The goal of the project is to reduce wildfire potential to the wildland urban interface and intermix communities by reducing the fuel load within and adjacent to those communities

The U.S. Forest Service, Region 5 – Pacific Southwest Region awarded Clear Lake Environmental Research Center a Project Grant totaling $8,002,157 on August 11, 2025, under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grants program (CFDA 10.720). The grant will fund wildfire mitigation activities in California through December 31, 2029, with a primary focus on reducing fuel loads within and adjacent to wildland-urban interface (WUI) and intermix communities to minimize wildfire risk and protect lives and property in at-risk areas.

Under this award, the awardee will implement hazardous fuel reduction projects and other wildfire mitigation activities designed to reduce wildfire potential in targeted California communities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grants program supports both the development of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) and the implementation of mitigation projects on non-federal lands, with eligible activities including fuel reduction, defensible space creation, prescribed burn implementation, and landscape restoration efforts. This award represents implementation of wildfire defense projects within existing community protection planning frameworks in the Pacific Southwest Region.