Blue Forest

Nine organizations, each playing a distinct role, are able to move this work forward together in a way none of us could alone. Blue Forest's financing touches only part of the total acreage being restored across this landscape. There's a lot of work still ahead, and we're grateful to be part of a group committed to seeing it through, with each of us filling our own niche: South Yuba River Citizens League, Yuba Water Agency, Tahoe National Forest, Sierra County, Camptonville Community Partnership, National Forest Foundation, The Nature Conservancy in California, HUṠWEJ (formerly California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project), and the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe.

On Friday, August 21st, SYRCL's Aspen Restoration Program Manager Anne Marie Holt leads a free two-hour tour of the Salmon & Packer Creek Aspen Restoration Project in the Tahoe National Forest — one of the highest priority aspen restoration sites in the North Yuba watershed. Aspen stands that support water retention, riparian habitat, and extraordinary biodiversity are disappearing across the Sierra Nevada under pressure from encroaching conifers and decades of fire exclusion. This project is turning that around — and on August 21st, you can walk the land and see the work firsthand. 10:00 AM – Noon | Meet at the Girl Scout Camp parking lot across from USFS Berger Campground | Bring water, food, sun protection, and sturdy shoes | No cell service on site Register at https://lnkd.in/gDpEkJPH Free and open to the public.

Coming out of our first #australia webinar a couple weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about how cross-sectoral the bushfire crisis is. It reaches into the financial sector, First Nations communities, the insurance industry, water management agencies, parks and wildlife, and all of us who live in areas affected by wildfire. People from many of these communities brought fantastic questions shaped by their experiences to the webinar. Convening that kind of mix is a big part of the work Blue Forest leads in the US, and seeing this cross-sectoral interest already forming tells me the same coalition-building instinct that makes conservation finance work for fire risk reduction in the United States might have real footing in Australia too. Webinars can be a great way to start dialogue, and we’re looking forward to following up with some in-person meetings here in Australia this week. Tchelet Segev and I are taking meetings in Sydney this week, and our colleagues Mac Cloyes and Phil Saksa will join us next week in Melbourne for AFAC 2026. If any of this resonates and you'll be in either city, I'd welcome the chance to meet! #Bushfire #AFAC

This fire season has been difficult, heavy, and it isn't over. Across the Western US, communities and homes are burning, families are being displaced, and the watersheds we work every day to protect are being devastated. Across the country, smoke has settled into daily life, creating unhealthy air for millions of people. Our hearts are with everyone affected. Many of our own staff, partners, and their families are living through this right now, and we're thinking of them and everyone else navigating loss, displacement, and uncertainty. Please stay safe and have a plan if you live in areas with wildfire risk. If you need help developing a plan, this checklist is a good place to start: https://lnkd.in/g86a6R3. Look out for your neighbors, check air quality before spending time outdoors (AirNow’s national Fire and Smoke Map is a great resource: https://lnkd.in/e6NwZyFu), and give yourself grace if this season is taking a toll. And, if you haven’t heard about Watch Duty yet, it is a great tool to help you monitor, prepare, and respond to wildfires, including tracking live fires, evacuation alerts, and more. This is a challenge that touches all of us, and protecting the health and wellbeing of our communities and landscapes has never been more vital.

Know someone who'd make a great Forest Health Program Manager? Our partners at South Yuba River Citizens League are hiring for the role, and filling it well will benefit the whole North Yuba Forest Partnership. Details here: https://lnkd.in/gWWpN-SS

