Title
Department of Transportation recommending the Board:
1) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign the El Dorado County Community Forestry Urban Parcel Fuels Treatment Planning Project Grant Agreement CTA23010LR with the California Tahoe Conservancy in the amount of $78,045 for the development of the vegetation management plan to address forest fuel loading on County-owned parcels in the Tahoe Basin; and
2) Authorize the Director of Transportation to submit the Grant Agreement and to execute any future modifications that do not increase the total dollar amount of said Agreements. (District V)
FUNDING: California Tahoe Conservancy (100% - State).
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In 2021, record-breaking wildfires devastated millions of acres across California, making restoring forest resilience to wildfire a primary goal of the State. On January 8, 2021, the Governor's Forest Management Taskforce released a comprehensive action plan to reduce wildfire risk for vulnerable communities, improve the health of forests and wildlands, and accelerate action to combat climate change. The 2021 Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan includes the State’s strategy for increasing the pace and scale of forest management to meet its target of treating 500,000 acres annually by 2025, particularly on state-owned lands. On November 8, 2021, the California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) Board authorized grant guidelines and the expenditure of up to $50,000,000 to implement projects to remove excess vegetation and mitigate potential wildfire risk to assist in achieving the goals of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
The Department of Transportation (Transportation) submitted a grant proposal to the Conservancy to pave the way for the County of El Dorado to implement projects to remove excess vegetation from County-owned parcels in the Tahoe Basin. Transportation has been awarded $78,045 for the El Dorado County Community Forestry Urban Parcel Fuels Treatment ...
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