The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with our partners in California, is dedicated to helping restore and enhance forested landscapes and watersheds within Northern California, and across the state. Funding through the Northern California Forests and Watersheds program supports a variety of grant opportunities to increase headwaters resilience, improve forest health, and recover from wildfire, for the benefit of fish and wildlife throughout these environments.
Partners
In California, 11 of the state’s largest 20 wildfires have occurred within the last 10 years. The threat of unnatural wildfire has increased due to decades of fire suppression activities, recent droughts, insect infestations, and challenges from increased human activities on the forest.
Although the ecosystems of northern California have evolved to be well adapted to fire, the stressors associated with recent increases in frequency and intensity of fires have resulted in long-term losses in habitat, ecosystem transitions, opportunities for invasive species to take hold and spread, and changes in hydrology and associated effects to sediment, nutrient fate and transport.
The Northern California Forests and Watersheds conservation priorities 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 non-native species control
- Fuels management
- Recreational use management of trails, roads and campsites that may have a deleterious impact on natural resources
Application Information
Due Dates
| 06/22/2022 | 2021 Grant Slate | Download the PDF |
| 04/13/2021 | Program Fact Sheet | Download the PDF |
| 12/03/2019 | Restoration Strategy | Download the PDF |
| 04/13/2021 | California Forests and Watershed Infrastructure Resilience 2020 Grant Slate | Download the PDF |
| 04/13/2021 | Northern California Forests and Watersheds 2020 Grant Slate | Download the PDF |
| 09/02/2020 | Northern California Forests and Watersheds 2019 Grant Slate | Download the PDF |
| 09/02/2020 | Northern California Forests and Watersheds 2018 Grant Slate | Download the PDF |
| 05/24/2022 | California Business Plan | Download the PDF |
Director, Western Regional Office
Program Coordinator, Western Regional Office
Manager, Western Region Forests
Related Species
Coho salmon
Coho salmon is one of five salmon species along the west coast of the United States, from the Alaskan arctic to Santa Cruz, California. The species is anadromous and populations in the lower portion of its range are severely affected by barriers to stream passage and ocean conditions, freshwater availability and land-use practices.
Cutthroat trout
Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) encompasses a number of distinct trout subspecies. These are iconic denizens of western landscapes, known for the red "cutthroat" under their jaw. They are associated with cold, clean, highly oxygenated streams, though many of the forms live in lakes and one is anadromous. Cutthroat trout are impacted by stream barriers, invasive fish and de-watering of their habitat.
Golden eagle
The golden eagle is a Holarctic species that inhabits open country, in either deserts, tundra, high altitudes or rangelands. Although it is widely distributed in the continental United States, its numbers are generally much greater in western states.
Cougar
The cougar, also known as mountain lion or puma, is a powerful predator that is found in a variety of habitat types from Canada into South America. Cougars are stealthy ambush hunters that can exploit many prey types, although their primary food source is deer. Cougars active patrol large home territories and survive in low densities.
Fisher
Fishers are a forest-dwelling member of the Mustelidae, or weasel family, and have reclaimed much of their historic range after unregulated fur trapping and forest clearing caused severe population declines. They are specialized predators of porcupines and the only carnivore species that deliberately target them as prey.
Lahontan cutthroat trout
The Lahontan cutthroat trout is a distinct species of cutthroat trout, native to cold-water habitats throughout the Lahontan Basin of northern Nevada, eastern California, and southern Oregon. Lahontan cutthroat trout have been listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act since 1975, with key threats identified as habitat fragmentation and degradation that have led to genetic isolation and increased competition.
