Amador County – Amador Fire Safe Council, one of about 25 member entities of the Amador Calaveras Consensus Group received the good news Tuesday that their regional conservation and wildfire plan for the Mokelumne River watershed is going to Washington D.C. for consideration for funding.

Council members Jim Simmons and Cathy Koos-Breazeal said Wednesday that they had just received word that the 100,000-acre planning project was on the short list of two projects from Region 5 (the Pacific Northwest) which would be going to the nation’s capitol, and it would be in contention for $40 million in federal financing.

Simmon said it still had to make it through the budget trimming process, and Koos-Breazeal said “we got our foot in the door.” Simmons said it seems like a lot of money, but as a 10-year plan, it equates to $4 million a year.

Koos-Breazeal said the planning area is the Mokelumne River watershed, from Highway 49 and 88 east to the crest, including El Dorado and Stanislaus national forest land, and parts of the Cosumnes and Stanislaus watersheds.

Amador Fire Safe Council wrote an Amador County-wide Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan, giving it nine regions, and this week released the first localized plan, for the Buckhorn, Volcano and Pioneer area. The council next looks to make a Pine Grove fire plan.

Part of a presentation Koos-Breazeal and Simmons gave on the Pioneer plan said that the Protection Plan is “developed with input from the community and resource protection professionals,” and it “is designed to protect people and property from devastating wildfires while at the same time maintaining and improving the native environment.”

Koos-Breazeal said: “Calaveras County is just getting theirs kicked off, and we are helping with that.” She said: “Our funding is specifically for Amador County, but we are collaborating with them through the Amador Calaveras Consensus Group.”

The Consensus Group is proposing the Mokelumne River Watershed protection plan, known as the “Cornerstone” project, which is on the way to Washington for consideration. Consensus Group members include Amador County Board of Supervisors, the Calaveras Board of Supervisors, and the Buena Vista Biomass Power combustion generation power plant in Amador County, which would be a major player in forestry management solutions, Koos-Breazeal said. The main focus of the Amador Calaveras Consensus Group is “revitalizing of the community and keeping the jobs, while at the same time respecting the forest.” The Group next meets March 16 in Jackson.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.