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XIII. Standard Outline and Checklist for CWPPs
Severe wildfires in recent years prompted several communities and Fire Safe
Councils to independently craft plans for addressing wildfire risk in their immediate vicinity.
A rush of similar planning efforts was spurred on by language in Title I of the HFRA, which
defined CWPP and granted priority to fund hazardous fuel reduction projects in areas where a
CWPP was in place. However, the format and process for creating a CWPP remained vague.
Therefore the Society of American Foresters, the National Association of State
Foresters, Communities Committee, Western Governors' Association, and the National Association of
Counties combined their expertise to write and distribute a straight forward guide on how to create
and implement CWPPs that are HFRA-compliant. "Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan: A
Handbook for Wildland-Urban Interface Communities" dated March 2004 will be used as a guide in
preparing CWPPs for the EDCFSC. Appendix L. in this document contains this plan in its entirety,
and will be updated, when appropriate, with current information. The checklist is summarized below:
Step One: Convene decision makers
Form a core team made up of representatives from the appropriate local governments, local fire
authorities, and state and federal agencies responsible for management.
Step Two: Involve Federal Agencies
Identify and engage local representative of the ENF, CDF, BLM, and other management agencies
as appropriate.
Step Three: Engage Interested Parties
Contact and encourage active involvement in plan development from a broad range of interested
organizations and stakeholders.
Step Four: Establish a Community Base Map
Work with partners to establish a base line map of the community that defines the Community
WUI and displays inhabited areas at risk, forested areas that contain critical human infrastructure,
and forest areas at risk for large scale fire disturbances.
Step Five: Recommended Step 5.a by the EDCFSC: Develop a Community Hazard
Assessment and Defensibility Analysis (See Hazard Assessment & Defensibility Analysis in
Appendix E.)
Work with partners to:
- Describe potential fire spread (a function of the fuel complex, etc.,
using CDF and ENF Hazard Severity Zone determinations).
- Describe protection capabilities, access, fire support infrastructure,
and the potential for urban conflagration.
- Determine First Run Damage Potential expressed in numbers of structures
to be defended or likely to be lost.
Step 5.b: Develop a Community Risk Assessment
Work with partners to develop a community risk assessment that considers the risk of fire
ignitions, homes, businesses, and essential infrastructure at risk, local preparedness capability
and adequacy of evacuation routes, staging areas and firefighter safety. The ISO rating for the
agency providing structural fire protection shall be considered here. Rate the level of risk for
each factor and incorporate into the base map as appropriate.
Step Six: Establish Community Priorities and Recommendations
Use the base map and community risk assessment to facilitate a collaborative community discussion
that leads to the identification of local priorities for fuel treatment, reducing structural
ignitability, and other issues of interest, such as improving fire response.
Step Seven: Develop an Action Plan and Assessment Strategy
Develop a detailed implementation strategy to accompany the Plan as well as monitoring plan
that will ensure its long term success and maintenance.
Step Eight: Finalize Community CWPP
Finalize the CWPP and communicate the results to community and key partners.
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