PRESS RELEASE: TTCF receives $1.9M from the CAL FIRE Wildfire Resilience Block Grant Program

Tags: climatechange, foresthealth, forests, wildfire

TRUCKEE, CA– In partnership with local fire districts and organizations, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) was awarded $1.9M from the CAL FIRE Wildfire Resilience Block Grant Program. With these committed funds, this pilot program assists private forested property owners with wildfire resilience efforts by providing technical and financial assistance for forest resilience projects. The program focuses on providing resources to private properties that are three acres or larger in size.

The block grant will enable the formation of the Truckee North Tahoe Forest Management Program (TNTFMP). This new program will allow TTCF to provide both technical assistance and financial resources to qualifying private landowners to establish and implement Forest Management Plans and forest health treatments in accordance with CAL FIRE regulations. A committee of stakeholders will be formed to help inform and shape the distribution of this CAL FIRE block grant. The committee will include members of diverse organizations and agencies with a vested interest and involvement in wildfire resilience and community safety. Along with stakeholder committee review, projects requesting funding or technical assistance will be prioritized with consideration of existing regional wildfire resilience and forest health plans. 

Through its Forest Futures initiative, TTCF has been focused on aligning local organizations around minimizing the risk of wildfires through better preparation. With strong on-the-ground partnerships and a pipeline of critical projects, Forest Futures has deployed dollars into the community quickly for the greatest impact. 

Providing funding that expands capacity for wildfire resilience program work and projects in our communities has been instrumental in increasing the pace and scale of regional forest health efforts. The CAL FIRE Block Grant will further increase our region’s capacity to adapt to the climate change impacts that we are seeing expressed as an increase in catastrophic wildfire and tree mortality. We are excited to have a dedicated pool of resources to address private property needs that are often not eligible for other types of funding.

-Nicole Lutkemuller, TTCF’s Forest Futures Program Director

To help support the implementation of the TNTFMP and to increase Forest Futures engagement in Community Wildfire Resilience programming, TTCF has hired a new Program Coordinator. Anne Graham joined the TTCF team on August 29. Anne has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Santa Clara University and has served two AmeriCorps terms at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, as well as interned with the Truckee River Watershed Council. 

Over the next few months, TTCF will be forming the stakeholder committee, establishing the guidelines for the program, and building a website where partners, property owners, and forestry contracts can find more information. If you are a forestry contractor interested in learning more about how you can be involved in projects funded by this program or if you would like to be added to the TNTFMP contact list, please email Forest Futures Program Coordinator Anne Graham at anne@ttcf.net.