Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program

Explore The Partnerships & Programs Within Each Region:

NORTHERN REGION	CENTRAL REGION	SIERRA-CASCADE-INYO REGION
SOUTHERN REGION	STATEWIDE

NORTHERN REGION

Inner Coast Collaborative (ICC)Location: Napa, Colusa, Solano, Sonoma, & Yolo Counties

ICC is a regional partnership of Napa County RCD, Clear Lake Environmental Resource Center (CLERC), Colusa County RCD, Solano County RCD, Sonoma RCD, and Yolo County RCD, and is coordinated and administered by Napa County RCD.

Napa RCD has worked with lead partners to develop a Memorandum of Agreement codifying the collaborative, conduct a Regional Needs Assessment to better understand regional capacity needs and opportunities, and develop detailed county-level SOW’s outlining planned activities through 2025 (i.e., original grant end period), while simultaneously supporting high-priority planning, capacity building, and demonstration projects.

This funding focuses on capacity building, planning, project development, technical assistance, outreach and education, and demonstration projects . Their workplan expands upon support for program administration and Lead Partner activities, maximizing the ability for this funding to meaningfully build and sustain increased capacity and a pipeline of shovel ready projects.

Visit Napa RCD To Learn More

North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP)Location: North Coast -

Total Dollars Awarded: $13,560,000

This funding will support the rapid increase of wildfire, forest, and community resiliency projects consistent with the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, Agreement for Shared Stewardship of California's Forests and Rangelands, the California Forest Carbon Plan, and Executive Order B-52-18. This will be accomplished through refining and implementing a regional priority plan (RPP), supporting the enhanced capacity of regional partners, and developing a substantial suite of priority projects ready for implementation. Specific elements of the RPP planning process that will be leveraged and built upon include regional remote sensing, evaluation of regional priorities via the NCRP Adaptive Planning and Prioritization Framework (APPF), a portfolio of priority large scale, integrated multi-benefit, landscape scale projects, capacity investments in regional organizations, workforce enhancement, technical assistance to project sponsors, and learnings and applications of knowledge from the RPP demonstration projects, as well as from cross boundary collaboration among RFFC grantees, DOC, Task Force and other partners.

northcoastresourcepartnership.org

NCRP Regional Priority Plan

NCRP Project Tracker

Visit California Open Lands To Learn More

North Sacramento Valley Coalition (NSVC)

Location: Glenn, Tehama, & Shasta Counties
Total Dollars Awarded: $8,160,000

NSVC is a regional partnership of Glenn County RCD, RCD of Tehama County, Shasta Valley RCD, and Western Shasta RCD and is coordinated and administered by Glenn County RCD. NSVC is working region-wide to develop a regional priority plan, support capacity building, plan priority fire resiliency projects, implement demonstration projects of new and innovative techniques, and conduct outreach and education.

This funding will support the successful growth and long-term stability of organizational, community, and collaborative capacity to effectively plan, develop, and implement projects and programs with the goal of creating multi-benefit outcomes. NSVC members will develop organizational capacity within each participating RCD as well as support other organizations throughout the NSVC RFFC Region involved with promoting conservation initiatives. The partnership will work within the region to provide technical assistance to partners and others to increase the pace and scale of project implementation in the region. Additionally, the members of the NSVC will identify opportunities for workforce development and training in order to accelerate the progress of program activities, with the aim of growing capacities and “shovel-ready” project pipelines throughout the NSVC RFFC Region.

NSVC members will collaborate in order to prioritize projects/programs that will contribute to the conception of a robust and informative Regional Priority Plan. As part of regional planning, the NSVC will assess data needs and develop strategies to collect and maintain data relevant to development of the RPP. Finally, the grant will fund demonstration project implementation. Demonstration projects will be developed with the goal of achieving multiple program benefits in mind and will integrate regional workforce development, employ new technologies, make use of innovative techniques, and include outreach components that will allow the NSVC to provide open access to, as well as expansively share the data/outcomes ascertained from these important projects.

glenncountyrcd.org

CENTRAL REGION

State Coastal Conservancy (SCC)
Location: Central California
Total Dollars Awarded: $20,280,000

SCC is working with subgrantees to develop a regional priority plan to define fire resiliency priorities, conduct vegetation management and prescribed burn projects, and build capacity throughout the region.

The 2023 work plan and the SCC’s approach to achieving the RFFC objectives this region builds on existing work in the region and the priorities of partner organizations. SCC has identified subgrants through a combination of receiving applications and proactively seeking partners to help advance the RFFC objectives:

Increase capacity, support strategic collaborative planning and coordination, and accelerate wildfire and forest resilience, management, and restoration efforts at the landscape level.
Strengthen regional leadership on wildfire and forest resilience actions in coordination with key state and federal agencies.
Build a pipeline of forestry and wildfire protection projects. Identify, prioritize, plan, make ready projects that meet regional and statewide public safety, economic resilience, ecosystem, and natural resource goals.

scc.ca.gov

SIERRA-CASCADE-INYO REGION

Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC)

Location: Sierra Nevada Area

Total Dollars Awarded: $23,170,000

Funding Received: $23,170,000

SNC is working to increase regional capacity to plan and implement projects that improve forest health and fire resiliency.

