Cannabis Restoration Grant Program

QUALIFIED CULTIVATOR FUNDING OPPORTUNITY AWARDS (Ongoing):

• Sun+Earth Capacity Building Grant ($395,643 to Sun + Earth Certified) - This planning and capacity building grant is to support sustainable cultivation practices for their cannabis cultivator network. The grant will also provide the framework necessary to help cultivators secure an annual license and support sustainability projects focusing on land restoration and conservation.
• South Fork Eel Sustainable Water Systems ($1,388,181 to The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District) - This project was awarded for water conservation projects in the South Fork Eel River Watershed. The funds will focus on three cannabis cultivation sites and will be used to design and install three rainwater collection systems, perform irrigation infrastructure upgrades, develop and implement an invasive species management plan, install native, pollinator-friendly plants and prepare site-specific California Environmental Quality Act documentation required for cannabis cultivators.
• Reed Mountain Road Sustainable Cultivation ($194,709 to North Coast Small Business Resource Center) - This planning project is to provide assistance to two qualified cultivators to continue the planning process for watercourse crossing upgrades, riparian restoration, and road drainage improvements of private and community utilized roads.
• Implementing Drought Resilience Strategies for Cannabis Farms in Humboldt County ($1,003,370 to Cannabis for Conservation) - The purpose of this project is to increase or establish water storage capacity on cannabis farms through the implementation or expansion of water storage tanks, rain catchment ponds, rain catchment gutter systems, and hardened irrigation systems.
• Provisional to Annual License Transition for Trinity County Cultivators ($1,495,192 to Cannabis for Conservation) - The purpose of this project is to provide services to execute the final compliance requirements for annual licenses for cultivation in Trinity County.

PUBLIC LAND CLEANUP AND REMEDIATION SOLICITATION AWARDS (2022):

• Headwaters to Confluence: Capacity Building and The Removal of All Illegal Public Land Cultivation Sites within Several CDFW Cannabis Priority Watersheds ($989,400 to the United States Forest Service) - The United States Forest Service (USFS) will partner with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the removal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste and active and passive water thefts and impoundments from watersheds located in Butte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Siskiyou, and Yuba counties. The project includes development of a training program to formalize reclamation protocols to meet USFS and BLM safety standards and expand the repository of qualified nonprofit groups throughout California to remove illicit cannabis sites from public lands.
• South Fork of the Trinity River Watershed Cannabis Reclamation on Public Lands ($550,004 to the Watershed Research and Training Center) - The Watershed Research and Training Center will remove over 500 cubic yards of waste associated with illegal cannabis cultivation within the South Fork Trinity River watershed near Hayfork, California in Trinity County.

WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT SOLICITATION AWARDS (2022):

• Marshall Ranch Cannabis Trash Cleanup ($74,430 to the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group) - The Eel River Watershed Improvement Group (ERWIG) will remove non-hazardous and hazardous waste associated with three illegal grow sites from the 2,942-acre Marshall Ranch located within the Sproul Creek and Redwood Creek watersheds in Humboldt County. ERWIG will train the California Conservation Corps in waste collection and disposal. Non-consumer grade hazardous waste will be geolocated for future removal or containment.
• Redwood Creek Watershed Enhancement ($497,797 to the Salmonid Restoration Federation) - The Salmonid Restoration Federation will design and implement multiple forest thinning pilot projects on permitted cannabis cultivation sites within the Redwood Creek watershed in Humboldt County. The goal of the projects is to reduce evapotranspiration and enhance dry season stream flows.
• Holland Reservoir Planning and Assessment ($999,264 to the Salmonid Restoration Federation) - The Salmonid Restoration Federation will assess the Holland Reservoir and water supply distribution system to support flow enhancement opportunities in the Cahto Creek watershed. The project will include a bathymetric survey, water level gauging, biological assessments, water delivery system investigations, identification of water use by co-owners, and enhanced dialogue among the existing water right co-owners and their successors.

