SW CASC Funded Southern California Montane Forest Project Shapes New Investments in SoCal

The Southern California Montane Forest Project, which is funded by the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and led collaboratively with the US Forest Service and others, played an exciting role in the recent announcement of $70 million in new investments in wildfire-focused landscape and community protection efforts in Southern California. The announcements were made at a regional meeting of the California Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, where leaders from across the region outlined their plans to address the wildfire crisis. Several speakers pointed to the Southern Montane Forest Project’s Conservation Strategy as a major component in the creation of a prioritized pipeline of shovel-ready forest management projects. The conservation strategy focuses on the process of strategic decision-making and incorporates forest and climate science through each step of that process.

Sarah McCullough Hennessy (USDA Forest Service and Southern California Montane Forest Project Coordinator) points to the SW CASC as an important part of this exciting announcement. “The Southwest CASC’s commitment to inclusive collaboration has made it possible for the Southern Montane Forest Project to play this pivotal role,” Sarah said. 

The Southern California Montane Forests Project is a multi-jurisdictional collaborative partnership between the Climate Science Alliance, U.S. Forest Service, Institute for Ecological Monitoring and Management at San Diego State University, and the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. The goal of this project is to advance collective understanding of the vulnerabilities and challenges facing these forests and identify the opportunities and strategies for increasing forest resilience.