Resources

LandSmart works to assist land managers in meeting or exceeding environmental regulations, provide technical assistance and financial support to plan and implement resource conservation practices, and deliver opportunities for youth to be actively engaged in stewarding local resources.

UCCE's Master Gardener Wildfire Preparedness in the Home Landscape website provides resources to help guide individuals in how to design and maintain homes and adjacent property in ways that reduce their vulnerability to wildfire but also provide critically important ecosystem services.

The goal of the Resilient Landscapes Coalition is to encourage fire-wise landscape design and management in the defensible space zone, while at the same time enhancing biodiversity and wildlife habitat, and conserving resources.

The UCCE's Forest Stewardship page provides resources, information, and training workshops for forest stewards. Forest stewardship is based on conservation principles that ensure protection of all forest resources including wildlife, timber, soil, water recreational opportunities and natural beauty.

In a response commensurate to the challenge, Governor Gavin Newsom created the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force, bringing together an unprecedented coalition of the best available resources for preventing catastrophic wildfires by creating healthier, more sustainable natural environments. The Governor’s Task Force is a proactive effort that is already showing progress towards long term forest health and safe, sustainable coexistence with fire.

Forest Advisor Michael Jones promotes a Forestry Program for Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma Counties that focuses on efforts to keep oak and conifer forests and the habitat they provide healthy and productive. Through research, education, and advise the program encourages biodiversity and sustainable management of these forestlands.

National information about disaster relief and resources.

USDA offers a variety of programs to help farmers, ranchers, communities, and businesses that have been hard hit by natural disaster events.

A list of recovery resources for Sonoma County residents.

The CNPS Fire Recovery Guide addresses questions about wildfire in CA, post-fire checklists, defensible space updates, and more.

A list of land management and funding resources for landowners.

To support you in your knowledge of the diverse topics that are relevant for prescribed fire practitioners, Audubon Canyon Ranch’s prescribed fire leaders and ecologists have compiled excerpts from the growing body of scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, and papers from subject-area experts.

A prescribed burning guide for landowners and land managers.

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A list of funding and assistance programs for landowners.

Permits, inspections and assessments, by Fire Prevention & Hazardous Materials, help keep Sonoma County safe by educating property owners and ensuring compliance with regulations.

A list of grant-funded services and resources around vegetation management available to stakeholders.

Fire Prevention and Hazardous Materials is a division of Permit Sonoma primarily responsible for programs, procedures, and projects for preventing the outbreak of fires within the unincorporated areas of the county.

A directory of resources to help individuals find the professional help needed to achieve responsible forest management.

A website with resources for fire preparedness for homeowners, agriculture, and landowners, post-fire recovery, prescribed burns, and fire science.

A list of awarded grants for wildfire resilience projects.

Information resource for burn permits, regulations, and prescription burning.

The Chipper program is a free service that can help residents dispose of woody debris and assist them in creating beautiful, healthy, and “firewise” landscapes around homes and on roadsides.

A website with information on wildfire risk reduction through prescribed fire, grazing, vegetation management, shaded fuel breaks, climate durable design and more.

A resource for learning fuel management strategies for roadside vegetation.

The Wildfire Resilience Planner combines science and spatial data with guidance from Sonoma County’s experts to identify locations where the reduction of fuels will best protect lives and property, critical infrastructure, ecosystem services, and biodiversity.

The Sonoma County Vegetation Management Grant Program provides resources and grant funding for vegetation management in areas at high-risk of wildfire.

Sonoma County’s Climate Action and Resiliency Division and Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District have collaborated to create the Sonoma County Climate Resilient Lands Strategy, a document designed to provide structure and guidance for climate-related efforts, with a focus on natural and working lands.

A short video that will help residents and landowners learn the basics for creating the first defensible space zone immediately around your home perimeter from 0-5’, the ember resistant zone.

A short video that explains why fuel management is of increasing importance across Sonoma County to mitigate wildfire risk.

An ongoing series that focuses on principles and practices to mitigate wildfire risk, while also promoting wildlife habitat and restoring healthy ecosystems.

The Gold Ridge RCD partners with landowners, local fire safe councils, fire departments, the County of Sonoma, CAL FIRE and others to plan, design and implement community wildfire and forest resilience projects.

Fire Safe Sonoma's Youtube Channel is the home to educational content about the topic of fire safety and prevention.

Visit the map below to learn more about the Wildfire Mitigation Community Groups in Sonoma County.

With funding from the California Fire Safe Council, Fire Safe Sonoma now has a fully outfitted defensible space tool trailer available to community groups.

