The project goals are: to protect california forests from exotic, non-native forest species, woodland and shade tree insects and pathogens; to monitor and survey the health of forests and the status…

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL Fire) received a $2,013,118 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Region 5 (Pacific Southwest Region) under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664), effective September 9, 2025 through June 30, 2030. This award funds comprehensive forest health protection and management services across California's non-federal forest lands. Key deliverables include protection of California forests from exotic and non-native forest species, insects, and pathogens; monitoring and surveying forest health status and the prevalence of major forest pests and diseases; and providing technical management assistance to state and local government agencies, forest industry, and private landowners regarding insect and pathogen control.

Additional project components encompass workforce development through training of new forestry professionals in forest insect and disease recognition and management techniques; public education initiatives on forest insects, diseases, and overall forest health issues; and development of a rapid response plan modeled on the Incident Command System to address emergencies including insect outbreaks, disease events, storm damage, drought-related mortality, and other forest health crises. CAL Fire is also implementing a sub-award to the Urban Forest Institute (awarded March 5, 2026) for the "Statewide Urban Forestry Tools for Increasing Canopy Cover" initiative, expanding the scope of forest health work to urban and community forestry contexts.

The project goals are: to protect california forests from exotic, non-native forest species, woodland and shade tree insects and pathogens; to monitor and survey the health of forests and the status of major forest insects and pathogens; to provide insect and pathogen related management-assistance to state agencies, local governments, forest industry and private landowners in california; to train new forestry staff and professionals in forest insect and disease recognition and management; to educate the public on forest insects and diseases and forest health issues; and to develop a rapid response plan along the lines of the incident command system to deal with emergencies (insect, disease, storm damage, drought related mortality or other issues) so that the emergencies can be controlled, suppressed or managed before they spread to other areas.