California Board of Forestry & Fire Protection

Join the Effectiveness Monitoring Committee for a free public workshop on Thursday, November 16^th as we bring together key researchers and land managers from CAL FIRE's Fire & Resource Assessment Program, Board of Forestry & Fire Protection's Effectiveness Monitoring Committee, and research institutions to hear about past, current, and planned research into the effectiveness of the Forest Practice Rules and related regulations, including slash management and salvage logging impacts; bark beetle and Heterobasidion infestations; and considerations for post-fire tree survival, sediment management, and logging. REGISTER HERE!

Proponents of vegetation treatment projects using the CEQA streamlining provisions of the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) and Program Environmental Impact Report (Program EIR) are proposing one or more specialized technologies in combination with or wholly in place of pile burning to process portions of biomass created by the treatments. Most proposals to date focus on portable equipment that can be brought to a treatment area for set up and operation during vegetation treatment to reduce distance and cost of biomass transport to the processing site. This paper evaluates the potential for specialized biomass processing technologies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) and criteria air pollutant emissions, compared to the conventional biomass processing method of pile burning. Pile burning is among the biomass disposal methods included in the CalVTP and covered in the Program EIR, which was certified in December 2019.

Learn more about the CalVTP HERE.

The Range Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) Annual Report and Workplan is a new annual report developed by the RMAC and introduced for the first time for 2022. This report will be updated and approved by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) and is intended to catalogue the yearly accomplishments and status of ongoing RMAC efforts. The Report provides an update of current RMAC membership and staffing, summarizes RMAC activities and progress toward Annual Priorities and Objectives for the previous calendar year, details the Annual Priorities and Objectives for the upcoming calendar year, and highlights constraints and challenges for the committee in completing its Annual Priorities. 

The Effectiveness Monitoring Committee (EMC) Annual Report and Workplan (Report) is developed by the EMC and approved by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) annually and is intended to catalogue the yearly accomplishments and status of ongoing EMC efforts. The Report summarizes EMC accomplishments, details EMC funding actions for the year, and provides an update of current EMC membership and staffing. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2022/2023, the EMC selected three proposed effectiveness monitoring projects to fund and support utilizing a newly developed grant program. Ongoing projects from prior years continued to be funded; numerous project presentations were provided at four open public EMC meetings; a new Strategic Plan was published; a transparent, public process was utilized to begin revisions to the Research Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions; and the EMC welcomed three new members.

A goal of the Effectiveness Monitoring Committee (EMC) is to develop a process-based understanding of the effectiveness of the California Forest Practice Rules (FPRs) and other natural resource protection statutes and laws, codes and regulations. To facilitate an Adaptive Management process that informs proposed changes to forestry policy and regulations, the EMC supports research that addresses twelve core research themes. Aligned with these research themes, the EMC has developed a set of Critical Monitoring Questions (CMQ) to guide prospective grantee research questions and help direct EMC funding focus. The research themes and CMQs provided in this document—initially adopted in 2017 and presented in the 2018 Strategic Plan are updated as determined necessary by the EMC, subject to BOF approval. Prospective grantees should reference this updated document as a guide in developing research questions when seeking EMC grant funding. 

The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) seeks to fill up to six (6) vacancies on the Effectiveness Monitoring Committee (EMC). The Call for Applications will be open until all seats are filled.

Fresno Co Tree Mortality Task Force & Long-Time Fire Fighter Awarded for Outstanding Contributions to CA Forestry