Consent 8.
Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting
Emergency Services
- Meeting Date:
- 07/22/2014
- Title:
- Wildfire Protection Plan
- Submitted By:
- Norm Sturm, Emergency Services
- Department:
- Emergency Services
Presentation:
No A/V Presentation
Recommendation:
Approve
Document Signatures:
BOS Signature Required
# of ORIGINALS
Submitted for Signature:
Submitted for Signature:
1
NAME
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Norm Sturm
TITLE
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Emergency Services Coordinator
Docket Number (If applicable):
Mandated Function?:
Not Mandated
Source of Mandate
or Basis for Support?:
or Basis for Support?:
Information
Agenda Item Text:
Adopt Resolution 14-23, adopting the Cochise County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Background:
In mid-2013 Cochise County received $34,500 in grant funding from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Arizona State Forestry Division, to develop a county-wide CWPP. Logan Simpson Design, Inc. was chosen as the consultant to lead the CWPP development process. A team of approximately 30 stakeholders met regularly from October 2013 through April 2014 to develop the plan. After several revisions and comment periods (both public and interagency), the plan was finalized in May 2014 and is ready for jurisdictional adoption. August 1 has been set as the deadline for CWPP adoption.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) are developed in response to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2013. This Act calls for Federal, State and local stakeholders to collaborate for the purpose of identifying priority areas within a wildland-urban interface (WUI) that are considered a high risk for wildfires. For the purposes of the Cochise County CWPP, a working group of stakeholders and wildland experts met on a regular basis to identify and agree on high-risk areas in the county. Once these high risk areas are identified, the CWPP planning group then recommended response enhancement and fuel reduction projects, goals, and methods to help mitigate the risk in these areas. The CWPP does not mandate any action nor does it have any regulatory or statutory authority. It is only a planning tool that provides hazard assessment and mitigation recommendations to address the hazards. Adoption of the plan allows jurisdictions to use the CWPP as a platform for identifying wildfire mitigation project priorities and pursuing wildfire mitigation grants.
Department's Next Steps (if approved):
All Cochise County fire departments, municipalities, state and federal landowner agencies, and stakeholder organizations are being asked to also adopt the CWPP by August 2014. Once adoption confirmations are received from all agencies the CWPP document will be available for adopting agencies to use as a platform for pursuing wildfire-related mitigation grant funding and other wildfire reduction programs.
Impact of NOT Approving/Alternatives:
If not approved by the Board of Supervisors, the CWPP will not be deemed a valid plan. All benefits of the plan will be nullified.
To BOS Staff: Document Disposition/Follow-Up:
OES will need two copies of the CWPP signature page with the appropriate agency line signed and two copies of the resolution adopting the plan. One copy for the OES files and one copy for Logan Simpson.