City of Santa Barbara Wildfire Resiliency Project
The Parks and Recreation Department and Fire Department have partnered to improve the community’s fire resilience and reduce the risk and severity of wildfires. The collaboration balances the expertise of both teams to manage vegetation while protecting the natural ecosystems within the city’s open space parks. This work is a critical component of Santa Barbara’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Parma Park Hazardous Fuels Mitigation Project
Parma Park is a City of Santa Barbara owned 200-acre open space park located within the extreme foothill zone of the high fire hazard area. The park is composed of twelve different vegetation communities. The native bigpod ceanothus chaparral community makes up a majority of the park space, followed by the coast live oak woodland and forest community.
Honda Valley Park Vegetation Management
Honda Valley Park is a City of Santa Barbara owned 48-acre open space park located within the coastal interior zone of the high fire hazard area. The park has diverse, dense vegetation along steep slopes and within canyons, as well as a heavy understory of invasive plants and thatch.
Wildfire Resilience Summit
Create a regularly occurring opportunity for cross sector sharing learnings and collaborating on potential policy, actions and projects.
HOA Grazing Resilience Planning and Implementation
Develop and pilot a replicable process and framework for developing wildfire resilience plans for housing developments in high fire risk areas.
Bucket Brigade Academy
Create and implement an education program to build youth resilience to climate change induced crises. This project builds local capacity to quickly respond to wildfire and other disasters in a coordinated and responsive way.
Post Disaster Research Fund
Create a fund to study ecological/ecosystem recovery processes. Studies would include, at a minimum, a baseline biological assessment after every disaster, to identify sensitive natural communities, threats (i.e. invasive species vectors/vulnerabilities) and priorities for mitigation/restoration.
Alisal Fire Recovery: Creating a Fire Resilient Landscape
Develop a replicable framework for creating a fire-safe landscape with healthy ecological function in post-fire recovery areas …
Community Supported Grazing Summit
Host a series of convenings or summits to develop a framework for a community supported grazing program.
Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX)
Implement a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) and cooperative burns to provide experiential training that builds robust local capacity for…
Expand Cachuma Resource Conservation District Capacity
The Cachuma Resource Conservation District (CRCD) plays a critical role in our community as a partner to and bridge between farmers, ranchers and other landowners and conservation groups and agencies focused on the health of our land, water, soil, wildlife, agriculture and food systems.
Fire Fuel Management at Arroyo Hondo Preserve
In June of 2021, the Land Trust of Santa Barbara received a grant of $23,588 from the Coastal Conservancy for a targeted prescribed grazing project at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, a project that the RPP team had identified through their outreach efforts to the Land Trust and helped facilitate funding for.
Researching Flammability Traits of Common SoCal Native Plants - The Fire Wise Project
The Fire Wise Project is a collaborative effort among multiple agencies and institutions in the Santa Barbara area, including UCSB, Westmont College, and the SB Botanic Garden.
Coordinated Effort to Implement Recommended Actions in Existing CWPPs
Community Wildfire Protection Planning is a structured process that helps communities assess their preparedness for wildfires, identify priority actions and secure policy guidance from their elected leaders so that fire protection agencies…
Unified Fire Prevention Project Tracking Website
Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) serves as Santa Barbara County's Cal Fire Unit and regularly produces an Annual Strategic Unit Plan as mandated by Cal Fire that inventories the fire prevention projects SBCFD has in various stages of its planning and implementation processes.
Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defensible Space Plan
The Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) undertook a planning effort to identify, prioritize and plan a series of fire prevention and mitigation activities to reduce the risk of wildfire to mountain communities including West Camino Cielo, Painted Cave and Rosario Park.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) Where Needed Throughout the County
While several areas of Santa Barbara County benefit from the preparation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans, there are several areas of the County that do not currently have a plan that covers them.
Regional Lompoc Valley Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
The Lompoc region has been identified as a high priority for fire prevention activities by the modeling completed by the RPP team but the region lacks a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
City of Guadalupe LeRoy Park Fuel Reduction
Guadalupe City leaders noted that an area next to Leroy Park and adjacent to the Santa Maria River is considered a high fire risk to nearby vulnerable population concentrations.
Roadside Vegetation Management
Roadside vegetation management is a high impact fire risk reduction activity and is needed in high fire risk areas throughout the county. The RPP team recommends engaging local fire …