Climate Action and Resiliency

Summary of objective implementation status

The Resilient Forests and Watersheds initiative has hosted in-person community workshops, webinars, field trips, and direct technical assistance to landowners interested in how to protect their property and better manage their natural resources and improve their wildfire resilience. This capacity building effort was funded by a $353,000 grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and matched 1:1 by the PGE Settlement Funds. A 2-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and Gold Ridge and Sonoma Resource Conservation Districts covered under the PGE Settlement Funds ($800,000) has provide technical assistance in forest management planning and wildfire resilience efforts and collaboration of many community organization to support landowners within the Russian River watershed and stretching into the Mayacama mountains and Sonoma Valley and the Bohemian corridor in west County.

The County distributed $1 million to nine projects through the Vegetation Management Grant program managed by Ag + Open Space. These projects range from four shaded fuel breaks along prominent ridgelines or evacuation routes such as Brain Ridge north of Cazadero, Camp Meeker, along St. Helena Road and Chalk Hill Road. A prescribed grazing program managed jointly by Gold Ridge and Sonoma RCDs will be matched by a $400,000 Coastal Conservancy grant. Two projects will lead to provide environmental compliance for over 48,500 acres for future fuel treatments. And finally, Fire Safe Sonoma will provide educational webinars via the Resilient Landscape Coalition focused on defensible space and landscape fuel treatments.

Finally, the County was awarded a $1.84 million grant from the CALFIRE Wildfire Prevention grant program for the Northside Russian River Shaded Fuel Break project – a 13 mile shaded fuel break across three ridgelines above the towns of Guernewood, Guerneville, Rio Nido and Hacienda. Project implementation will begin fall of 2024 and be completed by Spring of 2026. It culminates 3 years of planning and coordinating with local landowners, CALFIRE, local community organizations and Ag + Open Space.

Key milestone update

• Technical Assistance to Landowners and Resource Managers
• Educational presentations/webinars = 10
• Educational site tours or workshops = 9
• Attendees to webinars/workshops/tours/events = 399

• Watershed Protection / Stream Restoration
• Webinars/workshops or site visits = 8
• Attendees = 54

• Forest Health and Management
• Webinars/workshops/technical assistance events = 12
• Attendees = 225

• Fuel Management Treatments and Strategies:
• Webinars/workshops/technical assistance events = 25
• Attendees/landowners = 275
• Develop a strategy to communicate vegetation management efforts with the community by early 2022 – to be completed in early in 2024 – Resilient Forests and Watersheds initiative has provided technical workshops to share advances and planning efforts on local vegetation management activities. – COMPLETE
• Create vegetation management outreach materials, including a website by end of 2022. While the Community Wildfire Prevention Plan (CWPP) Project Portal has served as a source of information and Resilient Landscapes Coalition has developed a website in 2023, Ag + Open Space is rolling out a new Resource Hub on the Resilient Forests and Watersheds website that will direct users to all the information that exists locally and regionally on a wide variety of topics. This website will be launched in January 2025. – IN PROCESS
• Work with partners and the technical advisory committee to identify best management practices for vegetation management that is focused on healthy ecological function and wildfire resilience to share with the community. The grant-funded Sonoma County Tending the Land website was launched in August 2024 (formerly, Vegetation Management Handbook) for landowners to learn how to plan and implement vegetation treatments on their property.– COMPLETED
• Update communications strategy, website, and outreach materials as needed. Consultant will be contracted in January 2024 to support the CAO in the strategy and community outreach and collaboration between County departments and agencies engaged in wildfire resilience – ON-GOING

Coordination and partnership update

The Vegetation Management Technical Advisory Committee has coordinated with state agencies (CALFIRE, State Parks), county departments and special districts (Ag + Open Space, Permit Sonoma, Regional Parks, Sonoma Water, Climate Action and Resilience), non-govt. organizations (Sonoma Land Trust, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, Sonoma Ecology Center, Fire Safe Sonoma) and Gold Ridge and Sonoma Resource Conservation Districts, UC Cooperative Extension, Tribes.

Community, equity and climate update

While the focus of this effort has been the Russian River watershed and its principal tributaries due to the grant funds received, the next phase is to focus on the Mayacama range and the eastern portion of the County. There are initial discussions to work with cities to enhance prescribed grazing activities for fuel treatments within city limits.

Objective funding

• $353,000 – National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• $1,840,800 – CALFIRE Wildfire Prevention Grant (Guerneville area)
• $1,000,000 – PGE Settlement Funds for Vegetation Management Grants