Northern California county greenlights decade-long strategy for wildfire threat protection
(FOX40.COM) — After battling with the 215-acre Royal Fire in the Tahoe National Forest, officials in Placer County have decided to approve a plan aiming to protect communities near the county’s forested and wildland-bordering areas.
“This plan represents the next decade of dedicated work to safeguard our communities,” said Placer County Director of Agriculture, Parks, and Natural Resources Josh Huntsinger. “It’s a roadmap for integrating forest health practices into the fabric of our communities.”
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The plan is called the Placer County Regional Forest Health 10-year Countywide Action Plan, and on Tuesday, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved its framework after Kerri Timmer, the county’s regional forest health division coordinator, gave a presentation outlining how the plan bolsters community safety and forest health.
“During the presentation, Timmer highlighted that Placer has nearly 650,000 acres of forested areas across private, state, federal, and local-government-owned land that could benefit from treatment. Most of the forest is overgrown with vegetation and vulnerable to wildfire,” Placer County officials said.
To treat all 650,000 acres identified in the plan, officials said the plan would cost nearly $2 billion, including about $50 million for 31 forest treatment projects between the Sierra Nevada foothills and North Lake Tahoe.
Timmer said the plan “directly contributes to Placer County’s critical goal of balanced land used, planning, and environmental stewardship.”
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The 10-year Forest Health plan was developed with plenty of public input, including four public meetings, an online survey, and “insights from a steering committee composed of fire districts,” that helped establish eight key priorities the plan seeks to accomplish.
Those eight priorities are safety, assets (homes, infrastructure), water resources, recreational areas, history/knowledge (culturally and historically significant sites and resources), biodiversity, ecological commodities, and carbon.
Another important component of the plan’s implementation is Land Tender, a digital tool that could potentially decrease the chances of a wildfire turning destructive.
Timmer explains that Land Tender will allow officials to “strategically prioritize, adapt and scale mitigation efforts efficiently, saving both time and taxpayer resources.”
According to Placer County Regional Forest Health, the plan will be enacted in three phases.
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Phase 1 focuses on utilizing the framework to create large-scale, collaborative forest health projects and partnerships, including securing necessary permits and grant funding.
Phase 2 empowers local partners like fire-safe councils to design projects using Land Tender, considering both their priorities and alignment with the countywide framework.
Phase 3 leverages the countywide plan to collaborate with neighboring counties, advocating for joint leadership at the state and federal levels to secure resources and policies that support inter-jurisdictional wildfire mitigation efforts.
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