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Finance tool, collaborative work takes forest restoration to next level

February 26, 2024

Tall green trees evenly spaced in a forest.
Here is a photo of work completed in the initial phase of Phase 1 which started last fall. This is a location along the Highway 88 corridor which was masticated by contractor, BurnBot. They completed about 250 acres last fall and will do mastication and hand thinning on another 2000 acres this year. USDA Forest Service photo by Richard Skyes.

CALIFORNIA – The topography of the Mokelumne watershed is rugged. Elevations range from 600 to just over 10,000 feet. And within this elevated watershed lies a major source of drinking water for Amador, Calaveras and San Joaquin counties, and about 1.4 million East Bay California residents. And the millions of dollars needed to protect this infrastructure and habitat? That’s where modern financing tools help keep these forests and communities safe and thriving.

With the fourth launch of Blue Forest’s Forest Resilience Bond, forest restoration is gaining the powerful ally it needs. A forest resilience bond blends private and public financing, to fill gaps in restoration funding on California’s national forests. This new financing tool is gaining momentum as a way to amplify the pace and scale of forest restoration.

Community collaboration and new financing tools
The Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority formed a joint powers authority of six water agencies —Amador Water Agency, Calaveras County Water District, Calaveras Public Utility District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Jackson Valley Irrigation District, and Alpine County Water Agency — and Amador, Calaveras and Alpine counties. Together, they partnered with Blue Forest Conservation to launch a $4-million Forest Resilience Bond

This collaborative work is helping close a funding gap for communities needing protection from severe wildfire. For Eldorado National Forest, this means money to promote forest resilience on about 26,000 acres covering portions of the forest.

The UMWRA has been working with the Eldorado and Stanislaus national forests since 2016 under a regional master stewardship agreement. Since then, they have completed several thousand acres of forest health and related work with both the Calaveras and Amador ranger districts. 

As the lead agency, they excel at bringing diverse interests together to build broad support for forest health initiatives. 

Tall green trees evenly spaced in a forest.
This is the goal of projects funded through a Forest Resilience Bond. After the Phase 1 thinning project, trees are more evenly spaced for forest health and added protection wildfires on the Amador Ranger District on the Eldorado National Forest. Photo courtesy of Blue Forest Conservation.

Work in phases
Phase 1 on the Eldorado National Forest is the first of two phases aimed at increasing forest health and reducing wildfire risks on 250,000 acres of national forest land. The second phase will also include treatments on the Stanislaus National Forest.  

The work planned on the Eldorado National Forest is the ultimate multi-taking project — to prevent high-intensity wildfires, improve forest conditions and protect wildlife habitat and the watershed that supplies water to over 1.5 million people. 

Planning funding for Phase 1 of the Forest Resilience Bond came from the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Implementation of the project began with $12 million received from two CAL FIRE grants. Beneficiaries — Pacific Gas & Electric Company and PepsiCo Beverages North America — are funding additional acres of treatment with a zero-interest line of credit to the Watershed Authority to accelerate project implementation. 

Phase 2 is expected to cover approximately 225,000 acres with scheduled completion at the end of 2025.

“We are excited to see this effort come to fruition. Together, with the Forest Service, we have a grand vision to aggressively implement forest health projects on national forest lands in and those adjacent to the Mokelumne River Watershed,” explained Richard Sykes, executive officer of the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority. “We see the Forest Resilience Bond tool as an important funding source.”

Crowded trees line both sides of a stream.
Before thinning projects, forests often look overly crowded like here in the Eldorado National Forest. Overcrowding causes competition for the resources to keep trees healthy and increases the risk of expansive wildfires. USDA Forest Service photo. Photo courtesy of Blue Forest Conservation.


 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/out-and-about/finance-tool-collaborative-work-takes-forest-restoration-next-level