Sonoma County fire practitioners have created a very helpful “Burn Pile Guide” in which you can find links to permits, important phone numbers to call on the day of the burn, and a comprehensive list of best practices for building effective piles, weather markers to watch, and tips for extinguishing piles in dry weather.

A list of disaster relief and fire resources and information from UCCE, whose mission is to extend information developed at the University of California to enhance quality of life and the environmental and economic well-being of the citizens of California through research and education.

A group that provides forest landowners with access to information, expert consultants and funding opportunities that they need to steward forestland.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Upper Mark West.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in The Sea Ranch.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Santa Rosa.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Occidental.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in North East Geyersville.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Mill Creek.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Mayacamas.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Healdsburg.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Grove Street.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Fort Ross.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Cloverdale.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Camp Meeker.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Bennett Ridge.

Jack Cohen, a wildfire expert and fire research scientist, further explains the concept of home ignition zone in Part 2 of Wildfire! Preventing Home Ignition. Jack details the steps that you can take to establish a home ignition zone: Changing a wooden roof to a fire-resistant roof, reducing vegetation around the home, creating clearance of 100 feet between the home and forest area.

In Part 1 of Wildfire! Preventing Home Ignition, Jack Cohen, a wildfire and research fire scientist, explains the combustion process of wildfire and its behavior, some misperceptions about wildfire that have been dispelled, and how to establish a home ignition zone.

Dr. Jack Cohen, a highly respected expert on wildfire behavior and fire science research, explains how fireproofing your home can help protect it from wildfire. A high intensity flame from a wildfire is less likely to ignite the home than “fire brands”—the hot embers that are spit from the intense flames and then deposited on flammable materials on or surrounding the home.

An introductory video to Dr. Cohen’s research on structural ignition and its role in fueling wildfires in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Dr. Cohen presents on pre-ignition efforts and their effectiveness at protecting communities like ours in Sonoma County.

A website with local fire department is information for fire prevention and response in your area.

Both the Sonoma Resource Conservation District provides assistance to local property owners within their jurisdictions.

A resource provide expertise, advice, and on-site support to help you achieve your stewardship objectives.

Tending the Land for Fire Resilience in Sonoma County is a guide for anyone living or working in Sonoma County interested in stewarding land to achieve a variety of goals, from developing fire resilience to conserving water, enhancing wildlife habitat, and more.

The North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP) is an innovative incentives program funded through CAL FIRE’s Proposition 68 Wildfire Resilience and Forestry Assistance Grant to help private non-industrial small forest landowners (between 5 and 5,00 acres) implement non-commercial forest improvement activities such as thinning, planting, pruning, and fuel hazard reduction.

The Sonoma County Homeowner's Guide is an educational resource for homeowners to better prepare their homes from wildfire risk and ignitability by highlighting some of the key fundamentals in Defensible Space, Fire-Wise Construction, Vegetation Management, and Fire Safe Landscape design.

A video that explains the best practices for how to evacuate or shelter in place and how to decide which one to do.

A series of ready kit checklists for people, pets, and places. These checklists provide guidance for preparing yourself, your car, or your cat, dog, guinea pig and more.

This CWPP provides a general overview and assessment of wildfire risks to the Fitch Mountain community, and provides a set of priority project actions. These actions are intended to reduce the potential loss of human life, property, and natural and cultural resources due to wildfire. This CWPP will also help groups or agencies collaborate and seek funding for these wildfire risk reduction projects.

Get tips from the insurance companies about wildfire preparedness.

This guide includes specific recommendations for how to retrofit existing components of a home to withstand wildfire.

Overview of how to prepare homes and structures for wildfire, provided by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Information from Sonoma County's Department of Emergency Management related to preparing, responding to, and recovering from emergencies.

Information in English and Spanish about evacutaion zones in Sonoma County.

Understand your land, reduce fuels, and protect your community.  Includes maps, resources, and other information to help residents and land managers reduce fire fuel hazard.

Guideace for pile burning, provided in Spanish.

Technical Assistance for Tribes and economically disadvantaged communities, focused on developing projects and grant applications that improve forest health and increase wildfire resilience.

An interactive map of Sonoma County, showcasing various fire hazard severity zones across the region, including moderate, high, and very high risk areas.

The Sonoma County Wildfire Hazard Index is a model that predicts relative wildfire hazard on the landscape. This webpage explains this index.

An interactive tool for planning and visualizing potential wildfire risk reduction projects in Sonoma County.

SoCo Adapts is a pilot program that uses community-scale risk-reduction techniques to reduce wildfire’s potential for home destruction.

A portal for community members to submit potential wildfire risk reduction projects for consideration in the CWPP.

A comprehensive plan to assess wildfire risk and develop strategies for wildfire protection in Sonoma County.