Sonoma County awarded $1.84 million for the Northside Russian River Shaded Fuel Break Project

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today authorized $1.8 million for three critical fuel breaks that will help protect residents in the Rio Nido, Guernewood and Hacienda areas from wildfires. 

“This vital initiative enhances not only the Russian River community’s resilience against wildfires but also Sonoma County as a whole,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district includes the area covered by the project. “Thanks to the collective efforts from everyone involved, we are moving toward a safer, more sustainable future.”

Sonoma County secured $1.84 million from the CALFIRE Wildfire Prevention Grant program in August to fund the Rio Nido Shaded Fuel Break, Guernewood Shaded Fuel Break and Mount Jackson Shaded Fuel Break, collectively known as the Northside Russian River Shaded Fuel Break Project.

The vegetation treatment will result in 13 miles of shaded fuel breaks across the northern ridgelines above Guernewood, Guerneville, Rio Nido, and Hacienda communities. Shaded fuel breaks along ridgelines reduce the risks of wildfires by reducing fuel ladders, retain large trees to reduce vigorous regrowth and increase options for firefighters to suppress oncoming wildfires by improving access and establishing control lines.

The Northside Russian River Shaded Fuel Break Project will utilize prescribed burns, manual treatments and mechanical treatments. Manual treatments include hand crews with pruning saws and chainsaws for limbing and thinning vegetation on steep slopes or near sensitive habitats or homes. Mechanical treatments include masticators, chippers and other specialized equipment in appropriate areas closer to the road on modest slopes. 

The Guernewood shaded fuel break will be the first treatment and is scheduled for this fall, weather permitting. The Rio Nido shaded fuel break is the longest and will begin in the spring of 2025 and should be completed by late summer. Mount Jackson shaded fuel break is expected to be completed by fall 2025. This initial treatment of establishing the fuel breaks is the most expensive and will be covered by the CALFIRE grant. Future maintenance of the treated areas could include prescribed burning, grazing or selective herbicides on aggressive invasive plant populations. 

These are just the latest efforts by the Board of Supervisors to reduce the risks of wildfire in the county through vegetation management. In 2020, the Board created the Vegetation Management Grant Program, devoting $25 million from the county’s settlement with PG&E over damage caused by the 2017 wildfires.

The program, administered by Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, has since provided $11.3 million in grants to 74 projects that have reduced fuel loads on 5,900 acres. The grant funding has helped to create defensible space around 630 homes, construct 82 miles of shaded fuel breaks and reduce fuels along 64 miles of roads that serve as critical evacuation routes. 

The County has also approved five projects that will allow vegetation treatments on 93,887 acres under the state’s Vegetation Treatment Program, which provides for streamlined environmental review to expedite projects that protect the public from wildfires.

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Media Contact:
Gilbert Martinez, Communications Specialist
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org
(707) 565-3040
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403