Sonoma County awarded $37 million FEMA grant to mitigate wildfire risks  

In an announcement that Supervisor Susan Gorin said took the Board by surprise,  President Joe Biden announced that the County of Sonoma will receive a $37 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for wildfire risk reduction.

“Because Sonoma County knows all too well the devastation wrought by fire, they are the first to apply for the mitigation funds,” Biden said. “Today I’m announcing a $37 million grant in support of fire mitigation efforts that are underway.”

The County will add a 25% match of $13 million, bringing the total investment to $50 million. 

The money will be used to address vegetation management and fire fuel reduction, including thinning of certain tree canopies, trimming undergrowth, fuel-reduction for safe ingress and egress of emergency vehicles, and the creation of shaded fuel breaks and green belts to serve as fire breaks. 

Additionally, funds will be used to support private property owners to prevent losses.

From 2017 through 2020, fires have burned more than 300,000 acres in Sonoma County, destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and killed 24 people.

“Since 2017 we have focused on innovative wildfire risk reduction strategies in Sonoma County,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “The approval of this project, which is the first of its kind in the country, validates the hard work and innovation in fire risk reduction that’s been underway for the last four years,”

One goal, Hopkins said, is to get to 100 percent of at-risk homes having defensible space. “To create protective buffers around our communities, including landscape scale management strategies like grazing greenbelts and shaded fuel breaks.”

Gorin, who represents Sonoma Valley said it was too early to describe specifics for any work within the First District. 

County officials said the initial projects are in the Mark West, Lower Russian River and Sonoma Mountain areas. “The news of the award caught us all by surprise,” Gorin told The Sun.  

From 2017 through 2020, fires have burned more than 300,000 acres in Sonoma County, destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and killed 24 people.

Biden’s announcement came during a live meeting of Western state governors on drought, heat and wildfires. California was represented by Vice President Kamala Harris. “The federal government’s role has to be more than just putting out fires,” she said, by investing in reliance, adaptation and water management.