Yuba I FRB

Tahoe National Forest

California

Blue Forest’s first Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), the Yuba I FRB, launched in 2018 with restoration work completed in 2023. This project protects 15,000 acres in the Tahoe National Forest, in the upper headwaters of the North Yuba River watershed.

The Yuba I FRB helped to catalyze the formation of the North Yuba Forest Partnership (NYFP) in 2019. The NYFP is a partnership of nine federal, Tribal, state, and local government agencies and nonprofits focused on forest restoration across 275,000 acres of public and private lands in the North Yuba River Watershed, including the 48,000-acre Yuba II FRB launched in 2021. Blue Forest recognizes that the North Yuba River watershed makes up the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of the Nisenan People and intertribal regions of the Mountain Maidu, Konkow, and Washoe, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial. We are honored to partner with the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe to support the restoration of Nisenan homelands.

The Yuba I FRB improves the ecological resilience of the North Yuba River watershed, a critical source of water and hydropower generation for downstream communities and agricultural lands, as well as a popular recreation destination for camping, fishing, and hiking. Restoration treatments include fuels reduction activities such as thinning and prescribed burning, meadow restoration, and aspen regeneration. Key benefits include increased fire resilience, enhanced water supply, protected water quality, and improved biodiversity.

The Yuba I FRB project was implemented by the National Forest Foundation, with funding from Yuba Water, USDA Forest Service, and the California Department of Fire and Forestry (CalFire). The FRB provided $4 million in readily available capital from four investors: the Rockefeller Foundation, Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, CSAA Insurance, and Calvert Impact Capital.

“The successful closure of the Yuba I Forest Resilience Bond marks a significant milestone in environmental stewardship, with a spotlight on the commendable achievements of the North Yuba Forest Partnership. This accomplishment stands as a testament to the positive impact that strategic partnerships and focused restoration work can have on safeguarding our natural ecosystems.”
Carson Clark, California Program Forestry Supervisor; Tahoe Area