Nearly $7-Million Awarded For Rim Fire Reforestation

Sonora, CA — CAL Fire is awarding a total of $142-million for projects designed to enhance carbon storage and restore the health and resilience of fire-impacted areas.

Of note, just under $7-million will fund the fourth phase of a landscape restoration effort within the 2013 Rim Fire footprint. Over 257,000 acres were burned and 90,000 acres suffered high-intensity fire damage. The money will help prepare, reforest, and treat, over 3,000 acres.

In addition, nearly $7-million is going to the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority to conduct fuel breaks, hand thinning, and prescribed burns in Amador and El Dorado counties.

In total, 27 grants statewide will receive money to do work over 75,000 acres. CAL Fire Deputy Director of Resource Production, John Melvin, says, “Fuels reduction, reintroduction of beneficial fire, treatment of degraded lands, and conservation of threatened forests are all vital to conserving and improving California’s forest health and resilience.”

Funding for the projects is via the state’s cap-and-trade program.