This week, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) Governing Board approved $853,190 in grants for projects that will reduce wildfire risk and restore forest and watershed health in the Sierra Nevada region. Funding for these projects comes from Proposition 1, The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Bond Act of 2014. This is the first set of awards made under the SNC’s Proposition 1 grant program.
The projects approved for funding include:
- Nevada County: Hirschman’s Pond Forest Health Project ($156,069)
- This grant to the Sierra Streams Institute will protect watershed health and reduce the threat of wildfire by completing forest thinning activities and invasive species removal on 85 acres of land owned and managed by the City of Nevada City for public use. This implementation grant follows a pre‑project/planning grant funded by the SNC’s Proposition 84 grant program.
- Lassen County: Diamond Mountain Watershed Restoration Project ($75,000)
- This grant to the Lassen County Fire Safe Council will complete the pre-project planning activities necessary to support the U.S. Forest Service portion of watershed restoration and hazardous fuel treatments on up to 8,194 acres on the Lassen National Forest in the Diamond Mountain area. The project is part of a larger project area called the Diamond Mountain Project that encompasses a mix of public and private lands.
- Butte County: Magalia Forest Health Management Project ($75,000)
- This grant to the Butte County Fire Safe Council will complete the pre‑project planning activities needed to identify forest and watershed health projects, as well as wildfire safety projects, on 800 acres near the town of Magalia in Butte County. The project is located within a collection area for the drinking water supply for the Town of Paradise, and is within a CAL FIRE designated “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.”
- Inyo County: Oak Creek Watershed Restoration Project ($47,121)
- This grant to Trout Unlimited will complete environmental review for post-fire restoration work on up to 800 acres on the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. The project will fulfill step three of a four-step process that began in 2011 as a response to impacts to the watershed due to a high-intensity fire in 2007 and a summer 2008 rain event that moved 1.5 million cubic yards of debris through the watershed.
- Calaveras County: Big Tree Creek Watershed Forest Restoration Project ($500,000)
- This grant to the California Department of Parks and Recreation will reduce fuel loads on 235 acres of forest at Calaveras Big Trees State Park in Calaveras County.
In addition to meeting the requirements of Proposition 1, these projects support the goals and objectives of the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program, a large‑scale restoration program designed to address ecosystem health in the Sierra Nevada.