Plumas Community Protection I FRB

The Feather River Watershed and its surrounding communities, located in Plumas County, California, have been at risk of severe wildfire for years. The forested lands surrounding the town of Quincy stand as one of the few remaining green areas in this watershed. High fuel loads and dense forests in these remaining green areas pose a significant risk to homes, lives, and essential infrastructure. The Feather River Watershed is also a critical source of water to communities throughout California, as it serves as the primary watershed contributing to the California State Water Project, furthering the risk posed by wildfire in this area. 

Blue Forest recognizes that the project area makes up the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of the Mountain Maidu and Konkow Maidu Peoples, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial. The Plumas National Forest holds relationships with Tribal governments and communities to fulfill trust responsibilities and enhance co-stewardship.

Through a partnership between the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the USDA Forest Service, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Blue Forest, the Plumas Community Protection I FRB will support fuels reduction, forest health, and community protection. Spanning approximately 4,000 acres of forestland, including portions of the wildland-urban interface (WUI), the Plumas Community Protection I FRB aims to:

• Reduce risk of high-intensity catastrophic wildfire by reducing tree density and fuel load in strategic areas of the landscape.
  
• Increase watershed resiliency by increasing water infiltration through vegetation reductions and protecting water quality impacts from high-severity wildfires.
• Improve fire control lines, creating safer evacuation routes, and further safeguarding communities.
• Reduce risk of wildfire damage to electricity and water infrastructure.
• Improve forest resilience to stressors such as drought and heat.
• Protect forest carbon stocks by reducing the risk of large carbon emission events associated with catastrophic wildfires.
• Improve and protect wildlife habitat, particularly forest ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and meadow and aspen stands, and protected activity centers for California spotted owls. 
• Protect wildlife, including: California spotted owl, Northern Goshawk, Gray Wolf, Pacific fisher, Pacific marten, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Foothill yellow-legged frog, Golden Eagle, Willow Fly Catcher, Western Bumble Bee, California Wolverine, and sensitive bat species. 

NFF, serving as the implementation partner, will lead on-the-ground work across two distinct project areas—beginning with an initial 2,000 acres in the North Quincy project area and continuing on the Central and West Slope project footprint.

The Plumas Community Protection I FRB represents an important step toward landscape-scale forest restoration in the Feather River Watershed. By combining strategic partnerships, public and private capital, and data-driven ecosystem benefit modeling, this project offers a scalable model for other areas facing similar wildfire threats.

This FRB’s success demonstrates what’s possible when proactive restoration and collaboration go hand in hand.