2025 Project Summaries:

Alabama – Chattahoochee Fall Line Restoring Longleaf 

• National Forests in Alabama
• Bullock, Macon, and Russell counties
• Congressional Districts AL-02 and AL-03

This project will provide cost share for prescribed burning, longleaf pine planting, mid-rotation longleaf pine stand timber improvements on private lands in Bullock, Macon, and Russell counties in the Alabama portion of the Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Partnership. The project will support NRCS and Tuskegee National Forest to implement prescribed burning, longleaf pine restoration treatment and planting, and collaboration with private landowners to achieve landscape scale ecosystem restoration, wildfire threat reduction, and to improve timber health while sustaining the local forestry economy. 

Total FY25 Funding: $1,450,750

Partners: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Alabama Forestry Commission, Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Partnership, Alabama Forestry Foundation, Forest Workforce Training Institute, Alabama Wildlife Federation, Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee, Bullock County Soil and Water Conservation District, Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Russell County Soil and Water Conservation District

Colorado and Wyoming – Headwaters of the Colorado

• Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
• Moffat and Routt counties, CO; and Carbon County, WY
• Congressional Districts CO-02, CO-03; and WY at-large

The Headwaters of the Colorado Initiative landscape encompasses values and interests across multiple sectors, from federal, state and local government, to industry, to private landowners. Headwater systems are essential sources of high-quality water and are key for ecosystem function and connectivity. This Joint Chiefs project will focus on reducing wildfire risk in the wildland urban interface, improving stream health, and improving habitat for wildlife on a landscape scale and across ownership boundaries. This project will unite federal funding with state and local partners on a multi-state project and will support the local timber and forestry industry. 

Total FY25 Funding: $2,612,692
Partners: Headwaters of the Colorado Initiative, Little Snake River Conservation District, Colorado State Forest Service, Wyoming State Forestry Division, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Mule Deer Foundation, National Forest Foundation, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, Trout Unlimited, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Montana – Blackfoot River Valley Landscape Mosaic

• Lolo National Forest
• Missoula and Powell counties
• Congressional District MT-01

The Blackfoot River Valley Mosaic project will focus on a cross-boundary approach to active forest management. This Joint Chiefs project will achieve fuels reduction through prescribed burning, will enhance water quality through road treatments, and will improve wildlife habitat by removing invasive weeds. The project lays within the Blackfoot River Valley in western Montana and consists of private, state, and federal lands that fall within priority areas identified by the Montana Forest Action Plan. By implementing targeted treatments like forest thinning and prescribed fire across public and private lands, this project will create safer, more resilient forests across management boundaries while sustaining a robust forest products industry.

Total FY25 Funding: $979,800

Partners: Bureau of Land Management (BLM); Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Southwest Crown of the Continent Collaborative; Blackfoot Challenge; and Clearwater Resource Council

North Carolina – Uwharries to Sandhills Phase 2

• National Forests in North Carolina
• Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, and Stanly counties
• Congressional Districts NC-08 and NC-09

The Uwharries to Sandhills Phase 2 project will reduce and mitigate wildfire threats to communities and landowners by implementing forestry practices and by increasing capacity for private landowners to safely and effectively implement controlled burns on their lands. On Uwharrie National Forest lands, approximately 18,000 acres of forestlands will be restored and improved through prescribed fire and silvicultural treatments. These measures will contribute to the reduction of wildfire threats through reduced fuel loads and will enhance community and landowner safety. These forest management activities will also increase downstream water yield in an important watershed to help safeguard water quality and quantity for local communities and industries.

Total FY25 Funding: $1,022,106
Partners: Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association, The Ember Alliance, Conservation Corps North Carolina, North Carolina Forest Service, Catawba Nation, Three Rivers Land Trust, Greater Uwharrie Conservation Partnership, Sandhills Conservation Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, Eastern North Carolina Sentinel Landscape

Oregon – Hood River Wildfire & Watershed Resilience

• Mt. Hood National Forest
• Hood River and Wasco counties
• Congressional Districts OR-02 and OR-03

The Mt. Hood Wildfire & Watershed Resilience project will implement fuels reduction work at a landscape scale across private and public lands. The targeted suite of restoration and hazardous fuels reduction treatments will include thinning, weed removal, road improvement and vegetation management, mastication, and prescribed burning. This work will reduce the risk of wildfire to communities in the wildland urban interface and protect two municipal drinking water source areas, as well as irrigation infrastructure, orchards, and high-use recreation facilities. Forest treatments will support the forest industry and will improve habitat conditions for a variety of wildlife species.

Total FY25 Funding: $2,147,660
Partners: Hood River Forest collaborative, Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District, Oregon State University Extension Fire Program, Hood River Forest Collaborative, Green Diamond Resource Company, Oregon State Fire Marshal, Oregon Department of Forestry, Hood River County Forestry