Cities4Forests and partners mobilized $115 million to restore 320,000 acres of forests and watersheds, an area the size of Los Angeles. The work protects communities from wildfires while creating jobs and improving the water supply.
The Challenge
Across the United States, wildfires and dwindling water threaten communities and ecosystems. Dry, overgrown forests and degraded watersheds are often the culprits.
Wildfires now burn more than 7 million acres of land and forests annually — an area larger than the state of Vermont — destroying homes and infrastructure and leading to $900 billion in losses each year. The resulting ash and debris pollute waterways, while forest loss in upstream watersheds can reduce water supplies for nearby communities. Rural, Tribal and low-income communities disproportionately face the impacts.
Improving forest health can help prevent wildfires from starting and spreading out of control, but federal agencies face persistent funding gaps that delay proactive measures.
WRI’s Role
Alongside partners including Blue Forest, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and U.S. Forest Service, Cities4Forests co-developed innovative financial mechanisms to scale forest and watershed restoration. These included the Forest Resilience Bond, the Utah Resilience Fund and the nation’s first certified green bond for watershed protection. Cities4Forests also mobilized more than $11 million from Fortune 500 companies for watershed restoration in collaboration with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
Cities4Forests identified priority geographies, designed innovative funding and financing tools, and provided technical analysis to scale investments. The initiative brought together utilities, federal and state agencies, Tribes, residents and corporations around the shared value of resilient forests, watersheds and communities. These efforts ultimately accelerated restoration timelines, unlocked nontraditional capital and created local jobs.
The Outcome
Cities4Forests mobilized $115 million across 15 states to restore and protect more than 320,000 acres of forests and watersheds — an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. Investments fund measures that reduce overly dense vegetation in forested watersheds, which decreases the risk of high-intensity wildfires, improves wildlife habitat and strengthens water security for more than 3 million people.
In California, the Forest Resilience Bond unlocked private capital to accelerate restoration across 63,000 acres in the Tahoe National Forest, lowering wildfire risk and improving water security. In Utah, funds raised for wildfire risk reduction across 61,000 acres in the Upper Weber River watershed help protect water supplies for over 700,000 downstream residents and recharge the shrinking Great Salt Lake. And a $32 million certified green bond safeguarded 3,100 acres around Lake Maumelle in Arkansas, the first of its kind to protect forests for drinking water. Fortune 500 companies now invest millions in watershed health across multiple states.
Collectively, these interventions support 260 jobs, remove or avoid more than 10 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (equivalent to the annual emissions of over 2 million cars), and deliver measurable ecological and community benefits for millions of people. They also create a viable financial model for nature restoration and wildfire prevention.
