Board approves letter supporting Cal Fire grant to fund defensible-space and fuels-reduction work on Clear Lake and North Shore
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Summary
The Lake County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a letter of commitment supporting a Cal Fire Wildfire Prevention Grant application led by the Lake County Resource Conservation District. The project would fund defensible-space work on private and abandoned properties and public outreach across Clear Lake and North Shore neighborhoods.
On July 22 the Lake County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve a county letter of commitment supporting a Cal Fire Wildfire Prevention Grant application prepared by the Lake County Resource Conservation District (RCD).
The grant, if funded, would carry the project titled "Enhancing Wildfire Prevention through Targeted Defensible Space and Fuels Reduction" (Cal Fire grant number 78873218). According to the county’s chief climate resiliency officer, the proposal would fund defensible-space treatments on at least 100 lots in the North Shore and at least 100 lots in the City of Clearlake, targeting very-high fire severity zones and prioritizing connectivity to evacuation routes. The project also would seek to treat approximately 45 abandoned tax-default or “paper” lots identified as sustained wildfire risks.
Project partners include the Lake County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services, North Coast Opportunities (NCO), the Resource Conservation District, and community fire districts. The grant would support a bilingual outreach campaign, Operation Lake County Ready, open-house firehouse events in multiple districts and a community summit on home-hardening and wildfire preparedness.
Supervisor Sabatier praised the RCD’s outreach-focused strategy and called for consideration of legal changes to facilitate right-of-entry work on vacant or paper lots in future statewide legislation. County staff said the letter commits only county support for the RCD’s application and that a successful grant would require further project-level agreements.
Action: Supervisor (mover not specified) moved and the board voted 5-0 to authorize the chair to sign the letter of commitment.
Ending: The RCD will submit the Cal Fire application with the county’s letter of commitment; staff said additional project approvals and contracts would be required if the grant is awarded.
