California treated more than 233,000 acres of forest and wildland over five years to cut the risk of wildfire, according to a new state report Gov. highlighted Sept. 24 at Climate Week NYC.
Using funding from SB 901, the state awarded more than 660 grants and 316 fuel reduction projects, the report says. It reforested severely burned areas and reduced the likelihood of high-severity wildfire across nearly 150,000 acres; more than 60% of the treatments will benefit areas of high biodiversity value.
The report estimates that Forest Health Grants from the period will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 11.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over their lifetimes. That is a projection, not a measured result, and the governor’s announcement does not say how it was calculated.
The report also counts more than 400 planning, fuel reduction and public education projects in 51 counties through the Wildfire Prevention Program, and more than 900 forest and wildland fire professionals trained through 13 forestry and wood products grants and eight grants to community colleges, school districts and other groups.
It gives two examples from 2024. During the Park Fire, thinned forest near Cohasset burned less intensely, giving firefighters time to protect homes and residents time to evacuate. Along Highway 44 in Shasta County, where CAL FIRE and California Military Department crews had treated more than 1,000 acres, a fire that started in the treated area was held to 10 feet by 10 feet.
Through 2024, the California Conservation Corps used the money for more than 100 projects, half of which included training for its corpsmembers.
“We’re seeing what sustained investment in wildfire resilience can deliver: safer communities, healthier forests, cleaner air and more jobs,” said , California’s secretary for natural resources. With hotter, drier conditions, he said, the state has to “keep investing, keep scaling what works.”
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 2 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
State
Wade Crowfoot
Secretary for Natural Resources
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Region 5 Photography, USDA Forest Service / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Sources & methodology
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