Fire Safe Council
Wildfire is an increasing threat in the Sacramento region, particularly along the American River Parkway. In 2021, more than 200 fires burned over 15% of the Parkway. In response, the American River Parkway Foundation founded the American River Parkway Fire Safe Council (Fire Safe Council) in July 2021. The Fire Safe Council is recognized by the California Fire Safe Council, developed to help lead education on the danger of wildfires and help communities protect themselves from wildfires.
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
The Parkway Foundation is proud to present the American River Parkway Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This plan was developed by Deer Creek Resources and funded by the Foundation to address fire hazards and prevention on the entire 4,800 acre Parkway.
Currently, the Foundation is seeking funding to begin work on a high priority project of the plan; in particular removing the grape that is growing into the cottonwood trees down in the lower reaches by Discovery Park.
What does the American River Parkway Fire Safe Council Do?
The mission of the Fire Safe Council is to mitigate fire danger on the Parkway and protect natural habitat, infrastructure that resides on the Parkway and surrounding homes and businesses from fire.
The Fire Safe Council’s objective is to update and implement the Fire Management Plan developed by internationally renown wildfire expert Carol Rice and commissioned by Sacramento County Regional Parks in 2015.
The founding goals of the Fire Safe Council are:
- Develop wildfire risk reduction plans for each section of the Parkway
- Protect the infrastructure that exists on the Parkway
- Address the safety concerns of Parkway users
- Develop a prescribed wildland fire hazard reduction plan
- Identify other high fire risk issues
- Engage the public in support of fire management activities
What is a Fire Safe Council?
A fire safe council is a coalition of public and private sector organizations that share a common, vested interest in wildfire prevention and loss mitigation. Councils are dedicated to saving lives and reducing fire losses by making their communities fire safe.
The California Fire Safe Council was first developed in 1993 as a project of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to bring together community leaders, government agencies, and corporations to address the dangers of wildfires and how they could be prevented.
Fire safe councils are established to plan and manage community wildfire preparedness projects and helps them acquire grant funding to accomplish their objectives.
To learn more about the Fire Safe Council, email info@arpf.org.
