Scaling California’s Private Lands Prescribed Fire Workforce

The Healthy Forest Alliance Foundation received $2,023,033 in grant funding to expand the Good Fire Training Network, a four-year workforce development initiative designed to grow California’s prescribed fire and fuels workforce.

The program provides free, NWCG-certified training and hands-on workforce development opportunities, creating a low-barrier pathway into prescribed fire, forestry, fuels reduction, and wildfire resilience careers—without requiring a college degree or agency employment.

Training serves participants in Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Merced, Nevada, Placer, and Plumas counties, with additional training opportunities available statewide. The program places a strong emphasis on expanding access for low-income and disadvantaged communities while building the skilled workforce California needs to safely put more good fire on the ground.

Scaling California’s Private Lands Prescribed Fire Workforce is a four-year workforce development program administered by the Healthy Forest Alliance Foundation (HFA) through the Good Fire Training Network. The program is designed to expand California’s private-lands prescribed fire and fuels workforce through accessible, hands-on training and NWCG-based qualification pathways.

Over the four-year grant period, the program will: Train 650 workers in prescribed fire, fuels, and related field skills. Issue more than 2,400 training certificates through structured workforce development courses. Support 72 California Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss (CARX) certifications, expanding the number of qualified leaders available to conduct prescribed fire on private lands. Deliver training through three workforce pathways: Chainsaw Skills, Fire Operations, and Prescribed Fire Leadership. Provide hands-on training at Grizzly Flats in El Dorado County and partner properties throughout California. Create a low-barrier pathway into the workforce that does not require a college degree or employment with a traditional fire agency. Expand training access for low-income and disadvantaged community participants. Build a progression from foundational field skills to advanced prescribed fire leadership and professional qualifications.

HFA has already trained more than 370 students statewide. Through this grant, the Good Fire Training Network is scaling that work into a structured workforce-development system designed to move participants from training → experience → qualifications → leadership. The result is a larger and more accessible workforce capable of supporting prescribed fire, fuels reduction, forestry, and wildfire resilience projects on California’s private lands.