In Butte County, an area ravaged by wildfires in recent years, the Butte County Fire Safe Council has leveraged over $22 million in California Climate Investments funding since 2021 to help communities recover from past fires and improve wildfire resilience. Wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire and 2021 Dixie Fire, have burned over 40% of Butte County in the past decade. These fires leave an expansive and long-lasting trail of destruction, burning down homes and communities, hurting local economies, and consuming forests that provide valuable habitat and carbon storage.
The Butte County Fire Safe Council, a non-profit organization, receives California Climate Investments funding through CAL FIRE’s Forest Health program. The Council uses these funds, along with funds from other sources, to provide wildfire mitigation, education, and recovery services to Butte County.
Like much of the state, Butte County’s forests are unnaturally dense, making them vulnerable to wildfire and climate change. The grants awarded to Butte County Fire Safe Council are funding a variety of techniques to restore forest health across almost 10,000 acres, including thinning, grazing, removal of biomass for electricity generation, reintroduction of healthy fire to the landscape, and reforestation of lands that have been severely burned. As a result of these efforts, Butte County forests are more likely to burn at a lower severity, allowing them to continue to flourish and provide ecological and climate benefits even after wildfires inevitably pass through.
Forested lands that were masticated near the community of Magalia as part of a Butte County Fire Safe Council Forest Health grant. Small trees and brush were mulched to reduce hazardous fuels. Photo courtesy of Butte County Fire Safe Council.
Informed by collaboration with multiple local partners, Butte County Fire Safe Council designed its California Climate Investments-funded Forest Health projects to strategically connect with existing and planned wildfire resilience work to maximize benefits to communities and forests. Butte County Fire Safe Council works closely with multiple local fire safe councils and Firewise communities, hosts an annual Wildfire Safety Summit, and engages with local organizations on forest health and wildfire safety through the Butte County Collaborative Group.
“The funding we have received through the California Climate Investments program has allowed us to make a long-lasting positive impact on the forests, canyons and ridges that we love and call home,” said Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director of the Butte County Fire Safe Council. “The residents of Butte County who breathe life into these rural Wildland Urban Interface communities are safer thanks to the projects we’ve been able to administer through the CCI Forest Health program and the strong partnerships we have with CAL FIRE.”
A treated area near Cohasset that burned at lower severity in the Park Fire, with surviving trees. Photo courtesy of CAL FIRE.
Work completed by the Fire Safe Council is already making a difference in how the area responds to wildfire. When the Park Fire ignited in July 2024 and burned through the northern part of Butte County, eventually growing to become the fourth-largest wildfire in California history, California Climate Investments-funded fuels reduction work around the community of Cohasset was directly in the path of the blaze. While the treatments didn’t stop the fire, which was burning under extreme conditions at the time, firefighters observed that fire behavior decreased significantly in areas where the forest had been thinned, resulting in slower progression of the blaze. As a result of the reduced fire behavior, firefighters were able to steer the fire around parts the community of Cohasset, decreasing the amount of structure loss and damage to property. The reduced fire severity also allowed mature trees in the treated area to survive. Those trees will continue to sequester carbon and ensure that Butte County forests persist for the long term.
Ron Ward, a landowner in Cohasset, attested to the value of the forest restoration treatments: “I personally witnessed how the fire, which initially raced up Mud Creek Canyon as a crown fire, transformed when it encountered areas where the forest had been thinned,” Ward said. “In these treated areas, the flames dropped to the ground, making them far more manageable for CAL FIRE. Their hard work, combined with the Fire Safe Council’s commitment to reducing the fuel load throughout Cohasset, played a crucial role in saving large portions of our community, underscoring the importance of these preventative measures."
Website: https://buttefiresafe.net/