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Chief Administrative Office, Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience, recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Receive and file an update on the development of the County’s Wildfire Strategy and general program activities and initiatives to date; and
2) Adopt and endorse the Wildfire Strategy incorporating any changes as directed by the Board or as determined necessary by staff throughout the implementation of annual work plan activities therein.
FUNDING: N/A
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On September 21, 2021 (File No. 21-1515, Item No. 38), the Board directed the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) to convene a Vegetation Management and Wildfire Resiliency Working Group (Working Group) with the goal of including public, private, faith-based and non-profit organizations to collaborate on lessons learned from the Caldor Fire in order to define funding streams and initiate a robust, community-based resiliency and vegetation management program that would accelerate current County efforts. Following this direction, the CAO established the Working Group consisting of representatives from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), CAL FIRE, El Dorado County Fire Safe Council, El Dorado County and Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs), El Dorado County Fire Chiefs Association, and El Dorado County Fire Prevention Officers Association.
On March 2022 (File No. 22-0491, Item No. 33), the Board, based on recommendations from the Working Group), took the following actions:
· Added a new Strategic Plan theme to “Lead and facilitate the creation and maintenance of fire-adapted communities,” with an associated task to “Prepare a countywide wildfire protection strategy.”
· Established a process/governing structure led by the County through a dedicated Wildfire Resilience Office to prioritize and coordinate efforts on a countywide level based on a comprehensive wildfire protection strategy.
· Designated $3.375 million in excess contingency funds...
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