California Forests and Watersheds Program

In California, 11 of the state’s largest 20 wildfires have occurred within the last 10 years. The threat of unnatural, high-intensity wildfire has increased due to decades of fire suppression activities, recent droughts, insect infestations and challenges from increased human activities on the forest.

The diversity of landscapes in California requires locally specific approaches and priorities coupled with regional goals and objectives. In other words, the way in which forests are managed in Northern California is different than Southern California and due to differences in climate, population, economies and capacity.

Northern California

Although the ecosystems of Northern California evolved to be well-adapted to fire, the stressors associated with recent increases in frequency and intensity of wildfires have resulted in long-term losses in habitat, ecosystem transitions, opportunities for invasive species to take hold and spread, and changes in hydrology.  

The Northern California conservation priorities in this region include but are not limited to:

• Restoration of watersheds, landscapes, meadows, riparian and other habitats
• Aquatic organism and fish passage enhancements
• Native species restoration and nonnative species control
• Fuels management
• Recreational use management of trails, roads and campsites that may have a deleterious impact on natural resources

Southern California

Southern California has steep, rugged mountains, long sandy coastlines and remote wilderness. It is a cross-section of many environments—rivers and ocean, forests and grasslands, deserts and coastal shrublands. As one of the world’s most biologically diverse areas, it supports a wide variety of unique and important species such as the California condor, steelhead trout, big cone Douglas-fir and monarch butterflies. All these environments are at the doorstep for more than 18 million people, who influence and are influenced by these landscapes every day. However, because this region does not have merchantable timber, the capacity and access to equipment to carry out these activities are constrained compared to what is available in Northern California.

Past projects through this region include, but are not limited to:

• Invasive weed treatments and restoration of native chaparral
• Steelhead habitat surveys and population counts
• Trail maintenance and interpretive sign development
• Aquatic organism passage improvement designs

Wildfire Restoration

NFWF has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to recover and enhance USFS-managed lands affected by wildfire, develop tools and information to guide restoration and management decisions, and build resilience to future fires and drought. In addition, NFWF partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fund projects which monitor the species response to our activities, and we coordinate closely with the State of California to maximize leverage opportunities with our funding.

These projects and coordination improve forest health and watersheds by increasing the pace and scale of post-fire restoration, providing sustainable and lasting ecological benefits, improving forest health and resilience, protecting communities in and around federally protected public lands, and encourages “shared-stewardship” of USFS lands through expanded partnerships and cooperation.