California has undertaken an urgent paradigm shift to address the growing wildfire crisis. Given the frequency, severity, scale, and destructive capacity of recent wildfires, preventative wildfire resilience efforts are essential. This includes deployment of prescribed burns and mechanical thinning in socially and ecologically appropriate settings, and strategic fuel breaks and home hardening alter a fire’s behavior and help both wildlands and communities survive wildfires.
In recent years, the California State Legislature has invested nearly $2.5 billion in wildfire resilience to protect California’s watersheds, wildlands, and communities. Since 2021, California has dramatically scaled wildfire resilience investments from $200 million to the present allocation, with nearly $2.2 billion (and growing) committed to projects to date. The State has rapidly shifted business practices to put resources into on-the-ground projects, capacity building, workforce development, and more. This, atop the recent passage of the Climate Bond- Proposition 4 (see next section), brings the total investment earmarked for wildfire and climate resilience to be deployed this decade to nearly $4 billion.
To read more on these investment and progress made, read the reports below.
California’s 2023 Wildfire Resilience Program Budget Report (Coming Soon)
California’s 2022 Wildfire Resilience Program Budget Report
California’s 2021 Wildfire Resilience Program Budget Report
