Fire Mitigation and Post-Fire Recovery

Community Wildfire and Forestland Resiliency

Sonoma County like many California counties is annually threatened by catastrophic wildfire, particularly in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Our local topography, fuels, and Mediterranean climate make our County subject to periodic wildfires. Combined with 100 years of effective fire suppression across the state, these conditions have led to uncharacteristically high fuel loads which has resulted in several devastating wildfires recently impacting our community.

Fire is an essential ecological process in fire-dependent ecosystems, such as California wildlands. However, over a century of fire suppression has led to wildlands, woodlands and rangelands that are unable to withstand normal droughts, insect outbreaks or wildfires. The purpose of any fuels reduction project is to change the size and composition of the fuels in the forest, creating a break in fuel continuity. Doing so removes ladder fuels which can carry fire from the forest floor to the tree crowns where it can become a devastating fire that quickly spreads. The goal of fuels reduction is to create conditions that mimic the role of low intensity fire or other disturbances that once naturally thinned the forest.

The RCD has a long history of collaborating with local community and agency stakeholders to provide county residents with educational, science-based solutions, and cost share assistance. Our growing partnerships with federal, state and local partners support county and regional efforts that aim to aid forest landowners implement non-commercial forest improvement activities such as thinning, planting, pruning, and fuel hazard reduction to mitigate wildfire risk and improve forest health in this highly fire-prone region. Currently, we are seeking applications for the North Bay Forest Improvement Program.

Fire Prevention & Preparedness Resources

Fuel Load Reduction around homes and structures:  California Law requires that any person that owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon or adjoining any land covered with flammable material shall at all times maintain 100 feet of defensible space. Reference Cal Fire’s Prepare for Wildfire webpage with extensive defensible space resources.

Fuel Load Reduction/Fire Breaks in Wildlands: Hazardous fuels are reduced through a variety of treatments which remove or modify wildland fuels, thereby reducing the potential for severe wildland fire behavior, lessening post-fire damage, minimizing soil erosion and the impacts to water quality, enhancing wildlife habitat, and limiting the spread of invasive species and diseases. The RCD actively seeks fuels management funding to reduce the threat of wildfire on private and public forestland and shrub land areas.

Promoting wildfire awareness, prevention, and preparedness: The RCD promotes wildfire awareness, prevention, and preparedness by creating and distributing partner agency educational outreach materials to local residents. The RCD also works with partner organizations on community workshops that provide information and cost share assistance for wildfire prevention and recovery strategies as needed. We participate in the Sonoma County Forest Working Group and support the outreach efforts of Fire Safe Sonoma and Cal Fire.

County Chipping Services: Sonoma County’s Permit Sonoma Fire Prevention Division provides free chipper services to residents who are engaged in making their property more wildfire safe. The purpose of the program is to create defensible space, specifically around the home, structures and access routes to the structures, for properties located in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County. For unimproved properties, woody debris generated from areas within 30 ft. of a structure or 20 ft. from a roadway also qualify for the program. Services such as fuel breaks, fuel management and defensible space greater than 100 feet from structures and 20 feet from edges of access roads to those structures fall outside the scope of the program. If you are interested in submitting an application for chipping services, find out more about the Chipper Program Guidelines. Visit their website here to learn when their services become available to residents. Above content taken from their website linked above.