Policy

TCSI is a smart investment. Our projects are making a difference in communities across the Central Sierra, and we want to share what works with practitioners and policymakers across California.”

– Dan Porter, Forest Strategy Lead, The Nature Conservancy

Recommendations for Policymakers

State and federal leaders have called for action to protect our communities from wildfire by increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration. The TCSI landscape is a living laboratory where land managers and policymakers come together to develop new solutions. The following policy recommendations are key to increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration work across California.

Funding

Grow a funding portfolio that serves all ownerships across forests in California, including state, federal, and local investments. We recommend increasing the flexibility and coordination among funding sources and making these sources available to a diversity of partners, including small private landowners and tribes.

Prescribed Fire

Support policies that increase the use of beneficial fire, including prescribed fire, cultural fire, and wildfire managed for resource benefit.

Workforce

State and federal agencies should grow their workforce and implement policies that sustain local economies and improve housing opportunities. These agencies should also fund workforce development opportunities for private organizations and tribes.

Climate

State and federal agencies should fund and incorporate climate resilience and nature-based solutions into their planning, implementation, and adaptive management.

Accomplishments

Since the partnership was formalized in 2017, the TCSI partners have made significant accomplishments.

Funding

TCSI partners secured over $32 million in California Climate Investment funds for implementation on 28 projects covering over 20,000 acres on federal, state, and private lands and to support Science Foundation research efforts. Additional funding has come from state bonds, the Wildlife Conservation Board, USDA Forest Service, and other partners.

Partners, through their experience with TCSI projects, have advanced important forest health legislation. Senate Bill (SB) 901 (Dodd 2018) established exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act for projects on federal lands that were funded with state dollars and had completed review under the National Environmental Policy Act. SB 332 (Dodd 2021) and SB 926 (Dodd 2022), also inspired through TCSI partners’ work at French Meadows Reservoir and beyond, established the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program and Prescribed Fire Claims Fund.

Field Trip

Andy Fecko, General Manager of the Placer County Water Agency, and Angel Hertslet, Project Director with The Nature Conservancy in California, present the French Meadows Prescribed Fire Project Plan to staff from U.S. Representatives LaMalfa and Kiley’s offices, Senator Feinstein’s office, and USDA Forest Service leadership. They are standing in front of a recently treated forest near French Meadows Reservoir in the Central Sierra Nevada.

TCSI partners host field trips to active project sites to share how funding and policy changes affect the work that gets done on the ground.