Partnerships make County parks (and all of us!) safer from wildfires

SAN JOSE – To make County parks and neighboring communities safer, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on June 28 approved a pair of agreements designed to protect and better manage fire-prone areas in County parks.

In supporting the measure, County Supervisor Joe Simitian noted that, “These efforts protect our parks, but also all of us. Our area is fortunate to be so well-served by a network of County parks, but that means we’ve got to manage them safely and responsibly.”

An approved agreement with the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council will provide forest health management services through March 31, 2025. The action allows the County to participate in the Los Gatos Watershed Forest Health Program, which funds fuel reduction and forest health improvements on public and private land in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Through the grant-funded project, the FireSafe Council will thin overly dense trees/brush on 290 acres of parkland in Sanborn and Upper Stevens Creek Parks.

“This is necessary, and comes at an opportune time — in the midst of yet another intense fire season,” said Simitian, whose District Five includes the higher-risk wildland-urban interface (WUI) stretching from Los Altos Hills in the north to San Jose’s Almaden Valley in the south. “We know that regular maintenance of dense trees and brush goes a long way toward reducing severe wildfire risk and restoring healthy forest conditions.”

The Board also approved a five-year lease agreement with the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District for a 2,400-square-foot modular building in Vasona Lake County Park.

The agreement allows Central Fire to base its pilot Pre-Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience Program crew in the building, which used to be occupied by Parks and Recreation Department staff. In lieu of rent payment, Central Fire has the option of providing training to Parks staff and performing fuel reduction activities at Vasona and other County parks, including removal of hazardous fuels from around structures, fuel breaks, and chipping activities.

The approved agreement comes with two five-year extension options.

“This is a win-win for Parks and Central Fire, and also for the surrounding communities around our County parks,” said Simitian. “It will give Central Fire a presence at Vasona, and we get some use out of a building that had been sitting empty but will now be used for a program that makes our communities safer.”