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Blue Forest and its partners have developed a Forest Resilience Bond (FRB) in the Upper Mokelumne watershed to fund restoration treatments for Phase I of the Forest Projects Plan on the Eldorado National Forest. This FRB enables the diverse beneficiaries of the Forest Projects Plan to proactively and collectively fund important wildfire risk reduction work while simultaneously creating a zero-interest line of credit for UMRWA to accelerate the pace of project completion. This model serves as a scalable approach to accelerate implementation of the full FPP1 on the Eldorado National Forest. Blue Forest recognizes that the Upper Mokelumne River watershed makes up the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of the Miwok and Washoe People, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial. Our partners at UMRWA are developing relationships with Miwok and Washoe Native Nations to meaningfully partner on project planning and implementation.

The Forest Projects Plan Phase I protects the Upper Mokelumne River watershed’s valuable ecosystems, habitats, communities, and natural resources across 26,278 acres. The Mokelumne River supports diverse fish and wildlife species, provides important fresh water flows into the San Francisco Bay Delta, and serves as a key water source for over 1.4 million people in the East San Francisco Bay area and several communities in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, and Sacramento Counties.

“With the fourth launch of Blue Forest’s Forest Resilience Bond, forest restoration is gaining the powerful ally it needs. A forest resilience bond blends private and public financing, to fill gaps in restoration funding on California’s national forests. This new financing tool is gaining momentum as a way to amplify the pace and scale of forest restoration.”

Sherry Reckler, Conservation Finance & Corporate Social Responsibility Lead, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region