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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO
Inter-Departmental Correspondence
Board of Supervisors
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DATE:
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June 10, 2010
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BOARD MEETING DATE:
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June 29, 2010
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SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:
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No
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VOTE REQUIRED:
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Majority
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TO:
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Honorable Board of Supervisors
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FROM:
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Supervisor Rich Gordon and Supervisor Carole Groom
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SUBJECT:
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Environmental Quality Committee Santa Cruz County-San Mateo County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
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RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution adopting the Santa Cruz County-San Mateo County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
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BACKGROUND:
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On May 11, 2010, this Board received copies of the proposed Santa Cruz County-San Mateo County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (“CWPP”). The CWPP is now before this Board for its consideration and proposed adoption. This plan identifies and prioritizes areas for fire safety projects such as fuel reduction treatments to protect at-risk communities and essential infrastructure, and recommends measures to reduce structural fire hazards. Communities which have adopted a CWPP and have taken proactive measures to encourage property owners to reduce fire risk on private property are given priority for federal funding for fire safety projects.
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DISCUSSION:
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As more people choose to reside in rural and forested areas, the wildland urban interface (WUI), defined as the area where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland, has expanded, and with that expansion the number of wildfires threatening people and property has increased. The large fires that burned in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties in 2008 and 2009 illustrate the potentially devastating nature of fires in the WUI.
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Following the 2008 Summit Fire that burned over 4,000 acres in Santa Cruz County, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the Resource Conservation Districts (RCD) of both Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began a collaborative effort to prepare and adopt a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP). A CWPP is a strategic plan that identifies fire risks and hazards facing communities in the WUI, and provides recommendations to reduce those risks. A CWPP may address issues such as wildfire response, hazard mitigation, community preparedness and structure protection. CWPPs are authorized and defined in Title 1 of the Federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, and, by definition, must be developed collaboratively, must prioritize fuel reduction areas, and must provide recommendations to reduce the ignitability of structures.
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To help combat problems associated with the WUI, the federal government makes available funds for fuel reduction, and mandates that at least 50% of these funds be spent on fuel reduction projects in WUI areas. Communities with a CWPP in place are given priority for funding of their fire safety projects on both private and public lands by the federal government when such funding is available.
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The CWPP presented to the Board for approval is the result of the collaborative effort between CAL FIRE, the RCDs of both Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties, and the USFWS. It documents actions intended to reduce the risk wildfire poses to people, property, and the environment. The CWPP also conveys information via a number of maps, including:
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Additional input for the CWPP was sought from homeowners, businesses, landowners, land managers, fire districts and federal, state and local governments about projects to include in the plan. The San Mateo County FireSafe Council also has reviewed, commented on, and supports this CWPP. Suggested projects included those to reduce hazardous fuel loads, develop emergency evacuation plans, improve access for emergency response, and improve understanding of fire on the landscape.
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In summary, the CWPP is a planning tool that can benefit public safety, and approval of the plan will give priority for federal funding to fire safety projects identified in the plan.
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The amendment contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Collaborative Community by permitting local fire agencies, resource management districts and the community to collaborate on methods of increasing fire safety in the wildland-urban interface.
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County Counsel has reviewed the resolution and approved it as to form.
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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There will be no fiscal impact from adoption of the CWPP. As funds are available for specific projects recommended in the plan, each such project will be assessed for its fiscal impact, if any.
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