At their April 9 meeting, the Board of Supervisors accepted nearly $1 million in funding from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for the South Yuba Rim Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project. Supervisors also approved a contract with local non-profit Yuba Watershed Institute to begin work.
The project area encompasses 6,000 acres along the north rim of the South Yuba River canyon, stretching from Bridgeport east for 16 miles to North Bloomfield. It will protect over 44,000 residents, critical infrastructure, and the Wild and Scenic South Yuba River from the impacts of wildfire. Within the 6,000-acre planning area, the focus will be on 800 acres of private property to connect and complement the work already completed on state, federal, and private lands, including 13 Firewise Communities.
"This project is a half-century in the making on the San Juan Ridge. What started out as smaller projects dating back to the 1970s – including the Montezuma Fuel Break – is now being built into a larger effort that will provide protection to more residents thanks to the collaboration between the San Juan Ridge community, CAL FIRE, and the Yuba Watershed Institute,” said District 4 Supervisor Sue Hoek, whose district covers the project footprint.
Yuba Watershed Institute Executive Director Chris Friedel added, “The South Yuba Rim Project was first put together in 2019 when CAL FIRE met with some
community members and the County to really try to formalize this idea of having a zone of reduced fuels from Bridgeport to Malakoff Diggins. Really, we have been working on this for about five years, putting this project together. It builds on established efforts in the area both by CAL FIRE, Yuba Watershed Institute and BLM.”
Fuels reduction work is anticipated to begin in 2026 after Phase 1 Planning is completed. Phase 1 Planning will include landowner outreach, identifying vegetation removal, and environmental compliance surveys. Following Phase 1 Planning, FEMA will review and award approximately $3.4 million for Phase 2 Implementation.
