$73 Million Has Been Awarded to Prevent Wildfires in California

We saw a lot of headlines about California pre-pandemic: many of them revolving around the wildfires that have plagued the state for decades. There’s plenty to talk about when it comes to these fires, but the damage is tremendous. Climate change is part of it, but so is forest management, or lack thereof. And now California has to figure out how to prevent fires for the future. They need to create some sort of plan.

These grants come from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. The fire department which is an agency of California Natural Resources Agency, has an annual operating budget of $2.3 billion. CalFire states that 2020 was actually the worst fire season on record for California, and 2021 may be even worse. That makes these grants even more important for the state.

Before we talk a bit more about this, here’s a similar grant we have listed. It’s a grant for USA nonprofits, universities, and tribes for conservation of forest and grasslands.

Now Let’s Talk a Bit More About Wildfires in California:

To begin with, let’s talk about 2020, considering it was the worst year on record. In 2020 there were 58,950, compared to 50,477 the year before. And according to the National Interagency Fire Center, about 10.1 million acres of land were burned in 2020. In 2019, only 4.8 million acres were burned. This is a significant increase, and 2021 is thought to be even worse.

And in 2020, six of the most deadly and catastrophic wildfires in California’s history occurred. Wildfires in California have damaged or destroyed a total of 10,500 structures and killed 35 people. The state government and its agencies have to work diligently to combat the spread and growth of these fires.

So What Will This Grant Do?

Okay, so we know how absolutely devastating these fires can be. We know the damage that they can cause. And we know that CalFire is dedicated to working on mitigating all of that for an even harsher year in 2021.

So where exactly will funding go? Well according to CalFire, it’ll be awarded to help in a multitude of ways. The overall goal of this funding is to prevent these wildfires (to the extent possible) from happening before fire season even starts. The goal is to prepare the land before fire seasons. And according to CalFire, the funding will go to 20 different projects:

“The money is going to 20 different projects. “Projects ranging from prescribed fires, to mechanical thinning, hand thinning, mastication projects. Projects that will enhance forest health and make those forests more resilient to wildfires, pest outbreaks, disease, and impacts from drought,” said CalFire Public Information Officer, Christine Mcmorrow.

GrantWatch Understands How Important Fire Prevention Funding Is

Our team understands how important all of this is. It’s very important for states to be proactive in ensuring that property, the environment, and residents are safe. The funding of these projects is to keep the public protected from these potential wildfires and damage. We do have a grant category for the environment-related grants. We also have a grant category for disaster relief as well.

If you have any questions about this grant category or any others, feel free to reach out! You can reach our customer support team by calling 561-249-4129!