FIELDBROOK, Humboldt County — October 30, 2026. A restoration project in the redwood landscape near Fieldbrook has received a $1,991,000 grant from California’s Wildlife Conservation Board. The award was approved at the board’s May 28, 2026 meeting for the Fieldbrook Valley Redwood Restoration Project, to be carried out by Pacific Forest Trust in collaboration with the Van Eck Forest Foundation.
The planned work includes ecological forest thinning, reforestation planting and prescribed fire on privately owned forestland approximately five miles east of McKinleyville. Approval of a grant is not proof that a particular burn is scheduled for today or that all restoration work has been completed.
Why would a redwood restoration project use fire?
Pacific Forest Trust explains that low-intensity fire historically helped shape the region’s redwood forests. Mature redwoods can be relatively resistant to carefully managed surface fires thanks to thick bark. The project seeks to address accumulated understory vegetation and invasive plants, improve the structure of the forest and support ecosystem resilience.
Prescribed fire is conducted under approved operational criteria, not as uncontrolled burning. Whether a treatment occurs on a particular day depends on permitting, conditions, burn planning and agency safety requirements. Residents should never mistake a future prescribed-burn proposal for a confirmed active operation.
Where is the work planned?
The Wildlife Conservation Board’s public project description locates the restoration on private land in the Fieldbrook Valley area of Humboldt County, associated with the van Eck Forest. That description is regional: it does not establish that all forests around Fieldbrook or every roadside tree in the village are part of the funded project. Nor does the award convert privately owned forestland into a new public park.
The project sponsors describe several complementary methods: reducing competing vegetation, improving redwood growth conditions, planting where appropriate and reintroducing beneficial low-intensity fire. Specific treatment-acre counts, burn-unit maps and construction or burn schedules must come from subsequent project documents, not assumptions based on the grant total.
How much money was approved?
The $1,991,000 is a state-approved restoration grant, not a property-tax levy on Fieldbrook residents. The Wildlife Conservation Board included Fieldbrook Valley Redwood Restoration among the habitat and resilience projects reviewed at its May 28 meeting; Pacific Forest Trust confirmed the award in its June 2026 Forest Flash newsletter.
Funding approval does not by itself establish the final amount spent, the portion allocated to individual treatment methods or the contractor who may conduct future work. Those answers would require later grant and implementation reporting.
What can residents follow?
Neighbors can look for future announcements specifying prescribed-fire dates, smoke-management measures, access or road impacts and any public meetings. In the event of visible smoke, consult AirNow’s fire and smoke information and local fire authorities. An unidentified smoke plume should not automatically be assumed to come from this restoration project.
The Fieldbrook Valley grant is separate from McKinleyville’s Murray Road fuel-break project, which involves access between McKinleyville and Fieldbrook. They are different initiatives with different applicants, geography and implementation procedures.
Primary sources
Pacific Forest Trust, Forest Flash, June 2026: grant approval and restoration objectives; California Wildlife Conservation Board, May 28, 2026 meeting records; WCB Forest Conservation Program.
Fieldbrook News, October 30, 2026. The state funding decision and applicant’s goals are documented. This story does not certify that restoration is complete, that a prescribed burn is currently active or that a specific smoke episode was caused by the project.
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