Today is a historic day for Napa County and its citizens.
Today the Napa County Board of Supervisors agreed to fund $1 million to Napa Firewise for fire fuel mitigation for this fiscal year ending in June, and $5.4 million for fiscal 2021-2022.
NCFF presented a 5-year plan* community-wide fuels reduction plan that has been in development for the past 18 months. The plan is available at our Napa County CWPP Hub and is asking for a total of $43 million.
The CWPP is comprised of both a document as well as a suite of interactive maps and story maps that outline priority projects for the first five years. The types of projects consist of emergency access and egress corridors, community perimeter fuel breaks, maintenance of selected historic containment lines, as well as continued support for the local Fire Safe Council within the county.
The CWPP is truly a county-wide community effort, led by Napa Firewise, with significant input from the Napa County Fire Department, CAL FIRE, and a variety of county and state agencies and non-profit organizations. The plan was managed by Napa Firewise through a grant from a CAL FIRE Fire Prevention Grant and the Climate Change Investment Fund. The CWPP was developed by a stakeholder group that met over the past 18 months. The CWPP includes a defined governance regime to ensure that the substantial funds required to meet the plan’s goals can be administered with both transparency, accuracy, and the commitment that 90% of the funds will go to the actual work of fuel reduction and not administrative costs.
“This plan represents a collaborative effort,” said Napa County Fire Chief Geoff Belyea. “The projects in the plan are designed to do the most good for the most number of people impacted by increasingly destructive wildfires. As we are well aware, our area is not immune to large, damaging fires. The investment made by the County Board of Supervisors to fund this plan translates into real projects on the ground that will help us become more resilient to these kinds of fire events.”
The effort for this plan was guided by a Core Team from the Napa County Fire Department, CAL FIRE LNU Unit, Napa Resource Conservation District, Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District, Napa County Planning Department, Napa Land Trust, PG&E, and members of the NCFF Board representing the 13 Fire Safe Councils in Napa that serve more than 20,000 residents in Napa.
This Core Team was joined by a stakeholder group of more than 20 agencies and organizations, comprised of:
Cities
- City of Calistoga
- City of St. Helena
- City of Calistoga Fire Dept
- City of Napa Fire Dept
State, Federal & Tribe
- California State Parks
- CA Fish and Wildlife Service
- Cal Fire Las Posadas Demonstration Forest
- Bureau of Land Management
- Pomo Tribe
- Napa County Planning, Building & Environmental Services
- Napa County Public Works
- Napa County Sheriff’s Office
- Napa County Emergency Services
Local Organizations
- Deer Park Volunteer Fire Dept
- Pacific Union College
This funding puts Napa County in a leadership role in dealing with fire fuel. While Napa Firewise will continue to pursue grants from Cal Fire and other funding sources, we will now be able to launch and complete significant projects without relying solely on the indefinite and sporadic grant funding process, much of which is outside of our control. We will be launching some of these projects immediately.
We are grateful for the support that all of you in our community have given Napa Firewise through the multi-year effort that got us to this point. We are a strong, resilient community, and this fuels reduction program will only make us stronger!
*Note: formerly a 5-year plan, NCFF has expanded the scope of the plan, building a comprehensive and adaptable Wildfire Resilience Action Program (WRAP) with partner organizations that creates a long-term (10/+ years) action plan to reduce the risk and impacts of wildland fire throughout Napa County.