NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. – This week the 2025 Nevada County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, representing the culmination of over two years of strategic planning led by the Office of Emergency Services. The Nevada County CWPP was collaboratively developed to identify place-based solutions for wildfire resilience, including prioritizing areas for hazardous fuels reduction treatments and addressing community preparedness.

The CWPP process began in 2023 with the launch of a robust community engagement campaign. This included a CWPP survey which gathered 2,267 responses, over 70 community engagement events, four CWPP Lunch-and-Learns, and nine CWPP Community Risk Reduction workshops.

“The public involvement in the CWPP process has been integral to creating this community-driven plan,” said Alex Keeble-Toll, Interim Director of Emergency Services. “Their participation has allowed us to create a document that will not only support the effort to implement critical wildfire resilience projects but ensure that we are taking steps to protect and prioritize places and resources that our community values.”

Over 400,000 acres of Nevada County are identified as priority areas for multi-benefit projects in the plan. The Project Priority Areas represent where there is an overlap between vulnerable assets and resources and things the community feels are important to protect such as historic districts and the South Yuba River. These areas were identified using the results from the Wildfire Risk Assessment, input from local wildfire experts, and through community engagement.

The CWPP provides recommended actions around reducing structural ignitability, vegetation management and fuel reduction, evacuation, funding, defensible space, community outreach and education, emergency communication, and post-fire recovery. Recommended actions were created for the county as a whole and for the “CWPP Forecast Zones,” four geographic areas that were analyzed in the plan.

“The Nevada County community is as unique and diverse as the landscape,” said Alessandra Zambrano, Nevada County Wildfire Coordinator. “As such, addressing wildfire risk looks very different in Higgins/Penn Valley versus Truckee/Donner and CWPP recommendations reflect that.”

In addition to the county-wide analysis, the 2025 Nevada County CWPP includes four annexes that represent more “zoomed in” studies spearheaded by other key stakeholders including City of Grass Valley, City of Nevada City, Truckee Fire Protection District, and Nevada County Resource Conservation District. The annexes work together with the County CWPP, and priorities identified in the annexes can also be considered priorities in the County CWPP.

“The Nevada County Community Wildfire Protection Plan reflects the collaborative efforts of local agencies, non-profits, fire districts, and our community members, ensuring that we are better prepared to mitigate wildfire risks. Thank you to everyone who participated in this process over the years to work together to create a more resilient Nevada County,” said Chair of the Board Heidi Hall.

The Roadmap to Resilience

The CWPP is a part of the Office of Emergency Services broader Roadmap to Resilience, a countywide effort addressing wildfire and all-hazards. Key components of this roadmap include:

• 2024 Evacuation Study: Focused on the five most evacuation- vulnerable areas in Nevada County, this study analyzes fire behavior and traffic patterns to inform effective evacuation planning.
• 2024 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan: A county-wide strategy addressing all hazards, including wildfire.
• 2025 Land Management Plan: Developed in response to the CWPP to put forward best-management practices for wildfire mitigation activities.

Learn more about OES at: ReadyNevadaCounty.org.