Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that puts over $170 million into wildfire prevention and response work.
The funds are going to six conservancies across California, including in the Los Angeles area and the Sierra Nevada.
“With this latest round of funding, we’re continuing to increase the speed and size of forest and vegetation management essential to protecting communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “We are leaving no stone unturned — including cutting red tape –- in our mission to ensure our neighborhoods are protected from destructive wildfires.”
Erin Ernst is the Natural Resources Division Director for the California Tahoe Conservancy — which she said can now move faster on wildfire prevention.
“This money allows partners and the conservancy to continue to implement forestry projects to reduce wildfire risk and protect communities, help residents improve defensible space and harden their homes to become more ember-resistant,” she said. Her agency will receive over $24 million.
Evyan Borgnis Sloane is the deputy executive officer for the State Coastal Conservancy — which will receive over $30 million.
“We're going to try to increase the scale of our projects in terms of acreage and amount,” she said. “While we will be seeking projects that are at a greater scale than maybe we had previously funded, we still will be prioritizing those that will be multi-benefit, and work with tribal nations and have volunteers and workforce development.”
Another $10 million will go to other wildfire response and prevention efforts. All of the funding comes from the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Fund, which was created when voters approved Proposition 4 in 2024.
Newsom also signed an executive order to move the new wildfire response funding quickly.
The new money comes just a couple months after the Trump Administration made cuts to federal wildfire prevention funds.
Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla from California also recently helped introduce a bipartisan bill in Congress to bolster wildfire prevention work across the country.
