$2.1 Million in Sierra Nevada Conservancy Grants Doled Out

Courtesy: Sierra Nevada Conservancy

Sonora, CA – Focusing on forest health, wildfires, recreation and tourism, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board awarded over $2 million in grants.

In all $2,110,495 was given out at its March meeting to seven different organizations to help boost Vibrant Recreation and Tourism, Forest and Watershed Health, and Resilient Sierra Nevada Communities.

Angela Avery, executive officer at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy was glad to see the approved the recommended projects, stating, “Especially after back‑to‑back devastating wildfire seasons, since these efforts ideally help to restore healthy forests, make communities more resilient, and boost recreation and tourism in the Sierra Nevada.”

Calaveras County received $805,605 for two projects. $405,605 under the Forest and Watershed Health Program to the Resource Conservation District for the “Pine Ridge-Summit Fuelbreak Maintenance Project. It will widen and strengthen a critical fuel break installed near Railroad Flat and West Point during the 2015 Butte Fire. Another $400,000 was granted to the Sierra Business Council for its Blue Mountain Electric Project to fund the construction of key components of a new forest biomass plant in Wilseyville in Calaveras County. It will provide jobs and create energy from biomass taken from fuel-reduction projects and wildfire burn zones.

Mariposa County also received funding from the Forest and Watershed Health Program. The American Indian Council of Mariposa County was granted $75,040 for its “Sarah Priest Fuel Reduction Planning Project.” The funds will be used by the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation to complete necessary surveys and analysis of a 68-acre fuel-reduction project northeast of Mariposa.