The Angeles National Forest (ANF) and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced a historic partnership to initiate landscape scale restoration efforts in the Angeles National Forest (ANF).

This partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and NFWF will expedite funding dedicated to restore areas impacted by the Copper, Ranch, and Sayre fires, and leverage the expertise, capacity, and passion of partners to help recover forest landscapes, improve watersheds, and increase resilience to future fire.

Starting on April 3rd, ANF and NFWF will welcome proposals for the first round of grant funds through the Angeles National Forest – Wildfire Restoration Program. The ANF and NFWF will manage approximately $17 million dollars over the next 3 years for projects dedicated to restoring areas impacted by catastrophic fire. Approximately $3 million dollars will be available for award in this grant cycle. Grant submissions will be expected to leverage at least 50% matching value to the requested amount. Grant applications that maximize matching contributions and partnerships are strongly encouraged.

Stakeholders of public land and natural resource issues on the Angeles National Forest can send preliminary proposal submissions by Wednesday, May 3, 2017.

Details of the program, application information, and submittal deadlines are available through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s website at www.nfwf.org/angelesfire. In addition, the ANF and NFWF will host two Open House meetings to discuss the program: Wednesday, April 12, from 7:00 – 8:30pm at the Angeles National Forest Training and Conference Center, 701 N. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia, CA; and Thursday, April 13, from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Santa Clara/Mojave Rivers Ranger District Office, 33708 Crown Valley Road, Acton, CA. For those who cannot attend in person, a webinar will be held on April 19.

If you have any questions, please contact Jim Bond with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation at Jim.Bond@nfwf.org.