Fire Mitigation Coordinator for MoCo

Following is a request from the Wildfire Coalition.  Monterey County will be finalizing their 2018-19 budget in the coming two weeks.  Time is of the essence and it would be greatly appreciated if you can respond to this request at your earliest convenience.

In 2010, the Monterey County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (MCCWPP) was signed by CAL-FIRE, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Monterey County Fire Chief’s Association, the Fire Safe Council for Monterey County, the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, California State Parks, and all of the fire districts, departments and brigades in Monterey County..  The establishment of a non-agency, non-regulatory wildfire mitigation coordinator to facilitate the implementation of the MCCWPP was recommended at that time.

In 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding In Support of Monterey County Fire Warden Office (MOU) was executed by the chair of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, CAL-FIRE and all of the fire districts, agencies, and brigades in Monterey County.  The MOU expressly supported a wildfire mitigation position to coordinate and undertake responsibilities for fuel mitigation activities in Monterey County.  The position is intended to implement the MCCWPP by facilitating grants, environmental compliance, and wildfire hazard mitigation project activities to protect areas in the wildland urban interface and by coordinating adaptive management planning for forest health and community wildfire resiliency.  The position has yet to be filled due to budgetary and other constraints.

Nonetheless, the conversations about the need for this position has not stopped.  A common theme that continues to emerge time and time again is the need for a wildfire mitigation coordinator to give guidance, support and assistance to landowners and the network of organizations (e.g., Fire Safe Council for Monterey County, FireScape Monterey, Wildfire Coalition, Carmel River Watershed Conservancy, etc.) that have formed over time to prepare for and mitigate the risk of wildfires.

For the next fiscal year (2018-2019), Monterey County Resource Management Agency (RMA) has submitted a budget augmentation request to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to retain this essential wildfire mitigation coordinator.

We ask you to submit a letter to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, supporting RMA’s budget augmentation request to fund the wildfire mitigation coordinator position.  This position is essential to enhancing Monterey County’s preparedness for wildland fire.

Each Supervisor has their own direct contact information which can be found at http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/board-of-supervisors.  It’s important to know that emails, letters and faxes sent to individual board members are not distributed to other board offices so please copy your email to all Supervisors on the Board.