Reducing Fire Risks: Through Vegetation Management
Marin County Fire Department has decades of experience managing vegetation for fire control. With the implementation of the California Fire Plan in 1996, a forester and pre-fire engineer were hired to implement a Vegetation Management Program. The program is for communities, ranchers, and natural resource managers who wish to strengthen their protection against wildfire.
Focused Vegetation Management
Marin County Fire Department (MCFD) will focus vegetation management efforts around primary and secondary evacuation routes and surrounding communities in the Wildland Urban Interface.
MCFD has two seasonal Fire Crews who also work on vegetation removal when not assigned to an active fire and a Fuels Crew that focuses on fuel reduction work all year long. Together, hundreds of tons of fuel is removed each year along strategic areas to protect communities. All work is performed following the detailed environmental constraints on each project.
Vegetation Management Projects 2021-present
The data above shows the estimated tons of vegetation removed by month. Different fuel types and location of the projects determines the amount of fuel removed. The number of days available for fuel removal is also affected by the severity of the fire season, due to the crew being assigned to fight wildfires across the state, as well. As the focus on reducing fire risk as increased the last few years, so has the data collection efforts. 2020 data is currently archived in a legacy system, we are working on converting it to publish here to show the work that occurred in 2020 as well.
Vegetation Management Projects 2017 - 2019
The historical data above (2017 - 2019) shows the estimated tons of vegetation removed by month. Different fuel types and location of the projects determines the amount of fuel removed. The number of days available for fuel removal is also affected by the severity of the fire season, due to the crew being assigned to fight wildfires across the state, as well.
Map of Vegetation Management Efforts
FIRESafe Marin & the Community Wildfire Protection Plan
FIRESafe Marin announced the countywide adoption of the 2016 Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan a few years ago and it's more recent update in 2020.
This document represents several years of work by a diverse group of community stakeholders, fire officials, and wildfire science experts to produce an updated CWPP which broadly addresses wildfire risk and hazard, and provides a framework for future mitigation efforts.
The Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) has identified many more Vegetation Management projects, other than the specific projects of County Fire above.
Marin County Fire is a major player in FIRESafe Marin and its fire safety and fire risk reduction programs and projects.
