Landscape Grant Program

The Landscape Grant Program (LGP) is a Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) grant program that supports landscape-scale forest and watershed-resilience efforts across the Sierra-Cascade Region. The program funds collaborative partnerships working across large landscapes to implement coordinated portfolios of projects that improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and strengthen ecological and community resilience.
The program is part of SNC’s Landscape Investment Strategy, which aims to increase the pace and scale of restoration work needed to address wildfire, climate, and watershed challenges in the region.

The LGP will fund projects and activities that are part of a portfolio of restoration and resilience projects developed by a landscape collaborative. These projects are intended to address ecological and community priorities, such as forest health, wildfire resilience, and watershed protection across a large landscape. The SNC will work with grantees to target LGP funding to the treatments and activities that will most effectively advance the project portfolio.

For more information please review:

LGP FAQs LGP Guidelines

green trees in the foreground with large mountains in the background that are heavily burned and mostly bare with streaks of blackened trees

Eligibility

The SNC can only fund projects within the SNC service area. Collaboratives are eligible for the LGP if they represent an Investment Ready Landscape, as identified on the Investment Ready Landscapes Map. To be considered “Investment Ready,” SNC must determine that a collaborative meets all of the following four criteria:

  • A clearly defined landscape and affiliated collaborative
  • A collaboratively prioritized list of projects
  • Demonstrated capacity to administer and implement a landscape-scale program of work
  • Demonstrated readiness to act, including several million dollars (est. $10 million) in shovel-ready projects (projects that have completed CEQA and NEPA, if required)

Selection Process and Timeline

Unlike many SNC grant programs, the LGP does not use an open application process. Instead, SNC identifies potential Investment Ready Landscapes and collaboratives through an internal evaluation process informed by Regional expertise and longstanding engagement with partners throughout the Sierra-Cascade Region. Selected collaboratives will be invited interview as part of the final evaluation process. Evaluations will begin in summer of 2026, with finalist interviews in the fall of 2026. The SNC Board may approve grant awards at the December 2026 Board meeting.

Examples of eligible project types

  • Fuels reduction – Strategic vegetation treatments that will reduce wildfire risk.
  • Beneficial Fire – Expanding the use of beneficial fire and/or reintroducing fire to fire-adapted ecosystems
  • Post-fire recovery – Post-fire restoration and recovery activities
  • Maintenance – Eligible activities that maintain the desired conditions of and/or improvements to previously established and completed projects
  • Monitoring – evaluating project effectiveness to adaptively manage landscapes
  • Planning – Planning activities to advance projects within the portfolio
  • Recreation, tourism, and public access – Projects or activities that enhance, promote and develop sustainable recreation and tourism opportunities and increase public access
  • Watershed Function – Activities that address water supply timing and quality, address flood risks, protect critical natural and built water infrastructure, restore hydrologic functioning of meadows and riparian corridors
  • Workforce Education and Training – Workforce development, job training, and job opportunities for vulnerable populations
  • Program coordination – coordinating collaborative partners to plan, prioritize, implement, and monitor projects.

Funding Source

The SNC received $45 million from the 2024 California Climate Bond to support regional priority projects including landscape-scale restoration efforts.