Montecito Community Wildfire Protection Plan

USFS photo by Kari Greer

In 2019 LegacyWorks engaged with the Montecito Fire Protection District (MFPD) to support the amendment process for their Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) post Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow. MFPD’s exemplary CWPP played a key role in saving Montecito during the Thomas Fire. Moving forward from these natural disasters, we worked with MFPD to solicit productive feedback from key environmental groups to provide MFPD with even more holistic framing for their amendment to their CWPP. We worked to address the often historically contentious relationship between fire agencies and environmental groups in the county in order to identify opportunities and strategies for collaborative solutions. We facilitated discussions around the CWPP review and refinement process with an array of stakeholders including environmentalists and government officials at the county, state, and federal levels. Ultimately, the elected board of MFPD adopted the amendment to the CWPP after incorporating the feedback received from the environmental community.