Active
Climate
Grant

FY 2026-27 Forest Health Research California Climate Investments Grants (RP-RFP-2026-01)

Brief Concept Proposals were due July 30, 2026
Deadline:
November 18, 2026

For full invited proposals

Total Funding
$4,500,000
Maximum Award
$900,000
Overview

The intent of CAL FIRE's Forest Health Research Program is to fund scientific research that expands our knowledge in topics related to forest health and wildland fire. The outcomes of these projects will support agencies, organizations, landowners, and policy makers, while furthering the goals of the California Forest and Wildfire Resilience Action Plan and California Climate Investments.

Funder

Program

Forest Health Research Program

Resources

Pre-Application Deadline

Applications Due

November 18, 2026

For full invited proposals

Total Funding

$4.5 million

Funding Source

State

Maximum Award

$900,000

Award Details

Awards by Project Type:

  • Wildfire and Forest Research (General): $500,000 – $900,000
  • Demonstration State Forest Research: $500,000 – $900,000
  • Science Synthesis and Tool Development: $400,000 – $750,000
  • Special Topics Research: $400,000 – $750,000

Eligibility

Public and other nonprofit universities and affiliated academic institutions, local agencies (e.g. counties and special districts), state agencies, federal agencies, Native American Tribes; private forest landowners; and non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations (e.g. fire safe councils, and land trusts).

Eligible Activities

Priority Research Topics:

  1. Recovery, restoration, regeneration and reforestation strategies following wildfires and other disturbances in an altered future climate.
  2. Implementation, effectiveness, impacts, and tradeoffs of current and alternative management strategies to reduce unwanted wildfire impacts to communities, improve hydrologic functions including water quality and supply, improve air quality, sustain and promote biodiversity, mitigate impacts of pests, pathogens, and invasive species, and/or increase beneficial fire effects.
  3. Methods of ecological monitoring to continually evaluate effectiveness, impacts and benefits of vegetation treatments at various scales.
  4. Community resilience to wildfires and other ecological disturbances under current and future climate conditions.
  5. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and Tribal forest and fire management, especially research by Tribal organizations or Indigenous researchers.
  6. Forest products and utilization of forest residues related to fuel reduction and forest health treatments.
  7. Improved prediction of wildland fire spread, behavior, severity, and potential impacts, particularly under extreme weather conditions and/or within the wildland-urban interface.
  8. Utilizing novel applications of FireSat Quick Beam Instrument data to monitor fire activity and address ecological questions related to fire effects.

Duration

Project performance period March 31, 2027 – December 31, 2030.

Notable Requirements

CAL FIRE will avoid seeking a limited waiver of sovereign immunity when possible and will strive to notify applicants early in the grant application review process if it is anticipated a limited waiver of sovereign immunity will be necessary.Original research may be based on empirical data (i.e., collection and analysis of field or remotely sensed data), model development or application, technology development or testing, or any combination thereof. Development and testing of new technologies are allowed but must be associated with formal scientific investigation and/or hypothesis testing typical of academic research and provide results appropriate for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Projects may physically manipulate resources (e.g. thinning, prescribed burning, etc.) in an experimental fashion, but any ground-disturbing activity must comply with all pertinent federal, state and local regulations, including CEQA and NEPA.

Preferences

Concept Proposal scoring criteria: Demonstrated need for research (30 points), Fit to priority research topics (40 points), and Feasibility (30 points) for 100 total possible points.

How to Apply

Applicants will use the Euna Grants Portal platform to submit their applications.

Data ModernizationEconomic DevelopmentFire ManagementForest ManagementWildfire

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