Recent and timelier wildfire prevention projects in Nevada County can be at least partly linked to expansion of forest management staff. The county was the recipient of a 229-thousand-dollar subgrant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. And County Office of Emergency Services Director, Alex Keeble-Toll, says that allowed the hiring of a Forest Management Advisor. She says that’s resulted in accelerated planning and implementation in high fire-risk zones…

Keeble-Toll says some of recently-completed projects include a 365-acre roadside shaded fuelbreak on the San Juan Ridge. Also, a 117-acre roadside hazardous fuels reduction effort near Stampede Reservoir. And the county is also in process of completing a five-mile roadside shaded fuelbreak, just west of Grass Valley that runs perpendicular to Highways 49 and 20. And they’ve also completed the first phase of reducing fuels on 11-hundred-36 acres near Woodpecker Ravine. Meanwhile, Keeble-Toll says in July County OES launched its fourth Good Neighbor Agreement with the Tahoe National Forest, which the Forester has helped execute effectively…

And Keeble-Toll says the recent expanded capacity, courtesy of the Conservancy, will also allow the county to implement work that will protect the town of Washington. It’s considered one of the most high-risk towns in the Sierra-Cascade.