The Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative Forest Health Project
Forest Health Grants are awarded by CAL FIRE to regionally based partners and collaborations. CAL FIRE seeks to significantly increase fuels management, fire reintroduction, treatment of degraded areas, and conservation of forest through the grant program. The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council has been awarded two Forest Health Grants, known as the First Collaboration and the Second Collaboration.
The Second Collaboration grant award is $6,925,128 million to treat 840 acres, started September 24, 2023 and concludes September 30, 2027.
To implement forest health treatments on approximately 1778 acres of strategically identified areas, the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council has partnered with the San Jose Water Company, Santa Clara County Parks, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and smaller, private landowners, to form the Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaboration.
Forest Health Grant Goals:
This collaborative landscape-level effort has identified an interconnectable mosaic pattern of treatment areas that, with ecologically sensitive treatments, intend to:
- Establish healthy, resilient fire-adapted ecosystems to protect and conserve natural resources.
- Protect upper watersheds where important regional water supplies originate.
- Promote the long-term storage of carbon and reduce the severity of catastrophic wildfire
thereby increasing community and forest ecosystem protection.