If you've never worked with federal or state funding, there's a good chance you haven’t yet had a reason to think about how government grants actually move. For the uninitiated, it might be easy to assume a government commitment means cash in hand, but it rarely works out that way. Most forest and watershed restoration work in this country is funded by reimbursable grants from federal and state governments: for example, federal programs like the USDA Forest Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership, and state programs like the Forest Health Program from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). These programs are foundational to restoration work. But before an organization sees a single dollar from the government, it usually has to compete for it. Grant proposals can take significant staff time to prepare and can result in project delays, with no guarantee of winning. Many programs also require the project’s environmental review (NEPA, CEQA, or other state equivalents) to be cleared before they’ll award implementation funding. Winning doesn't mean the money can move right away either: an organization generally can't spend against the award before its official start date, so any work completed before then (such as pursuing environmental review) has to be paid for in some other way entirely. Only after all of that clears does this crucial restoration work actually start for the lucky orgs whose proposals are accepted. Then a different clock starts alongside the revving up of chainsaws: the one for getting paid. A grant isn't an upfront payment, it's a promise to reimburse. The organization still pays for everything itself first: crew and contractor payroll, fuel and equipment, materials specific to the work, seedlings for reforestation, etc. Most agreements only allow reimbursement requests on a set schedule, often quarterly, so organizations often invoice in monthslong intervals. Orgs without deep cash reserves or an asset base to offer a bank as collateral often struggle to get affordable credit to cover that wait. Some borrow anyway and absorb a steep, unrecoverable interest cost. Others simply take on less: smaller contracts and shorter timelines — work sized to what they can survive financially rather than what the land actually needs, or what they might have the capacity to do if the system’s rigid timelines matched how restoration actually happens on the ground. We built the Forest Resilience Bond to change both of those outcomes: shrinking that unrecoverable cost dramatically for organizations that would have borrowed, and opening up work that others couldn’t have taken on in the first place. The list of launched FRBs is now thirteen projects long, ranging from large, national implementers to smaller, locally rooted organizations, like Fire Safe Councils and Tribal organizations.

Nearly 19 million people in Southern California get their water from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. For several years now, Metropolitan has invested in the forests and watersheds that feed that supply, partnering on Forest Resilience Bonds that support the ecosystems upstream of their ratepayers. In May, Blue Forest and Metropolitan signed a Memorandum of Understanding, signaling our commitment to work together to sustain healthy headwaters. It’s now been 1.5 years since we celebrated the North Feather I FRB, our first launch with Metropolitan on the Plumas National Forest. Since then, a second FRB (Plumas Community Protection I FRB) followed on the Plumas, and this spring, our partnership grew to include a new national forest — the Lassen National Forest — with the Upper Butte Creek I FRB, now the third FRB supported by Metropolitan. See the video below to look back on our first launch, and check out our most recent newsletter to learn more about the latest one. Metropolitan is a leader among a growing number of water utilities recognizing that investments in forest health upstream translate to more reliable water supplies downstream, and we're glad to call them a partner.

We’re #hiring! Blue Forest is hiring a Credit Manager to underwrite conservation finance transactions and support management of our debt portfolios, including Forest Resilience Bonds (FRBs) and other innovative conservation finance mechanisms. We’re looking for someone with: 🌲 5+ years of experience in finance, private lending, investment management, structured finance, impact investing, or conservation finance 🌲 Strong financial modeling background, with experience in credit analysis and financial due diligence 🌲 Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with borrowers, portfolio management teams, investors, legal counsel, and cross-functional internal collaborators 🌲 Excellent presentation, negotiation, and written and verbal communication skills 🌲 Detail-oriented and analytical strength, with the ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines Location: #Remote Salary: $92k–$110k Travel: Up to 20% Preferred start: September 28, 2026 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/ej3btC8J

We're #hiring! Blue Forest is hiring a Chief Operating Officer to serve as our senior operational leader, making strategic decisions to help shape the organization’s long-term direction. This role will oversee HR, IT, and business operations, and join our Executive Leadership Team alongside the CEO, CFO, and Chief Program Officer. We're looking for someone with: 🌲 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in executive operations, HR, or related organizational leadership roles within nonprofit or small- to mid-size organizations, with proven people management ability 🌲 Demonstrated experience managing distributed teams, leading cross-functional initiatives, and building strong organizational and operational systems (HR, IT, strategic planning, project management) 🌲 Financial operations experience, including budget management, financial controls, and familiarity with financial/legal agreements 🌲 Experience cultivating relationships with funders, investors, or institutional donors 🌲 Working knowledge of employment law, nonprofit compliance, contract management, and federal grants/multi-state regulatory requirements 🌲 Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, paired with exceptional written and verbal communication Location: #Remote (U.S.) Salary: $200,000–$225,000 Travel: Up to 25% Apply by: August 28, 2026 Preferred start: November 2, 2026 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eRbVcGVX