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New funding for watershed health and forest restoration around Shasta and Trinity Lakes

2 million acres of land are being added to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The added areas include Shasta and Trinity Lakes, two important watersheds for California.
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
2 million acres of land are being added to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The added areas include Shasta and Trinity Lakes, two important watersheds for California.

$25 million in grant money will soon be available for areas of Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou County.

The money will fund wildfire recovery and forest health through the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state-run agency that focuses on forest and watershed conservation. It’s adding nearly 2 million acres of land to its service area including important watersheds, like Shasta and Trinity Lakes.

“The reason this expansion happened, where the boundary was drawn, is because it is the source water for the state water project and the Central Valley Project,” says Andy Fristensky with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, referring to the lakes. “So the two major water delivery systems for the state of California.”

Grants will be available to improve watershed health, forest resilience and promote tourism. Nonprofit organizations, local governments, tribes and conservation districts will all be eligible for grant money.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy's service area currently covers 25 million acres of land in eastern California, between Bakersfield and Redding, east to the Nevada border.

Correction: a previous version of this story described the Sierra Nevada Conservancy managing 25 million acres. It is their service area.

Sophia Prince is a reporter and producer for JPR News. She began as JPR’s 2021 summer intern through the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in journalism and international studies.