Campsite Fire Buffers on Paradise Road and Other Recreational Areas Throughout the County

Paradise Road and other public land recreation areas throughout the County are highly visited community resources utilized by all income levels. These areas often include fire pits, grills and picnic areas where visitors bring stoves and other cooking equipment that can present fire risks. In earlier decades, buffer strips were created and maintained by county or forest service hand crews around such areas, but currently this effort lacks the funding and staffing capacity needed. The RPP team recommends inventorying all public recreation areas with such risks and developing a plan to build the capacity for annual fire prevention work into grants and annual budgets. This presents opportunities for the County Fire Department, the Los Padres National Forest, State Parks and other land managers to coordinate on the necessary inventory, planning, fundraising and implementation.

Status: Unfunded

Cost: Medium

Partners:

Permitting: Work on recreational areas may require PSA (Project Specific Analysis) under the California VTP's CEQA programmatic document. However, it is anticipated that minor work on campsites would likely fall under a CEQA categorical exemption as "routine maintenance to existing facilities".

Funding Sources:

Additional Notes: This may be required in Forest Service recreation area management contractor agreements. Ability to complete this project is limited if nonexistent - will require grant funding and capacity building.