Read about the Sonoma County Sudden Oak Death Strategic Reponse Plan

Find out about the: Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP)

Fire Safe Sonoma's Sudden Oak Death Fuels Mitigation Project

Fire Safe Sonoma’s Fuels Mitigation Project is intended to help homeowners create defensible space by removing vegetative fuel hazards caused or exacerbated by tree mortality due to Sudden Oak Death. This program is made possible by funding provided by a National Fire Plan grant from the Bureau of Land Management through the California Fire Safe Council. We deeply appreciate BLM’s support of fire safety efforts in our county.

Who can apply for funds?
Individuals, homeowners associations and informal groups of homeowners working together can apply for funds to help pay for fire fuel removal. The overall focus of this program is on the 100’ defensible space radius and important access roads, so make sure your project focuses on those areas (read more on defensible space below).

Your neighborhood group can be an entire neighborhood or non-contiguous homes within the same area. Ideally, we'd like to have whole neighborhoods involved because a bunch of fire safe homes all in a row are exponentially better than single safe homes, but, we do understand that not everyone may want to participate. Show them how it's done and catch them next time! If there are individuals whose homes already meet fire safe standards, but who want to pitch in to help on the project, include their names and addresses in the application, but note by their address in the application that their property does not need work.

Grant awards will vary from project to project, but the maximum award will be $2,000 for individual applicants and $4000 for neighborhoods.

Projects will be ranked by Fire Safe Sonoma’s selection committee according to the following criteria:

Overall criteria:

1. Projects that will reduce fuel conditions in areas of high risk for extreme wildfire behavior that are exacerbated by Sudden Oak Death tree mortality.
2. Projects that take place in areas that have a high number of SOD dead trees.
3. Fuels reduction projects the have an impact on fire risk at the neighborhood scale.
4. Neighborhood projects that show solid commitments from as many participants as is possible.
5. Projects that help those who are elderly, disabled and low-income take care of dead trees on their property.

Extra Points for: Projects that have considered means for reuse of woody biomass (milling wood for furniture, etc. This is a big challenge. We need help! Contact Caerleon for further information.)

Project criteria:

1. Maximum fuels reduction for minimal investment
2. Projects that result in complete compliance for defensible space requirements under state law (PRC 4291).
3. Projects that show a plan for vegetation maintenance into future.
4. Projects that lead to further fire safe activities; i.e., neighborhood educational projects; formation of fire safe councils; formation of disaster planning committees, etc.
5. Projects that have well defined tasks and strong commitments from those who will take responsibility for them—i.e. reporting, communicating with grant administrator, etc.

We do not expect that all projects will satisfy all ten criteria; points will be awarded for each criterion. The more points you have, the higher you score, so keep the criteria in mind as you fill out your application.

We currently have more applicants than we have funds to cover all projects, so the process will be competitive. Because we want to provide these funds to as many people as possible, we will be especially interested in projects that can accomplish the greatest good with the smallest investment. Neighborhood or multiple parcel projects will rank higher, so if possible, find some neighbors and come up with a plan.

Program funds and Defensible Space:
Funds can be used to remove fuels from the 100’ defensible space radius that surrounds homes and to clear vegetation back from access roads. We will expect that funds will be spent on projects that, in the end, will result in one or more homes that meet defensible space requirements set forth in Public Resource Code 4291.

To make sure that you have a good understanding of what “Defensible Space” means, refer to your copy of Living with Fire in Sonoma County (available at www.firesafesonoma.org ) or feel free to contact Caerleon (Phone: 707.206.5467 or E-mail: csafford@mcn.org ) or your local Cal Fire representative for information. Important hint: Defensible Space does NOT mean Moonscape!

Here is some basic information about the requirements of 4219:

• Remove all flammable vegetation 30 feet from all structures.
• In an additional 70 feet, create a reduced fuel zone by spacing trees and plants from each other.
• Clear all needles and leaves from roofs, eaves and rain gutters.
• Trim branches 6 feet from the ground.
• Remove branches 10 feet from all chimneys.
• Landscape with fire resistant plants.
• Use trimming, mowing and power equipment before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

Here is some basic information about the requirements of 4219:

There are different ways that you can use grant funds:

• You can do all of the trimming and cutting work yourself, pile brush so it is easily accessible to the chipper, and use funds to pay for a chipper to dispose of debris.
• You can do some of the trimming and cutting yourself and use funds to have a contractor take care of stuff that you can’t tackle yourself, such as taking down large trees.
• You can have the contractor do all of the work. If you are going to have a contractor do all of the work, you will be responsible for a 10% cost share on your project.

Some projects may end up costing more than funding awarded. If that is the case, homeowners can enter into a separate agreement with the contractor to complete the work which they will pay for themselves. We wish that we could fully fund all projects, but unfortunately we just don’t have adequate resources to do so. You may find that even if you have to pay for some of the work, between the funds we can offer you and the fact that the contractor will already be on site, you will save a considerable amount of money.

How the Project will Work:
First, you will need to follow the link to the SOD Interest form on this web page. Those who have filled out and submitted the SOD interest form should have a received the link to the application in an email. If you have not received an email from us with the link, please contact csafford@mcn.org ). Fill out the application and submit. If you have any questions about your project or the application, feel free to call Caerleon at (707) 206-5467. Though we prefer that the application be filled out on line, if you have computer issues, let us know. To compete for the first round of selections, you will have to have your application in by June 1, 2008. We will continue accepting new projects until all funds are committed.

By mid-June our Selection Committee (consisting of fire and forestry professionals and community members) will review the applications and make initial selections.

CAL FIRE crews will do pre-and post- clearing inspections on the property. They will have a copy of your project parameters with them as they do their inspection, and thus will be able to help you refine the project. Fire Safe Sonoma will then contact a number of contractors to bid on your project. We will choose the contractor that best suits your requirements and the needs of the project. If you have a contractor that you want to be included in the bidding process, please send his/her name and contact info to csafford@mcn.org . Once bids are in, we will make final funding determination for projects and send you more paperwork to sign. Then you can schedule work with the contractor.

Fire Safe Sonoma will pay contractor’s invoice directly following successful post-project inspection. Grantee will be responsible for paying contractor directly for any invoice in excess of the grant award. Fire Safe Sonoma can not pay for any work in excess of the amount we fund for your project, so make sure that your project will come in at or under budget, or that you have secure resources for paying for any excess.

Fire Safe Sonoma will provide selected participants with forms for tracking volunteer hours, acreage treated, etc. Fund recipients will be responsible for keeping a track of hours and areas treated during the project, photo-documenting projects before, during and after work and reporting this information to the coordinator in a timely manner.

We look forward to working together with you and our project partners to help create fire safe communities!

SOD Interest Form (MS Word format, you will need to have Microsoft Word Application installed on your system)
SOD Interest Form (Adobe PDF format - available as a free download)

If you currently have dead trees within your defensible space zone (a 100' radius around structures), we recommend that you contend with them as soon as you can rather than waiting for grant funds. SOD trees are very unstable and fall fairly quickly and in unpredictable ways so, aside from the fire risks, they also pose great hazards from falling on buildings and people.

Fire Safe Sonoma's publication "Living with Fire in Sonoma County," which gives step-by-step methods for making your property more fire safe, is available for free download from our home page. There is also everything you might want to know (and more!) about the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, which causes SOD, on the California Oak Mortality Taskforce site.