Resource Conservation District (RCD) of Santa Cruz County has secured a $7 million Forest Health Grant from Cal Fire to implement an ambitious, regionally connected suite of on-the-ground forest health projects spanning public and private lands throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains.
This investment will expand upon recent work and support forest management on an additional 830 acres of high-priority landscapes in a strategically planned “ring” around populated areas in Santa Cruz County.
Treatments range from continuing post-fire reforestation and invasive species removal to thinning encroaching conifers and conducting prescribed burns—all designed to reduce hazardous fuels, restore native habitats and build landscape-scale resilience to wildfires.
“This project is about creating a connected, resilient landscape,” said Lisa Lurie, executive director of the RCD. “By working across property lines and jurisdictions, we can make a lasting impact on forest health, biodiversity and community safety in the face of increasing wildfire threats. This award reflects the RCD’s long-standing role in uniting people and resources to protect our region’s land, water and wildlife. It’s a powerful example of what we can achieve when communities come together.”
This partnership represents a diverse group of stewards and landowners where the projects are taking place, including the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, California State Parks, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch and the City of Santa Cruz Parks Department.
Jared Childress, program manager of the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association, explained, “Past forest management practices have resulted in conditions where fires burn hotter, longer, and more frequently than historic records indicate. These new efforts are a direct extension of the needs and desires of the broader Santa Cruz County land management community and represent a major step toward building a more fire-adapted region.”
Project work covers a broad geographic area, from the northern coastal regions of the county, through the City of Santa Cruz and UC Santa Cruz, across the San Lorenzo Valley’s rare Sandhills habitat, and up into the higher elevations of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.
“This grant will enable us to continue active forest management in the unique sandhills ecosystem, protecting both the rare biotic resources and the surrounding human communities,” said Matthew Timmer, director of land stewardship at the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.
These projects will be implemented over the next several years and aim to serve as a model for integrated, landscape-scale forest resilience. Building on past work and local residents’ own actions—like planting natives, clearing brush, chipping debris and hardening homes—RCD’s shared commitment will boost wildfire resilience and forest ecology and help create a stronger, safer and more prepared community.
