Statewide Programs

The Watershed Research and Training Center works with numerous partners, academics, policymakers, and stakeholders across the state of California to create a robust wildfire resilience workforce and create markets for underutilized woody materials.

Scroll to learn more about our statewide programs:

  • California Forest Biomass Working Group

  • Beneficial Fire Training

  • Regional Forest and Fire Capacity

California Forest Biomass Working Group 

The Watershed Center is a leader and co-founder of the California Forest Biomass Working Group (CA Forest BWG). 

Close-up of hands holding a handful of wood chips with more wood scraps scattered on the ground.

If you are interested in attending a CA Forest BWG meeting, contact our Biomass Utilization Program Manager, Martin Twer at martin@thewatershedcenter.com.

This group was founded to encourage biomass development, related policy, and economic opportunities in California.

Composed of a variety of wood energy interests, the CA Forest BWG includes organizations with diverse perspectives that gather and distribute information and data about forest biomass energy use in California.

A prescribed fire technician in a yellow Nomex shirt, green Nomex pants, and helmet walks in a dry meadow with controlled fire and smoke behind him and forested mountains in the background.

Beneficial Fire Training

Meet our team of beneficial fire practitioners who are dedicated to increasing the use of beneficial fire across the State of California through training, coaching and mentoring.

  • Prescribed Fire Training Specialists, Jose and Andrea, work with community groups throughout the state to scale up the use of good fire.

  • Northern Sierra Beneficial Fire Training Coordinator, Hannah, provides access to training and supports inclusive burn opportunities in 8 counties in northeastern California.

They host hands-on beneficial fire trainings, support our partners during burns with leadership and mentorship, and travels the State with two Type 6 demonstration fire engines. 

The Rx Fire program works with our statewide partners to:

Regional Forest and Fire Capacity

The Watershed Center is one of the California Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) grantees.

Through our RFFC grant, we strengthen California’s wildfire and forest resilience network by:

  • Building technical capacity for practitioners across the state

  • Providing professional development and peer networking to advance best practices

  • Advancing state policy and spearheading improvements to state programs

  • Coordinating and supporting other RFFC grantees

While many RFFC partners focus on a single region, our program operates statewide—drawing on more than thirty years of experience building place-based, strategic capacity for wildfire resilience.

Across California, our RFFC team is working toward the following outcomes:

  • Increased practitioner capacity to advance California’s forest and fire strategies, supported by skill and strategy development tools and resources that evolve with changing contexts

  • Locally grounded projects that reflect community assets, needs, and culturally and ecologically informed visions for improved fire outcomes

  • Expanded workforce pathways that open doors to the full range of wildfire resilience careers—and grow a workforce reflective of California’s population

  • Intertribal efforts that are Native-led, with funding that respects tribal sovereignty

  • Collaborative demonstration projects that provide tangible wildfire mitigation benefits to communities

  • Coordinated communication and technical assistance across all RFFC grantees

  • State strategies that reflect real-world practice, with lessons from California and national partners informing the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force

  • More inclusive statewide wildfire planning, with social and cultural considerations embedded in strategies and investment systems

  • Identification of enabling policies and barriers that shape wildfire resilience and forest stewardship implementation

To learn more about different WRTC programs contributing to RFFC, see the following links:

In addition to the partners above, WRTC works with the following statewide and national partners:

  • California Fire Safe Council

  • Cause Capacity

  • Fire Learning Network

  • Indigenous Stewardship Network

  • The Nature Conservancy

Logos for the Watershed Center in Hayfork, California, the California Department of Conservation, and the California Natural Resources Agency.

The work upon which this publication is based was funded in whole or in part through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.

READ RFFC SUCCESS STORIES

RFFC subawardees, training recipients, and partners

Two fire professionals work in a dry forest, one using a drip torch and the other using a rake, with trees and a clear sky in the background.
A group of community members sit around a table during a planning meeting, discussing fire adaptation strategies.
A group of people gather in a grassy park, listening to a man in black speak. Some hold papers and wear name tags. There are trees and a mountain in the background.
A group of people stands outside in a field, holding certificates and giving thumbs-up to the camera, with trees and mountains in the background.
A group of diverse people wearing green and blue hard hats and field clothes, sits and stands on a hillside, participating in a forestry training session.
A group of diverse people stands in a wooded area, participating in a community event. A text overlay describes fire practitioners and community needs.

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