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2023 Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program

Grantor:
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Portal ID:
27539
Status:
Closed
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
 | 
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The primary priority of the Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program is the planning and implementation of forest health projects that promote wildfire recovery and forest resilience. This program seeks to create more-resilient forest landscapes, reduce wildfire risk, accelerate recovery from recent wildfires and supports projects that address these strategies.

Description:

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) identified five wildfire recovery strategies for the Sierra Nevada: landscape-scale forest restoration, water supply protection, strategic reforestation, rapid expansion of wood-utilization infrastructure, and support for community-led initiative. 

California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan identifies three goals that are strongly aligned with SNC's Watershed Improvement Program: healthy and resilient natural places, safe communities, and sustainable economies. Both plans also stress the importance of climate resiliency, regionally tailored solutions, the linkages between ecological and economic health, the importance of low-intensity fire, and the need to work strategically across land ownership boundaries. This grant program aims to support projects with the following, additional focal areas: multi-benefit projects, landscape-scale projects, high-impact projects, and wildfire recovery.

To be eligible to receive a grant award from the SNC under this program, projects must meet all of the following criteria: be located within or provide services to the Sierra Nevada Region as defined by current SNC governing legislation; be consistent with the SNC mission and program areas as defined in the SNC Strategic Plan; be consistent with the requirements of the funding source and budget provisions, result in a clear, demonstrable, and enduring public benefit; and meet all California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, as applicable.

Consistent with provisions of the program funding and objectives of the proposed project, the SNC may give favorable consideration to projects which: involve California Native American tribes, including grants directly to tribal entities or those to tribal or other entities which provide meaningful engagement with and support to tribal partners; were developed under the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program; address fire recovery objectives; directly benefit severely disadvantaged  or disadvantaged communities; engage a workforce development effort, including but not limited to tribal workforce programs, California Conservation Corps, or other training programs; employ a collaborative, community-led approach in project development or implementation and enable the equitable geographic distribution of SNC resources. 

Proposals are developed in conjunction with SNC. To initiate consideration of a project, an applicant must contact the appropriate SNC Area Representative (AR) and the AR will work with the applicant to determine if the project meets the grant program’s basic criteria. If SNC determines consideration of the project, a concept proposal form will be shared with the applicant. This proposal process involves Concept and Full Proposal phases. Concept Proposals are due June 16, 2023. A site visit may be conducted for eligible implementation projects. If invited to submit, Full Proposals are due September 29, 2023. Deadlines may be subject to change pending final state budget decisions. Review the full grant guidelines here.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Nonprofit
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Grant funds may be authorized for: Public agencies (any city, county, special district, joint powers authority, state agency, or federal agency – mutual water companies are not eligible); Qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and eligible tribal entities recognized by the United States and on the most current Federal Register, and listed on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission. 

 

Eligible Geographies:

The Sierra Nevada region includes the mountains and foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, the Mono Basin, Owens Valley, the Modoc Plateau, and parts of the southern Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains. The region covers nearly 27 million acres and includes all or part of 24 counties in California.

Matching Funding Requirement:

While match funding is not required, it is considered in the project evaluation process. 

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
March 2024
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
Spent by: 01/01/2028

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
See Notes Below
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No

Available Funding Notes:

Estimated Available Funding: $37,000,000

The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

California State Budget General Fund (FY 2023-24)

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Advances & Reimbursement(s)

Funding Method Notes:

Grant funds are disbursed for eligible costs on a reimbursement basis or, in certain cases, through advances. Advances may be given in 30 percent increments of the grant award amount.  There is a 10 percent retention of expenditure reimbursements. The total retention will be held until all project reports and deliverables have been submitted and approved. 

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
Shannon Ciotti, 1-530-906-7345, shannon.ciotti@sierranevada.ca.gov

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