Idaho National Forests Receive Collaborative Restoration Funding
Support focused on enhancing forest health while reducing wildfire risk
(Boise, ID, June 18, 2026) – The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is funding two landscapes within the Boise and Payette national forests for inclusion in the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The congressionally funded program provides long-term support for partnership-driven projects that improve watershed health, reduce wildfire risk and strengthen local economies.
The West Central Idaho Initiative covers 2.3 million acres of public and private lands stretching from Boise to New Meadows, Idaho. The initiative focuses on reducing wildfire risk to communities through logging, thinning and prescribed fire. The area was chosen for a 10-year funding commitment based on its strong history of collaboration.
“Idaho’s local collaboratives have seen firsthand the benefits of past landscape restoration projects, including reducing hazardous fuels around our communities,” said John Robison, public lands and wildlife director for the Idaho Conservation League and member of the Boise Forest Coalition. “This is good news for Idaho’s public lands and everyone who depends on them.”
The Weiser-Little Salmon Headwaters landscape continues CFLRP involvement dating back to 2012. In the first 10 years of funding, projects there treated nearly 170,000 acres of hazardous vegetation, resulting in the equivalent of about 36,000 logging trucks of timber sold. The project supported an estimated average of 290 jobs annually. The 2026 extension provides $850,000 over three years to continue critical restoration work.
“This investment supports the forests’ current priorities aligned with the agency’s, while also broadening partnerships, coordination, and collaborative efforts,” said Forest Supervisor Matt Davis, Payette National Forest. “In addition, it will give each forest the leverage to continue and expand current restoration work for the benefit of our local communities, including vegetation management, fuels reduction, and recreation efforts.”
These projects were in the top three on the ranked list of proposals recommended by the CFLRP Federal Advisory Committee and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture that had not yet been funded. Proposals are selected and ranked by this Committee of appointed external experts through a highly competitive process.
Both forests and their collaborative partners now have 180 days to refine proposals and develop work plans that account for recent wildfires and ongoing active forest management efforts. Additional project announcements are expected later this year.
More information about the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/restoration/collaborative-forest-landscape-restoration.
About the Forest Service: The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology– and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.
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