CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Program (FY 2026-27) California Climate Investments Grants (RP-RFP-2026-01) is sponsored by Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The intent of CAL FIRE's Forest Health Research Program is to fund scientific research that expands our knowledge in topics related to forest health and wildland fire. The outcomes of these projects will support agencies, organizations, landowners, and policy makers, while furthering the goals of the California Forest and Wildfire Resilience Action Plan and California Climate Investments. The application will consist of a concept proposal followed by review and selection. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal followed by a second review and selection period. Concept proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PDT), July 30, 2026. Full invited proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PST), November 18, 2026. The Forest Health Research Program (hereafter “Research Program”) was established as part of CAL FIRE’s plan for implementing the California Forest Carbon Plan. It is one of several CAL FIRE programs funded through the California Climate Investments (CCI) program, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The mission of the Research Program is: To identify and prioritize research topics in forest health and fire science critical to the State of California To fund sound scientific studies that support forest landowners, resource agencies, and fire management organizations within the state To ensure scientific information generated from the program is made available to support decision making and policy To further the goals of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, California Forest Carbon Plan, the California Natural and Working Lands Implementation Plan, CCI, and AB 32 Global Warming Solutions Act The program, procedures and requirements apply only to “stand-alone research” projects, where research-related activities are the only activities proposed. Research activities are no longer eligible as a component of larger management-oriented Forest Health projects. The following topics have been identified as priorities for study for the Research Program for FY 2024-25. Topics are numbered for reference, but not ranked in terms of priority. Research proposed under this solicitation must address one or more of these priority topics. Research projects should be focused on and relevant to California ecosystems and their management. Recovery, restoration, regeneration and reforestation strategies following wildfires and other disturbances in an altered future climate. Implementation, effectiveness, impacts, and tradeoffs of current and alternative management strategies to reduce unwanted wildfire impacts to communities, improve hydrologic functions including water quality and supply, improve air quality, sustain and promote biodiversity, mitigate impacts of pests, pathogens, and invasive species. Methods of ecological monitoring to continually evaluate effectiveness, impacts and benefits of vegetation treatments at various scales. Community resilience to wildfires and other ecological disturbances under current and future climate conditions. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and tribal forest and fire management, especially research by tribal organizations or indigenous researchers. Forest products and utilization of forest residues related to fuel reduction and forest health treatments. Improved prediction of wildland fire spread, behavior, severity, and potential impacts, particularly under extreme weather conditions and/or within the wildland-urban interface. Improved methods and applications for conducting cost-benefit analysis related to forest restoration, fuel treatments and other forest health interventions.

CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Program (FY 2026-27) California Climate Investments Graduate Student Grants (RP-RFP-2026-02) is sponsored by Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The intent of CAL FIRE's Forest Health Research Program is to fund scientific research that expands our knowledge in topics related to forest health and wildland fire. The outcomes of these projects will support agencies, organizations, landowners, and policy makers, while furthering the goals of the California Forest and Wildfire Resilience Action Plan and California Climate Investments. The application will consist of a concept proposal followed by review and selection. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal followed by a second review and selection period. Concept proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PDT), July 30, 2026. Full invited proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PST), November 18, 2026. The Forest Health Research Program (hereafter “Research Program”) was established as part of CAL FIRE’s plan for implementing the California Forest Carbon Plan. It is one of several CAL FIRE programs funded through the California Climate Investments (CCI) program, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The mission of the Research Program is: To identify and prioritize research topics in forest health and fire science critical to the State of California To fund sound scientific studies that support forest landowners, resource agencies, and fire management organizations within the state To ensure scientific information generated from the program is made available to support decision making and policy To further the goals of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, California Forest Carbon Plan, the California Natural and Working Lands Implementation Plan, CCI, and AB 32 Global Warming Solutions Act The program, procedures and requirements apply only to “stand-alone research” projects, where research-related activities are the only activities proposed. The following topics have been identified as priorities for study for the Research Program for FY 2026-27: Recovery, restoration, regeneration and reforestation strategies following wildfires and other disturbances in an altered future climate. Implementation, effectiveness, impacts, and tradeoffs of current and alternative management strategies to reduce unwanted wildfire impacts to communities, improve hydrologic functions including water quality and supply, improve air quality, sustain and promote biodiversity, mitigate impacts of pests, pathogens, and invasive species, and/or increase beneficial fire effects. Methods of ecological monitoring to continually evaluate effectiveness, impacts and benefits of vegetation treatments at various scales. Community resilience to wildfires and other ecological disturbances under current and future climate conditions. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and tribal forest and fire management, especially research by tribal organizations or indigenous researchers. Forest products and utilization of forest residues related to fuel reduction and forest health treatments.Improved prediction of wildland fire spread, behavior, severity, and potential impacts, particularly under extreme weather conditions and/or within the wildland-urban interface. In addition, the following special topic has been identified as priorities for the Research Program for FY 2026-27: Utilizing novel applications of FireSat Quick Beam Instrument data to answer ecological questions.

CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Program (FY 2026-27) Proposition 4 California Climate Bond Grants (RP-RFP-2026-03) is sponsored by Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The intent of CAL FIRE's Forest Health Research Program is to fund scientific research that expands our knowledge in topics related to forest health and wildland fire. The outcomes of these projects will support agencies, organizations, landowners, and policy makers, while furthering the goals of the California Forest and Wildfire Resilience Action Plan and California Climate Investments. The application will consist of a concept proposal followed by review and selection. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal followed by a second review and selection period. Concept proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PDT), July 15, 2026. Full invited proposals are due by 3 p.m. (PST), November 4, 2026. This solicitation will fund collaborative research that supports forest health and greenhouse‑gas reduction at landscape scales through improved forest and vegetation management across California. This solicitation is purposefully intended to consider research proposals that focus on a broad range of challenging questions relevant to forest and fire management at large spatial scales, and we encourage applications from any discipline that meaningfully intersect with landscape-scale management. Research funded through this solicitation should be collaborative in nature, and include multiple partners working across organizations, institutions, jurisdictions, and/or disciplines. Projects should substantially advance their field(s) of research and produce meaningful applied benefits for any of the following broad themes: a) improved forest or vegetation management strategies and activities to reduce unwanted disturbance impacts, promote recovery after disturbance, enhance carbon storage, sustain and promote biodiversity, improve water and air quality, provide regional economic benefits, or facilitate an adaptive management feedback loop (including beneficial fire, tribal stewardship, forest fuels reduction, pest management, reforestation, biomass utilization, forest watershed restoration, upper watershed, riparian, and mountain meadow restoration) at landscape-scales; b) Include a bullet point about PODs (from Tadashi and Eric) c) Improved understanding of current impacts of large-scale wildfires and other large disturbances, or management strategies within large disturbance footprints, such as second-entry treatments in fire footprints; d) Improved predictions of future conditions, disturbance regimes, or treatment effectiveness; e) Emissions reductions and/or avoided live vegetation losses, improved long-term carbon storage and sequestration, or improved quantitative assessment of greenhouse gas impacts across large scales; Or f) Improved policy related to the California Forest Carbon Plan or other State climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. The research may – but is not required to – include implementation of forest treatments such as forest fuels reduction, pest management, reforestation, biomass utilization, forest watershed restoration, upper watershed, riparian, and mountain meadow restoration. The research may – but is not required to – build off of other previous or current implementation or research projects funded through other sources (e.g. Forest Health, Fire Prevention, Tribal Wildfire Resiliency, or other CAL FIRE or non-CAL FIRE grants).