Board backs letter supporting Napa-Lake forest health grant after debate over private-land benefits

A majority of the Lake County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to send a letter of support for a Cal Fire Forest Health Grant application led by the Napa County Resource Conservation District that would fund vegetation-management projects in Napa and Lake counties, including more than 200 acres at a privately owned property, 6 Sigma Ranch, in Lake County.

The board’s action authorizes Chair E.J. Crandall to sign a support letter for the application, which planners said pairs Lake County projects with adjacent Napa work and would fund roughly 800 acres of joint treatments, including oak woodland restoration and fuels reduction.

The vote followed a focused exchange about public advantages of routing grant funds to a private landowner. Supervisor Sabatier said she was disturbed by the proposal’s reliance on private property participation without a clearly quantified match, and questioned whether large private parcels risk receiving outsized public support compared with smaller landowners who also need…