Some ten million dollars in fuel reduction money for Lake County is on indefinite hold, jeopardizing fire prevention projects all across the region. That's the message from District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pie-ska to the Konocti Fire Safe Council's annual firewise summit.
“It is really disheartening that those funds are Frozen right now because this is the window when we need to be getting that work done”
In recent years Lake County has brought in record amounts of grant money to build one of the most robust fire resiliency networks in California. Chipping programs have removed 100’s of thousands of tons of hazardous fuels and tribal teams have helped to reduce fuel loads in our forrest lands.
“This is a big machine that we have put in place,” said Pyska “and if we start losing the funding the pieces start to fall apart and we cannot afford that we've all been through enough we know this we have more to do.”
In the Black Forest, piles sit ready for burning with little prospect that this tinder dry material will be disposed of before the end of the year. According to Pyska, “What money there is, has been set aside for just emergency services, not prevention”
“Mendocino Forest is a big part of our County half of our county is public lands so if you have the BLM and then the National Forest Service restricted to doing the work that keeps our community safe that's a big problem.”
As the Konocteye Fire Safe Council searches for new revenue to offset the federal shortfall, our focus is freeing up state and local funds that could be used to make the Soda Bay Road corridor more wildfire resilient.