Lassen National Forest and NFWF Award More Than $385,000 for Two Fire Recovery and Watershed Restoration Projects
SAN FRANCISCO (December 17, 2018) – The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service's (USFS) Lassen National Forest and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced two additional grants totaling $385,240 to restore forests and watersheds impacted by the Storrie Fire within the Lassen National Forest in northern California.
The grants were awarded through the Northern California Forests and Watersheds grant program to National Council for Air and Stream Improvement and Student Conservation Association. Projects will focus on watershed and ecosystem restoration affected by the fire and increasing awareness and understanding of wildfire's impact on the Lassen National Forest.
The grants announced today complete the Northern California Forests and Watersheds grant program 2018 awards. In August 2018, the program awarded nearly $1.26 million in grants to six additional projects restoring forests and watersheds impacted by wildfires within the Lassen National Forest and Eldorado National Forest.
A complete list of the 2018 grants made through the Northern California Forests and Watersheds grant program is available here.
The Lassen National Forest encompasses 1.2 million acres in the northern Sierra Nevada of northern California. The forest is bordered by the Modoc Plumas and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.
The 2000 Storrie Fire on the Lassen National Forest burned 27,000 acres in the North Fork Feather River watershed and the Butte Creek watershed along with 25,000 acres on the Plumas National Forest.
"We look forward to awarding these projects that are focused on improving forest health will reduce erosion and improve public access," said Acting Lassen Forest Supervisor Chris Schow.
"Through this partnership we have created a strategy for improving forest health and the health of the watersheds that these forests depend on" said Candace Leong, NFWF's northern California forest manager. "Today's grants focus on implementing on-the-ground conservation to benefit watershed resources and local communities."
The USFS and NFWF will release the Spring 2019 Request for Proposal opportunity in January 2019. Further details on the Spring 2019 Request for Proposal and associated public open houses hosted by USFS will be available on NFWF's website in early January 2019 at www.nfwf.org/norcal.
About NFWF
Chartered by Congress in 1984 the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish wildlife plants and habitats. Working with federal corporate and individual partners NFWF has funded more than 4500 organizations and generated a conservation impact of more than $4.8 billion. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.
About the USDA Forest Service
The mission of the Forest Service an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to sustain the health diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land provides assistance to state and private landowners and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S. of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.
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