Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program

​Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF)

Funding Received: $1,600,000​​

​​​​​The Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) is a non-profit, philanthropy-focused organization serving San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The IECF RFFC grant will support creating a Regional Priority Plan, assessing Riverside County's needs, and collaborating closely with Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD), an existing RFFC block grantee. IECF is building partnerships across the Inland Empire to expand upon IERCD's existing work, creating a coalition representative of the entire Inland Empire.  ​

IECF will place a heavy emphasis on organizational capacity building, staffing capacity, civic engagement, and training. However, given that the ultimate goal of RFFC funds is to undertake landscape scale restoration and mitigation projects, IECF will have an explicit focus on project planning and preparation, and progress towards implementation projects, to help the region grow the right skills and abilities to stay focused on California’s wildfire and climate goals.  IECF will work in close collaboration with the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District. IECF will distribute subgrant funding with the requirement that grantees utilize and broaden the tools and infrastructure already being built to encompass Riverside County. 

IECF Regional Priority Plan

iegives.org

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Funding Received: $5,695,000​

​​San Bernardino Regional Priority Plan

Funding Received: ​$4,220,000

​This grant will support development and implementation of regional fire resiliency and risk reduction strategies and priorities, regional collaboration and partnership within Orange County and coastal Southern California, creation of demonstration and pilot projects, and community engagement and outreach. This grant will allow IRC to advance the regional shared fire management and risk reduction agenda developed through the County of Orange Area Safety Taskforce (COAST).

The Orange County CWPP has identified ignition prevention, specifically along roadsides, as a priority for fire prevention in the region. Creating a countywide strategic plan focused on addressing roadside ignitions will highlight areas at highest risk for wildfire as well as indicate site specific treatment options for future projects. This information will be made available to all entities affected by fire, including COAST, and can be used as a prioritization tool for roadside ignition prevention efforts. Primary goals will be to:  

1. Complete an ignition risk assessment for Orange County.
2. Develop an ignition prevention model.
   
3. Develop a set of recommendations that will be informed by the aforementioned items to reduce the risk of wildland fires in the IRC RFFC Program region.
   

Funding Received: ​$5,355,000.00

With their round 1 RFFC funding, the RCD of Greater San Diego County (RCDGSC) developed a Regional Priority Plan for San Diego County, promoted healthy forest practices through demonstration projects, developed a coordinated effort to reduce the Gold Spotted Oak Borer threat, provided fire management resources to local communities and partners, and developed a Community Wildfire Protection (CWPP) training course. 

This funding will allow the RCD to build on work conducted with the initial RFFC Funding. They will continue to increase regional capacity to plan, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes by improving ecosystem health, community wildfire preparedness, and fire resilience. Through capacity building efforts they will work to align efforts across the region by continuing to facilitate their local collaborative group, further develop and manage the priority project database to support project readiness and implementation and, increase partner capacity to address immediate and long-term needs.

Primary program goals include: 

RCDGSC GSOB Work (funded through RFFC)​

rcdsandiego.org

San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC)
Funding Received: $2,300,000

RMC is a state conservancy operating in the urban and undeveloped areas of Los Angeles County. The RMC RFFC grant will support creating a Regional Priority Plan that assesses climate stressors, including extreme heat and drought, and the increased wildfire risk these changes exacerbate. RMC is creating a landscape level assessment of needs and priorities to funnel investments toward the most impactful projects and high-need communities while protecting and restoring socioecological resilience. 

Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC)

Funding Received: ​​$2,220,000

​SMMC worked with the Mountains and Recreation and Conservation Authority and the Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Alliance to develop a Regional Priority Plan to identify fire resilience priorities for chaparral and forested ecosystems. Partners in the Fire Safe Alliance include state and county fire officials, state parks, and local stakeholders. 

smm​​c.ca.gov

Funding Received: $14,300,000

WRTC's RFFC grant focuses on technical capacity building, peer networking to advance the dissemination of best practices, and coordination.

​​This funding will allow the Watershed Center to continue their statewide RFFC work with the primary goals of:

• Increasing California wildfire resilience practitioners’ capacity to advance the state’s forest and fire strategies increases. 
• Increasing access to professional development opportunities regarding a broad range of wildfire resilience career paths. Long term, the wildfire resilience workforce is more diversified.
  
• Advance one or more wildfire mitigation demonstration projects that benefit underserved communities through collaboration. 
• Improving communication between RFFC grantees and provide technical assistance as needed. 
• Assisting with California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force strategies and plans. Including facilitating the FAC work group of the Task Force and, working with CALFIRE, Task Force staff, and other state agency representatives to monitor and advance work outlined in the Forest Action Plan Goal 2
• Evaluating the impact and/or progress of the RFFC program on grantees, subgrantees, and California practitioners participating in Peer Connect
• Identifying and advance enabling policies and/or authorities and strategies as well as barriers to wildfire resilience and forest stewardship implementation.

​​thewatershedcenter.com​​​

California Fire Safe Council (CFSC)​​

Funding Received (round 1 grantee): ​$1,615,000

CFSC’s grant focuses on providing technical assistance to existing local fire safe councils, helping start new fire safe councils, and providing resources for fire safe councils and their partners. ​The grant is funding regional coordinators who provide technical assistance to fire safe councils and communities that are interested in starting fire safe councils. 

​This funding has allowed CFSC to conduct collaborative planning, organizational capacity building, and partnership development to implement high-impact, sustainable projects and initiatives to enhance resilience across the state. They have deployed peer-networking strategies across watersheds and regions to ensure that innovations and best practices are rapidly diffused and adopted. 
cafiresafecouncil.org​​

Indigenous Stewardship Network

Funding Received: ​$4,553,763

​​The purpose of the grant is to grow greater capacity to restore Indigenous-led cultural burning, and other Indigenous stewardship practices to improve biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and community-health and well-being.

Primary project goals and activities include:

• Building ISN staff and internal capacities to support an Indigenous network, knowledge exchanges, and trainings.
• Providing direct funding to tribes, Native-led non-profits, and traditional cultural practitioners to grow cultural burning in the State of California.
• Conducting education and outreach and engage partners (funders, agencies, non-profits, etc.) to improve opportunities (access and funding) for Indigenous-led stewardship.
  
  

​The Karuk Tribe

Funding Received: $1,198,522

​The Karuk tribe is in the process of developing a facility that will sever as a training center and fill other critical need. Taayvávan Iptáamax, which means “many people stoke the fire,” will be a multipurpose facility used as a Prescribed Fire Training Center while also serving critical support functions in times of emergency. Alongside​ the building of Taayvávan Iptáamax, KDNR will need to expand its current infrastructure and facilities in order to keep up with the increasing volume of projects, a growing workforce, and climate resiliency needs.

To bring the Taayvávan Iptáamax project to implementation readiness, the Tribe will use this funding to update KDNR's 2015 Facilities Master Plan, hire consultants to conduct required planning studies; complete formal design processes (including site and building design along with a construction cost estimate), and work to mobilize resources and strengthen partnerships for the eventual construction and operation of the facilities.

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Water Solutions Network

Funding received: ​$402,900

 This agreement will fund the development and implementation of two forest gatherings on tribal land in San Diego County and Tuolumne County. The gatherings will bring local, tribal, state, and federal entities together to develop an understanding of tribal knowledge, expertise, and connection that Tribes have with their land. The gatherings will also showcase the importance of strong networks and collaborations and build trust and understanding between local, tribal, state, and federal agencies.

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