By Jesse Jones
Fire ecologist and watershed scientist Cody Stropki of SWCA Environmental Consultants, the County’s consultant and lead planner, presented an update on Sandoval County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan to the Sandoval County Commission at its Jan. 26 board meeting.
Stropki said the plan is a community-driven project that will assess wildfire risks in communities and work with residents, partners, and government agencies to suggest ways to reduce those risks while improving first responders’ access and safety.
The plan’s recommendations are not mandatory. Stropki said they serve as guidance for stakeholders and community members to implement.
The county can act as a fiscal agent but is not obligated to carry out any projects.
“A big focus of this is, I’m sure you’ve all seen the fires in California recently,” Stropki said. “A lot of those fires are structural fires, so we really work hard to get educational outreach on how to reduce the structural amenability. A good community wildfire protection plan is understandable, relevant, and actionable.”
The fire plan has three main goals: building resilient landscapes that protect structures and benefit the environment, improving wildfire response by assessing equipment and resources and helping communities and local leaders adapt to fire risks.
“We’re going to see more fires, and we just want to make sure that we’re helping people be resilient,” Stropki said.
The Community Wildfire Protection Plan will hold a public meeting for the Village of Corrales via Zoom from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 12. For more information, call 505-898-7501.
A meeting for the Placitas community will be held in March at the Sandoval County Fire Administration Building, 1500 Idalia Road, Bernalillo.
“We know that Corrales and Placitas are two communities that are at risk environment, so we want to make sure that we really get their input and we’re able to include it in this plan,” Stropki said.
The Community Wildfire Protection Plan is scheduled to be completed in May of this year. The draft plan is expected to be ready for the core team review in March and released in April for public review.