PLAN
Funding Land Stewardship
Stewarding acres of land over years and decades is expensive. You may be in a position to make real progress through your own labor and with help from your family and friends. You may be in a position to hire help with your own money. To truly foster health and resilience of the land at a higher level, you may also need to seek additional funding
In the language of grant programs, many funders emphasize only one or two benefits of land stewardship (such as fire preparedness OR watershed health), but generally funders are receptive to projects that achieve multiple benefits if it doesn’t cost a lot more to do so.
The best route to funding is to network!
Join or build some kind of group – even better, work with multiple groups! Share what you know and who you know, exchange contact information, ask experts to talk with your groups, and over time you’ll get connected to resources, including funding. Examples of groups are community halls, fire safe councils, road groups, “friends of” groups, emergency prep groups (e.g. Community Organizations Active in Disaster – COAD or Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies – COPE), watershed councils, faith groups, social clubs, homeowners’ associations.
#1 factor in getting funding: Is the location a high priority?
For example, is the location:
- A priority for fire prevention, preparedness, or recovery? Fire-oriented agencies (local fire districts, the Fire Prevention and Hazardous Materials Division of Permit Sonoma, CAL FIRE) have slightly different ways of defining their priority projects, but they tend to use a cluster of similar information sources, such as–
- Roads that provide the only access for many homes
- Steep hills upwind of (in Sonoma County, this means to the northeast of) multiple homes or “critical infrastructure” like a hospital, school, or water / energy facility
- Within the project area for one of Sonoma County’s FEMA-funded projects (Hazardous Fuel Reduction (map), or Wildfire Resilient Sonoma County focusing on Rio Nido, the lower Mark West Creek watershed, and Penngrove/Sonoma Mountain)
- Within a project listed in one of several local Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) or the County-wide CWPP
- Ranks high for Sonoma County Wildfire Risk Index (this map also shows the footprint of historic fires)
- CALFIRE’s maps of Fire Hazard Severity
- High priority according to the Sonoma County Wildfire Resilience Planner
- Publicly owned
- Covered by a conservation easement that benefits the public, such as wildlife habitat or watershed protection
- Providing a public benefit such as education programs or free public access
- Very large
- A watershed for a public water supply
- Hosting a rare species, rare habitat, wildlife corridor, or a key part of the watershed for a section of stream important to steelhead or salmon. A good starting point for seeing your site’s contributions is the Explorer Tool of the Conservation Lands Network.
YES, IT’S A HIGH PRIORITY LOCATION
You might be successful applying for funding on your own, but it will almost certainly be easier to get more funding if you partner with an organization, neighbors, or similar sites. See organizations on the Resources page for potential partnerships.
Converting the land to a public holding, selling a conservation easement, or making a legacy donation will open up more funding opportunities.
NO, IT’S NOT A HIGH PRIORITY LOCATION
- If land stewardship of this land would clearly benefit people who are Indigenous, low-income, disabled, or “disadvantaged” in some way, funding may be still be available. It may take research to find it. Work with your local RCD, watershed group, or fire safe council (see Resources).
- Reconsider how to prioritize the work you want to do, using your own network of resources.
If your location isn’t recognized as being high priority, and you think it should be, politely and persistently work with the mentioned organizations to see if you can make a change. CWPPs, for example, include project lists that get updated. Local fire agencies are usually flexible in incorporating new information.
#2 factor in getting funding: Is there a project that is physically feasible, justified, and ready to go?
Answer yes if:
- You can transport people and equipment to the worksites (using vehicles if that’s necessary for the envisioned work and maintenance)
- You can bring water (if necessary for the planned practices)
- Slopes are appropriate for the planned work and its maintenance
- The vegetation is not too dense to allow access
- The land steward is on board
- The proposed planning or physical work is justifiable using the funder’s own criteria.
- You can start and finish the proposed amount of work within the funder’s time window.
If the answer is no, keep working with groups and experts to define a feasible, good-fit project.
If you are stewarding a very high priority location but don’t have resources to develop a fundable project, some funders will provide “technical assistance” to help apply for funding. One example is the North Coast Resource Partnership.
About public funding (government money)
It’s slow, complex, and can provide big amounts.
Public funding usually takes a long time.
Consider what stewardship activities could be meaningful and satisfying to do while you wait to get funded.
- Many funding sources are only open for proposals during one period per year.
- Some funders won’t fund implementation until there is a detailed plan written by professionals.
- It can take 20 to 60 hours of experienced effort to craft a competitive proposal.
- Some agencies take 3-6 months to tell you if they will award a grant, and another 3-6 months to iron out contract details.
- Usually they do not give money upfront, but instead reimburse based on monthly or quarterly invoices. Sonoma County’s Vegetation Management Grant Program is unusual; it pays out the full amount at the beginning of the project.
Private funders such as foundations are faster, with less paperwork, but they usually provide smaller amounts than government funders and seek social and environmental benefits.
Converting the land to a public holding, selling a conservation easement, or making a legacy donation will open up more funding opportunities.
Public or government spending on private land entails expensive, detailed administrative and accountability measures to assure that the public benefits. Established nonprofits, RCDs, and local government agencies are often the direct recipient of these funds, handling the administration and acting as a buffer between the funding agency and landholders.
POPULAR FUNDING SOURCES FOR VEGETATION MANAGEMENT IN SONOMA COUNTY
Sonoma County Vegetation Management Grant Program (VMGP)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP – pays partial costs)
- Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP – pays partial costs)
North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP – pays partial costs)
North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP) Forest Health Pilot Grant Program
California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)