In the drought-stricken American West, many communities face the possibility of devastating wildfire every year. LSD’s CPD Team helps protect these communities by working collaboratively with them and local, state, and federal agencies to develop community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs). To date, LSD has analyzed more than 1.9 million acres of wildland-urban interface (WUI) and wildland habitat, describing current vegetation associations and wildland fire potential. We have assisted 58 communities, including 35 fire departments in 10 counties, to develop eight comprehensive CWPPs, in addition to a public review draft of a 600,000-acre watershed-level wildland fire use and prescribed fire plan.

The process of developing CWPPs requires close consultation with state foresters, the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Resource Conservation Service, and the Soil and Water Conservation Service. The resulting plans meet community objectives and document compliance with Title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and other applicable federal, state, and local environmental regulations.

LSD has been so successful in developing effective community wildfire protection plans that we have developed and distributed A Handbook for Developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans in Accordance with Title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act to more than 400 communities throughout the American West.