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Office of Wildfire Preparedness updates supervisors on defensible‑space push, CWPP and biomass studies
Summary
Tom Meyer, the county wildfire program manager, told the Board the county is building defensible-space inspections, expanding Firewise communities, completing a West Slope Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and pursuing biomass-feasibility work funded by federal and BLM grants.
Tom Meyer, program manager for El Dorado County’s Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience, briefed the Board Feb. 5 on progress toward defensible‑space inspections, a completed grant-awarded mapping tool, and development of a countywide West Slope Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
Meyer said the office has built a coordinated defensible-space program with local fire districts and Fire Safe Councils and is expanding outreach. He reported 39 active Firewise communities on the West Slope and another 16 communities in process. The county recently qualified for a state Fire Risk Reduction Community List that can improve homeowners’ insurance access and prioritizes the county for certain grant funding.
CWPP and Weber Creek: The county initiated an update to the Western El Dorado CWPP in February; Meyer said public engagement returned strong response (about 1,700 survey responses) and that the plan will yield a prioritized action list needed to pursue funding and projects. He said the Weber Creek project (phase 1 environmental review complete) will move to defensible-space work for enrolled parcels.
Biomass and funding: Meyer said the county received federal grant support and a recent BLM amendment that will expand implementation funding; the county also secured a $75,000 USDA award to begin feedstock and infrastructure evaluation for biomass utilization and to explore economic development opportunities tied to vegetation management.
Ending: Meyer emphasized continuing community outreach, coordination with partners and the use of the CWPP to position the county for additional grant-supported work.
