Board accepts Amador County Community Wildfire Protection Plan to boost coordinated fuels work and grant competitiveness

The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted April 28 to accept a Community Wildfire Protection Plan prepared with the Amador Fire Safe Council and Spatial Informatics Group.

Todd Bwell of the Amador Fire Safe Council and Spatial Informatics Group consultants described the CWPP as a nonbinding framework that organizes local, state and federal partners, prioritizes fuel‑reduction projects and improves the county’s competitiveness for grant programs. “This document really clears out a lot of questions that any funder would have and shows that you’ve collaborated with the right groups,” a consultant said.

The plan includes hazard modeling outputs (burn probability, flame length and an integrated hazard index), a public mapping portal, 31 high‑priority action items and a roster of priority fuel‑reduction projects. Presenters said the plan was built with a steering committee and a broad working group that included CalFire, the U.S. Forest Service, local fire districts, Amador RCD and utility partners. Public outreach included five community meetings and an online mapping survey that allowed residents to flag local concerns.

Board members emphasized translating plan recommendations into homeowner actions and insurance‑relevant improvements. The council said follow‑up work will include technical assistance to firewise communities, development of defensible‑space programs and a collaborative convening to carry projects forward; the first collaborative meeting was scheduled for June 10.

The board accepted the plan and authorized the chair to sign it. Supporters said the CWPP will be used to pursue grants and to coordinate landscape‑scale fuel treatments.

What’s next: Amador Fire Safe Council will host collaborative meetings, maintain the plan’s living GIS data sets and begin using the CWPP to build project proposals for state and federal funding.