Today, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors accepted a $750,000 grant from the USDA, Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region Fire and Aviation Management for the Critical Evacuation Route and Hazardous Vegetation Removal Program. This funding, made possible because of a successful Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) request, will support community-identified hazardous vegetation removal projects along private roads county-wide.
“Throughout our Roadmap to Resilience strategic planning effort evacuation concerns have consistently been identified as a priority by community members across the county” said Craig Griesbach, Director of Emergency Services. “We know that the first leg of most evacuation scenarios for residents will involve travel along private roads and this funding supports making those roads safer.”
Most road miles in Nevada County, nearly 2,240 miles, are privately owned and many narrow and unpaved roads pre-exist current road standards. Ensuring that privately maintained roads are free of hazardous vegetation is a key step toward supporting safer evacuation outcomes during wildfire. Under this new program Nevada County will be able to offer support to Firewise Communities, Road Associations, HOAs, local agencies, schools, and non-profits by addressing the private roadway vegetation abatement needs that they identify.
More Information About the Project
The program will leverage the approach used for past Firewise Community Micro-Grant Programs, which have twice awarded twenty-six $3,600 grants to communities looking to take on wildfire mitigation actions in their neighborhoods.
“The Micro-Grant program is a great way to begin pecking at the huge problem of flammable vegetation along private egress roads” said Darin Blue, Floriston Firewise Community. “It can rally a community around a small portion, creating awareness of the broader scale of ongoing egress maintenance.”
The Critical Evacuation Route and Hazardous Vegetation Removal Program will scale up by issuing a call for proposals for approximately fifty-nine $20,000 projects. Projects will be evaluated based on a suite of criteria including but not limited to alignment with priority locations identified in the Evacuation Study and Community Wildfire Protection Plan, benefit to underserved communities, ability to provide one-to-one match, secured permissions (right-of-entry), and shovel-readiness. Upon selection of successful proposals the Office of Emergency
Services will work with applicants to refine project scope and will then deploy and manage qualified vendors to implement project activities. “These $20,000 grants are a fantastic opportunity for Nevada County. We have so many roads with hazardous vegetation. In addition to providing the money, OES selects the contractors and manages the projects. This makes it very easy for Firewise Communities. I have worked with OES on other projects; they are great to work with” said Vicky Reeder, Vice Chair, Greater Champion Firewise Community. Additional information about program priorities, call for proposals, and finalized timeline will be made available in early 2025 at: ReadyNevadaCounty.org/3992/Critical-Evacuation-Route-and-Hazardous-.