This funding will allow SNC to work closely with existing RFFC subgrantees and other sub regional partners, as well as

Sierra Nevada Tribes and the Intertribal Indigenous Stewardship Council, to identify an effective suite of subgrants to

help meet needs across the RFFC planning areas so that the Sierra Nevada Region as a whole can level up in its

collective capacity to plan, fund, and implement restoration projects to increase the pace and scale of forest

resilience projects. Subgrants will include:

Additional allocations to subgrantees for expanded capacity building, planning, project development, or demonstration projects
Allocations to new Subgrantees for capacity building, planning, and project development, focusing on areas or partners not fully covered in the initial rollout of the RFFC program
Technical assistance Subgrants or contracts for activities that support one or more RFFC planning areas.

This funding will help build the capacity of SNC and their partners, help increase the scale and speed of project development so that implementation programs have extensive statewide lists of shovel ready projects, including a directed subgrant program providing funding for CEQA/NEPA to move projects to shovel-readiness, with a focus on RFFC planning areas needing project pipeline development. Funding will also be used in those planning areas to overcome other barriers related to developing project pipelines. Finally this funding will support demonstration projects that implement techniques or partnerships new to an area, highlight innovative technology or approaches, and may be scaled up or replicated.

sierranevada.ca.gov

Project Highlight: Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation

Total Funding: $876,558

The Sierra Foothill Conservancy is working to protect Mariposa County, a historically wildfire-vulnerable area, from future destructive fires. To accomplish this, the Sierra Foothill Conservancy has partnered with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation with the help of grant funding from the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program. The two are working together to restore forest health along the Mariposa Creek Parkway.

RFFC funding facilitated through the Sierra Nevada Conservancy has helped the Sierra Foothill Conservancy and Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation improve staff resources and begin working together to implement restoration efforts of the Parkway. The Miwuk Nation provided valuable ecological knowledge and allowed the combined workforce to restore 354 acres of land through prescribed burns and replanting of native species. Feeding off the success of this project, efforts are now underway to expand restoration throughout other areas of Mariposa County in partnership with the Mariposa County Fire Advisory Committee and the Mariposa Fire Safe Council. The RFFC Program will allow these groups to purchase critical equipment, hire and train staff, and implement more fuel-reduction projects to protect vital natural and cultural resources, the town of Mariposa, and other communities throughout the county.

Project Highlight: Whitebark Institute

Total Funding: $1,075,212

In an effort to improve resources and build fire resilience in Mono and Inyo Counties, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy provided Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) grant funding to the Eastern California Water Association in 2019. This grant helped create the Whitebark Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing wildfire risk and improving resilience of eastern Sierra forests, landscapes, and communities.

Since its founding, the Whitebark Institute and other local partners in the eastern Sierra Nevada have created the Eastern Sierra Climate and Communities Resilience Project, a two-year planning project launched in 2025 that works to reduce fuels, build forest resilience, and enhance ecological health around Mammoth Lakes and other communities. The first year of implementation has reduced hazardous fuels on more than 1,400 acres of the project area, with more projects ready for implementation in 2026. The project hopes to eventually protect 65,000 acres of Inyo National Forest land.

Tahoe Conservancy

Location: Tahoe Area

Total Dollars Awarded: $2,700,000

This funding supports regional capacity building, project planning, permitting, implementation, and project demonstration, as well as outreach and education in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The RFFC Program provides support to the Conservancy for coordinating, planning, and implementing projects that increase regional capacity for improving forest health and fire resiliency for Basin communities. Some projects will utilize innovative and creative approaches for scaling up, building capacity, or leveraging technology and equipment for more rapid, largescale implementation. Stakeholder engagement, outreach, and educational support will be provided for partners, residents, and visitors in the Basin so that people are engaged in wildfire and forest resilience projects and understand their importance. A select number of projects will also be used as case studies for other planning and implementation efforts across the state of California.

