August 19, 2025 – CAL FIRE is awarding $5 million to eight projects to grow California’s forestry workforce and expand biomass utilization. These grant-funded projects will train more than 300 people, create jobs, and help small businesses treat thousands of acres for wildfire risk reduction and forest restoration.

From youth training programs like this previously supported project at Reedley College in the Central Valley to innovative mass timber production, these efforts keep communities safer, forests healthier, and reduce pile burning by putting woody material to beneficial use.

View video here.

Since 2022, CAL FIRE’s Business and Workforce Development program has awarded over $100 million statewide. Learn more: https://bit.ly/WoodProductsBioenergy

Source: CAL FIRE