Pacific Southwest Region

Southern California Hazardous Fuels Rehabilitation and Restoration

Breaking Down Barriers -- Forest Service Makes State Fire Assistance Funding Work for Community Groups

• Angeles, Los Padres, San Bernardino, and Cleveland National Forests
• California Fire Alliance
• USDI Bureau of Land Management
• California Fire Safe Council

The Forest Service's (FS) Regional office, working with the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests, is partnering with the California Fire Safe Council (FSC), the California Fire Alliance, and the US Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enable Southern California communities-at-risk to help themselves become safer from wildfire. Using funding made possible by Congressional earmarks in FY2004, $2.4 million in Forest Service State and Private grant funding was provided to the California Fire Safe Council to fund fuel reduction projects in communities affected by the 2003 wildfires. These projects will help communities become better prepared for wildfire.

The partnership's initial success is a series of decisions that will move funding faster to Southern California's communities-at-risk in San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. These FS decisions include:

1. Passing grant funding through FSC, emphasizing project funding based on local priorities as defined in community fire plans.
2. Use of the Bureau of Land Management's streamlined compliance process for the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and National Historic Preservation Act to speed project implementation by moving them more quickly through federal agency environmental and cultural review.
3. Reducing restrictions on 50-50 cost share requirements - to a 75-25 cost share to ease burden on FSCs and community-based organizations.
4. Advanced grant payments for projects, instead of reimbursing payments. Community groups do not often have reserve funds, and would not be able to do these projects without advance payment.

The benefits of these decisions will enable more community-based organizations to participate in projects funded by the federal government, as well as to facilitate more timely and efficient success of projects, as the bureaucratic restrictions have been reduced. All projects are still subject to the applicable nonfederal compliance regulations.

Current status: These projects are projected to assist 112 communities and treat approximately 7,000 acres.

For more information please contact Wendy Yun, USDA Forest Service, Region 5, 707-562-8928.

Success Stories

• Barton Flats
• Breaking Barriers
• Burn Area Restoration Projects
• Carveacre Community Protection
• Charlton Flats
• Crystal Lake
• Evacuation Route Clearing
• Forest Area Safety Taskforce
• Grant Successes
• June Aerial Flight Results
• Kuffel Canyon Road
• Laguna Mountain Community Protection
• Lake Arrowhead Log Storage Facility
• March Aerial Flight Results
• Mistletoe Eradication
• North Lake Arrowhead Fuels Reduction
• Seeds for Forest Renewal
• Skyline Fuels Reduction Project
• Student Conservation Association Partnership
• Take Pride in America

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