Looking forward to future grant projects

In July we will be preparing and submitting a proposal for the 2013 California Fire Safe Council Grant Clearinghouse, the conduit through which Federal Fire preparedness grants come to the State. This year the emphasis is on Fire Adapted Communities with the goal being human populations and infrastructure can withstand a wildfire without loss of life and property. For more information, see http://goo.gl/BpUaE. Since our mission is to protect you, our community, we would love to have your input and ideas for landscape-scale and community-wide projects while preparing our proposal. Please contact us by one of the routes below.

Looking forward to future neighborhood projects

Grants are not the only, or even the most effective, way we can carry out our mission. The year that our two current grants were funded there was $12.9 million available; this year there is only $4.1 million. Federal grant funds ultimately come from our taxes; the money goes up the chain to Washington, then comes back down, loosing a chunk to overhead every step of the way. It is far more effective to keep the money local.

The Bonny Doon Fire Safe Council is expressly organized to do just that. For example, we are very lucky to have the Ben Lomond Conservation Camp on our mountain. Their 12 to 15 man crews are available for just $200/day to 501(c)(3) non-profits community groups with the requisite liability insurance, such as your Fire Safe Council, to perform fire preparedness projects in the public interest. In practice this means getting a group of neighbors together to come up with an idea and the minimal funding for a neighborhood project. Examples are securing a shared access road, clearing shared space, etc. Further examples are in our Community Wildfire Protection plan, http://www.santacruzcountyfire.com/cwpp.html .

We will work with you in scoping and planning the project, fill out the necessary paperwork, and coordinate the logistics of actually implementing the project.

Help at home