EL DORADO COUNTY SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT TO UPDATE WILDFIRE PLAN

Published on September 18, 2024

EL DORADO COUNTY SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT TO UPDATE THE WESTERN EL DORADO COMMUNITY

WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN

(PLACERVILLE, CA) – El Dorado County is soliciting public input on its update to the Western El Dorado Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), a critical, community-driven planning document designed to identify and evaluate local wildfire hazards and risks across the West Slope of the County, and outline actions to address them. Upon completion, anticipated in Spring 2025, this updated CWPP will guide priorities for wildfire mitigation and support funding requests for future projects aimed at reducing the threat of wildfires.

A CWPP is collaboratively developed by the County’s Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience (OWPR), Fire Safe Councils, community members, and partner agencies including local fire districts, CAL FIRE, the Eldorado National Forest, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, Resource Conservation Districts, and other stakeholders. It identifies the specific wildland fire risks facing local communities and provides prioritized recommendations to reduce those risks. The plan highlights key mitigation strategies such as hazardous fuels reduction, infrastructure protection, enhancing public preparedness, public education, and reducing structure ignitability through defensible space and home hardening.

Benefits of El Dorado County’s CWPP update include:

• Enhancing life, safety and preparedness for both the public and first responders;
• Reducing wildfire threats to critical infrastructure as well as values and assets at risk;
• Promoting the creation of fire-adapted communities;
• Prioritizing mitigation actions for identified risks and hazards across the West Slope of El Dorado County;
• Strengthening the County’s resilience to future climate change impacts; and,
• Improving public trust, accountability, and efficiency in implementing the action items of the CWPP.

Public participation throughout this process is crucial to the plan’s success, as community input will help ensure the CWPP addresses local concerns, priorities, and goals for wildfire risk reduction.

“Engaging our community is essential to developing a well-informed and actionable plan, and we strongly encourage our community members to provide input by taking the survey and attending one of the five upcoming CWPP public workshops,” said Tom Meyer OWPR Project Manager. “These workshops will not only provide an opportunity for members of our community to gain an understanding of what a CWPP is and why it’s important, but it’s a chance for them to voice their concerns, priorities, and goals for wildfire risk reduction and be a part of developing practical solutions for the future,” he added.  

Public Workshops:

Please visit Western El Dorado County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (arcgis.com) for more information about the CWPP, to take the survey and view the flyer for the upcoming workshops.

For questions, please contact the Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience:

Email: wildfireready@edcgov.us

Phone: 530-621-5569

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