The Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County (RCD) is using their $1.4 million grant awarded in 2019 from the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program to develop the region’s capacity to restore the health of its forests and protect them from severe wildfires in the future. To carry out this work, the RCD has partnered with several California Native American Tribes, the Cleveland National Forest, a private cattle company, and the Palomar Observatory to manage the region, which includes the last mixed conifer forest in San Diego County. The RCD is also developing training programs for several Fire Safe Councils in San Diego County serving 46 communities, so they can support this work.

“Our collaboration - which includes State, Federal, Tribal, and private landowners – is joining forces to prevent another catastrophic loss of forest habitat in San Diego County,” said Sheryl Landrum, former Executive Director of the RCD. “This partnership would not have been developed without the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity funding.”

Since 2019, the partnership has worked together to develop a plan for implementing landscape-scale management projects to restore the region and has begun to implement the plan using a $4.9 million grant from CAL FIRE. Additionally, in 2021, the RCD worked with Fire Safe Councils in San Diego County to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan template, then started hosting workshops to help other Fire Safe Councils with low capacity use the template to design plans that meet the needs of their communities. This work will continue in 2022.