A Look at the Forest Resilience Bond

Earlier this month, the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment co-hosted a field tour with local partners, Blue Forest, and the Metropolitan Water District, to share ongoing forest restoration work as part of the North Fork Forest Recovery Project on the Plumas National Forest and adjacent private lands. These collaborative efforts are focused on reducing wildfire risk, improving forest health, and strengthening the resilience of both communities and watersheds across the region.

What Is a Forest Resilience Bond (FRB)?

Developed by our partners at Blue Forest, the Forest Resilience Bond is an innovative financing tool that helps fund critical forest restoration projects. The FRB brings together public and private partners—such as utilities, conservation groups, and state agencies—to share in the cost of restoration activities that benefit everyone. By leveraging these partnerships, more work can be completed on the ground, faster and more effectively.

What the FRB Supports

Funding from the FRB directly supports on-the-ground restoration work, including forest thinning, fuels reduction, and prescribed fire. These activities are designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, improve forest health, and protect local infrastructure and communities.

Every acre of work supported by the FRB undergoes the required environmental analysis and is implemented only with landowner consent through signed agreements. Projects are carried out in collaboration with federal, county, and community partners. All Sierra Institute work under the FRB is focused squarely on forest health and wildfire risk reduction—work that includes hand thinning and piling, mechanical thinning, and prescribed burning to restore balance and resilience to our forested landscapes.

What the FRB Is Not

It’s important to clarify what the FRB does not do. The FRB does not give outside entities control over local water rights, land ownership, or management decisions. It does not transfer authority, alter existing rights, or create new governance structures. Instead, it serves as a funding mechanism—a way to implement restoration projects that have already gone through public involvement, environmental review, and community collaboration.

A Shared Commitment

We are deeply grateful for the relationships and trust we’ve built with local landowners, tribes, and community partners who make this work possible. Our commitment remains the same: to support the people and landscapes of the Sierra and Feather River regions through transparent, community-based forest and watershed restoration.

If you’d like to learn more about the Forest Resilience Bond or the projects we’re implementing with local partners, please reach out to us directly at (530) 284-1022 or visit sierrainstitute.us.