The Conservancy is actively working to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration on multiple levels. This funding will allow them to address capacity the following key needs: 1) capacity building that strengthens local expertise in the project level planning needed for building project pipelines among partners; 2) developing innovative partnerships that create efficiencies of scope and scale; 3) more community outreach; and 4) broadening stakeholder engagement above current levels.

tahoe.ca.gov

SOUTHERN REGION

Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF)

Location: San Bernardino & Riverside Counties

Total Dollars Awarded: $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

Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD)

Location: San Bernardino Mountains Area

Total Dollars Awarded: $5,695,000

Through this funding, IERCD will address both immediate and long-term projects that fall into the categories of (1) Project development and planning to build a pipeline of forestry and wildfire protection projects (2) Increasing capacity to accelerate wildfire resilience and strengthen regional leadership (3) Expanding collaborative efforts and regional priority planning to continue preparing the region to accept and apply for more state, federal, and private funding for forest health and fire resiliency projects and (4) Implementation of demonstration projects and adaptive management of implementation projects. IERCD will serve as the lead block grantee for the program collaborating with CNRA and DOC staff at the state level and collaborating locally with regional partners.

The region for this grant includes the San Bernardino Mountains and adjacent fire-prone communities within Inland Empire RCD and Mojave Desert RCD’s districts. This grant was informed by over a dozen partners and encompasses programs, projects, and capacity needs identified through the initial Regional Priority Planning process.

iercd.org

San Bernardino Regional Priority Plan

Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC)

Location: Orange County & Coastal Southern CA

Total Dollars Awarded: $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:

Complete an ignition risk assessment for Orange County.
Develop an ignition prevention model.
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.

irconservancy.org

Project Highlight: Bringing Together Land Stewards

Total Funding: $20,000

In November of 2025, with the help of RFFC funding, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy partnered with the Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, the Laguna Canyon Foundation, and the Wildlands Urban Interface Climate Action Network (WUICAN) to host a two-day conference promoting shared learning, relationship building, and creating a vision for the future of land stewardship in California.

The event hosted over 100 participants from a wide range of tribal communities, community organizations, non-profits, and local and state government offices. $20,000 of RFFC funding helped cover event costs including the venue and hotel expenses for tribal members attending from across the state. Participants engaged in conversations around cultural burning and conservation practices to promote important relationships and Indigenous stewardship that will help keep Southern California wildlands prioritized and protected.

Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County

Location: Greater San Diego County

Total Dollars Awarded: $5,355,000

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:

Developing a framework for data stewardship, managing and maintaining the priority project list.
Developing a framework for SoCal regional block grant implementation and management, aligning the Southern Cal resource kit, project planning tools, advisory and planning groups, etc.
Strengthening efforts to support community level groups such as Fire Safe Councils, HOAs other communities with planning and implementation.
Strengthening efforts to support Tribes with planning and implementation.

RCD of Greater San Diego County RPP

RFFC Related Videos

RCDGSC GSOB Work (funded through RFFC)

rcdsandiego.org

San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC)

Location: Los Angeles County

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.

The RMC will work with key regional stakeholders and land managers to develop a spatially explicit list of wildfire resilience projects and initiatives, conduct an equity-centered gap analysis to identify critical project areas and communities in need of investment, and build a holistic, prioritized plan to fund, build capacity around, and implement wildfire resilience projects targeted to the region’s socioecological needs.

rmc.ca.gov

Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC)

Location: Santa Monica Mountains

Total Dollars Awarded: $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.

This funding will allow SMMC to facilitate the RFFC program within the SMMC’s Block Grant region and support project development, demonstration projects, and capacity investments. The SMMC will continue to support regional planning and coordinate with regional partners. The SMMC will work with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) to maintain the Regional Priority Plan and Priority Projects List, engage with local partners to remove roadblocks from developing projects, complete demonstration projects, and other tasks. This funding will also provide resources to SMMC to actively work across its lands to prevent roadside and other fire ignition. Funds from this program increase their capacity to prevent and identify ignitions.

SMMC Regional Priority Plan

smmc.ca.gov

Project Highlight: MCRA Fuels Reduction

Total Funding: $5,625,000

Funding from the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) program is helping the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) conduct critical fuels reduction projects in Southern California to protect communities from wildfires.

The MRCA works in partnership with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District to manage parkland operations, ranger services, fire prevention and protection service, and outreach across 75,000 acres of Southern California parkland. RFFC funding provides environmental technical support, tribal consultation, and financing for 11 fire risk reduction projects. that These projects included manual brush thinning, prescribed fire treatments, large scale grazing, and vegetation reduction along critical evacuation roads.

As of March 3rd, 2026, approximately half of a planned 524 acres have received fire treatment in partnership with the Los Angeles and Ventura County Fire Departments, with the rest soon to follow.

STATEWIDE

Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC)

Location: Statewide

Total Dollars Awarded: $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)

Location: Statewide

Total Dollars Awarded: $1,615,000 (Round 1 Grantee)

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

Location: Statewide
Total Dollars Awarded: $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.

Visit the Indigenous Stewardship Network to Learn More

The Karuk Tribe

Location: Statewide
Total Dollars Awarded: $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.

Visit The Karuk Tribe to Learn More

Water Solutions Network

Location: Statewide
Total Dollars Awarded: $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.

Check out these videos to learn more

California Climate Investments

The Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. For more information, visit California Climate Investments.

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Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program