WATERSHED REMEDIATION AND ENHANCEMENT SOLICITATION AWARDS (2021):

• Barker Creek Roads Sediment Treatment ($172,691 to The Watershed Research and Training Center) - The proposed project is to develop plans, baseline data collection, project designs, permitting and environmental compliance for road treatments to reduce sediment impacts to anadromous fisheries in Barker Creek Watershed in Trinity County.
• Reclaiming our California Wildernesses from the Damage of Illegal Cannabis Cultivation ($388,855 to Integral Ecology Research Center) - The project activities include the direct removal of refuse, hazardous chemicals, environmental contaminants, and the dismantling of infrastructure from illicit public land cannabis cultivation complexes within Monterey and Trinity County. As a complementary component, the project will identify interested organizations and develop their capacity to implement IERC-developed reclamation and safety protocols.
• Lost Coast Forestland Flow Enhancement and Habitat Restoration ($277,936 to Salmonid Restoration Federation) - This project will result in 100% design plans and fully executed environmental permits for ~7 million gallons of off-stream water storage and associated piping infrastructure to capture wet season runoff and augment dry season flows on the recently acquired Lost Coast Forestland property (938-acre property) located near the headwaters of Upper Redwood Creek in the South Fork Eel River in Humboldt County.
• Wildlife Conscious Certification Pilot Program: Enhancing Habitats and Connectivity for Wildlife on Licensed Cannabis Farms ($127,167 to Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs Foundation) - The Wildlife Conscious Certification pilot program has four demonstration farms participating in this initial stage and is designed to improve wildlife conservation on cannabis farms using scientifically-based management practices. CDFW has participated in the development of the program as subject matter experts and may continue to advise Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs Foundation in this limited technical capacity.

• Bull Creek Cannabis Recovery Project ($94,510 to Eel River Watershed Improvement Group);
• SF Usal Creek Headwaters – Trash and Toxin Cleanup ($83,840 to Eel River Watershed Improvement Group);
• Whitethorn Grove Clean Up ($64,831 to Sanctuary Forest, Inc.); and
• Reclaiming our Public Lands and Watersheds from the Environmental Threats of Trespass Cannabis Cultivation ($1,068,415 to Integral Ecology Research Center).
• Potter Valley Project Feasibility Study ($1,095,815 to California Trout, Inc.)

The following entities are eligible to apply and receive CRGP funding:

• Public agencies within California (state agencies or departments, public universities and colleges, special districts, joint power authorities, counties, cities, or other political subdivisions of the state).
• Nonprofit Organizations qualified to do business in California, under Section 501(c), Title 26 of the United States Code.
• California Native American Tribes as defined in Public Resources Code Section 21073.

The eligibility requirements are detailed in the PSNs.

Proposals submitted under the Qualified Cultivator PSN must provide co-benefits, which may include implementation of actions described in species recovery plans, California’s 30X30 conservation framework, the State Wildlife Action Plan, or similar plans, and/or promote a local equity program.

Proposals submitted under the Cleanup, Restoration, and Watershed Enhancement PSN or the Research and Innovation Grant PSN that directly benefit species listed as endangered or threatened per the California Endangered Species Act will receive higher scores.

All grants require a monitoring and reporting plan as well as a long-term management plan as deliverables, if not included at the time of the grant application.

There are currently three ongoing cannabis grant funding opportunities:

• Cleanup, Remediation, and Watershed Enhancement Funding Opportunity
  Priorities: Cleanup and remediation of waste, contaminants, and infrastructure associated with illicit cannabis cultivation on public or private land, reduction of sediment delivery from road crossings, increased water conservation, and/or enhancement of wildlife communities impacted by cannabis activities
• Qualified Cultivator Funding Opportunity
  Priorities: Assist cultivators with transitioning from provisional licenses to annual licenses (e.g., complete permit applications, CEQA, and upgrade watercourse crossings), implementation of sustainable cannabis cultivation practices, and/or water conservation and flow enhancements.
• Research and Innovation Grant Funding Opportunity
  Priorities: Improve the collective understanding of how cannabis cultivation influences the environment; provide actionable solutions for cannabis cultivation impacts on the environment; address environmental factors to support sustainable cultivation; and/or contribute to the conservation of California’s fish, wildlife, and the habitats upon which they depend.

CRGP grants are funded through California's Environmental Restoration and Protection Account pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 34019(f)(2). Today, CRGP offers approximately $20 million for all cannabis grant funding opportunities.

Currently, there is no minimum or maximum grant award amount. All project costs must be consistent with the purposes of the grant program and explicitly outlined in the grant agreement and adhered to as defined.