitment and training, and equipment purchases;
· Workshops, meetings, materials creation, and other educational activities with the purpose of increasing knowledge and awareness of information that could be used to reduce the total number of wildfires, acres burned, and structures lost; and
· To educate the public on wildfire mitigation and risk reduction strategies.
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