Wildfire Risk Reduction Plan up for review for the Los Padres National Forest
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – A draft strategic plan to reduce fuels in the Los Padres National Forest and help firefighting efforts has been prepared. The public can review it and comment starting later this week.
It is called the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Wildfire Risk Reduction Project (WRRP). It covers a wide area including the Monterey, Mt. Pinos, Santa Lucia, and Santa Barbara Ranger Districts. That includes Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties.
The draft evaluates the environmental effects of this proposed fuels reduction and forest health project.
It proposes vegetation treatments on approximately 90,796 acres of National Forest Service lands administered by Los Padres National Forest (LPNF). The LPNF says that includes mechanical thinning, hand thinning, chipping and grinding, piling and burning, mastication, mowing and weed-whipping, prescribed fire, targeted grazing, and planting and seeding which may limit public access while work is being done.
Up to 10,000 acres of treatments on average would be implemented annually over multiple years. The plan is to give firefighters fuelbreaks and defense zones while improving conditions for vegetation resilience.
“We’re trying to be prepared so that when a fire happens in an area we can give firefighters and communities a change to be effective and be able to quickly and effectively put out the fire and reduce the risk of catastrophic effects,” said the Deputy Director of the Los Padres National Forest Jeanne Dawson.
Forest officials say it will also and protect the health of forest.
The Los Padres Forestwatch Group has been studying the plan and will have a detailed comment. Monday Benjamin Pitterle with the organization said, “reducing wildfire risk is a laudable goal, but this proposal puts roadless areas, endangered species habitat, and sacred tribal sites at risk. It distracts from real solutions by relying on outdated strategies that are ineffective at protecting forests and communities when it matters most—during wind-driven wildfires.” The group wants more funding and attention towards home hardening, fire prevention efforts and fire education for the public.
There have been informational meetings and the comment period is taking place between May 2th – June 2th.”We’ve taken a lot of the best available science out there and taken a lot of stakeholder input and pulled it together to have a pretty comprehensive project and we just want to get input from the public,” said Dawson.
More information can be found at the project website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/lpnf/landmanagement/projects.
A press statement from the National Forest Service reads:
Los Padres National Forest releases draft WildfireRisk Reduction Project Environmental Assessment
SOLVANG, Calif., April 17, 2025 — Los Padres National Forest officials released the draft EnvironmentalAssessment (EA) for the Wildfire Risk Reduction Project (WRRP) on the Forest’s Monterey, Mt. Pinos, SantaLucia and Santa Barbara Ranger Districts. The draft EA evaluates the environmental effects of this proposedfuels reduction and forest health project.The Forest is proposing a series of vegetation treatments on approximately 90,796 acres of National ForestService lands administered by the LPNF within Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and VenturaCounties. Treatments will include mechanical thinning, hand thinning, chipping and grinding, piling andburning, mastication, mowing and weed-whipping, prescribed fire, targeted grazing, and planting and seedingwhich may limit public access while work is being done. The LPNF anticipates up to 10,000 acres of treatmentson average would be implemented annually over multiple years.The purpose for the WRRP is to increase community protection and enhance wildfire suppression opportunitiesby establishing fuelbreaks and defense zones while improving conditions for vegetation resilience andprotecting the health of forested areas from environmental stressors.The draft EA, supporting analysis, and other information is available for review online at the project website:https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/lpnf/landmanagement/projects. The LPNF will host four informationalmeetings prior to the 30-day public comment period. The meetings will be held in Santa Maria (April 21), BigSur (April 23) and Frazier Park (April 24). In addition, a virtual meeting will occur April 22.The Forest Service will accept comments on this proposal prior to the 30-day public comment period (projectedMay 2 to June 2) following publication of the legal notice in the Santa Barbara Independent. Comments will beaccepted electronically through the project website and can also be mailed to the LPNF Supervisor’s Office,Attention Kyle Kinports, 1980 Old Mission Drive, Solvang, CA 93464, or hand delivered to that address.For questions concerning this proposal, please contact Mr. Kinports at (805) 961-5710.
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