Description

The Forest Health Research Program funds research to inform forest health and wildfire management in California. Managed by CAL FIRE’s Fire and Resource Assessment Program, it supports research on Demonstration State Forests and other California forestland, scientific synthesis, tool development, graduate student research, and large collaborative studies. Grants are awarded primarily through an annual competitive proposal and selection process, with discretionary awards and contracts also used for specific departmental interests.

Research priorities include disturbance and recovery, resilience under an altered climate, and the effectiveness and tradeoffs of management strategies affecting wildfire impacts, carbon storage, biodiversity, water and air quality, and regional economic benefits. The program also addresses changing fire regimes and forest conditions, forest products and residue utilization, socioeconomic and environmental justice issues, and wildfire prediction under extreme weather and in the wildland-urban interface.