REGIONAL PROJECT PLANNING

WILDFIRE PLANNING & PROJECT FUNDING:

The San Luis Obispo County Fire Safe Council leads data-driven wildfire planning and serves as a regional clearinghouse for priority project proposals, helping partners secure and deploy multiple grant funding sources with the common goal to reduce wildfire risk across all lands in San Luis Obispo County.

GUIDANCE

PLANNING DOCUMENTS

Regional partners work together to identify, coordinate, prioritize, and advance wildfire and forest resilience projects that protect communities and natural resources. These efforts are guided by these documents.

These documents emphasize broad stakeholder inclusion and transparent decision-making. These documents are living frameworks that are regularly updated to reflect new data, evolving conditions, and local input, ensuring projects remain effective, relevant, and community-driven.

Through this coordinated approach, partners align resources, funding opportunities, and implementation strategies to maximize impact across jurisdictions. Projects are evaluated based on risk reduction, community benefit, feasibility, and consistency with these guiding documents, ensuring that investments are strategic and focused on long-term resilience outcomes for San Luis Obispo County.

This process strengthens regional collaboration by bringing together public agencies, non-governmental organizations, tribal partners, and community-based groups to share data, leverage expertise, and coordinate implementation. By integrating local knowledge with technical analysis, partners identify priority areas, reduce duplication, and accelerate project delivery while improving grant competitiveness.

GOVERNANCE

COLLABORATIVE

The San Luis Obispo County FireSafe Council (SLOFSC), operates as the governing and coordinating body for the Regional Priority Planning process. Its board consists of 34 voting and 12 non-voting members representing governmental entities (special districts, municipalities, county, state, and federal agencies), tribal organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local community fire safe focus groups, and interested public members with a vested concern in wildfire and Wildland Urban Interface impacts.

FSCSLO Meetings are open to the public. Organizations and public members can get involved with the SLOFSC through community grassroots level Fire Safe Focus Groups or attending regularly scheduled SLOFSC board of director meetings that are open to the public and decisions are public. The SLOFSC voting members, non-voting ex-officio members, and 13 community level fire safe focus groups directly reach more than 200 people countywide.

The SLOFSC is responsible for preparing and managing the SLOFSC Fireshed RPP planning platform, soliciting and evaluating project proposals from both members and non-members. Proposal evaluation is conducted by a project review team comprising internal and external subject matter experts who leverage local expertise, mitigation strategies, land use policies, and Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) priorities to determine the preparedness and effectiveness of proposed projects,

METHODOLOGY

PROJECT ASSESSMENT

The San Luis Obispo County FireSafe Council (SLOFSC) assesses wildfire risk by combining local data, science, and community input to prioritize projects based on fuel conditions, community vulnerability, ecological values, and alignment with state and local resilience strategies. The approach is holistic, balancing fire risk reduction, ecosystem health, cultural values, and community safety to deliver lasting regional benefits across diverse landscapes and communities throughout San Luis Obispo County.

Project proposals intended for the Fireshed regional planning process are submitted through the SLOFSC New Project proposal portal. Proponents provide detailed responses regarding their projects. Projects may include education and outreach, workforce development, research, planning,
vegetation management, community resilience, evacuation planning, hazard and risk reduction, Firewise Community initiatives, CWPP, or parcel risk reduction effort.

PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS

The SLOFSC regularly updates the portfolio of ongoing projects it manages on its website (link). These projects represent funded and awarded efforts that directly support and implement the goals and priorities identified in the region’s guiding documents, including the Fireshed Regional Priority Plan and Community Wildfire Protection Plans.

Additionally, projects managed by other organizations are included as information becomes available, providing a comprehensive view of wildfire mitigation and resilience efforts across San Luis Obispo County.

FINANCIAL SPONSORS

PROJECT CENTER

Project Center is an interactive GIS viewer showcasing past projects supported throughout San Luis Obispo County. Explore project locations, funding sources, timelines, and treatment types while seeing how local partnerships support wildfire mitigation, community preparedness, and resilience. The viewer helps residents, agencies, and grant sponsors understand completed work, ongoing efforts, and regional investments protecting lives, property, and critical infrastructure across our communities.

PROJECT REVIEW TEAM

The project review team's prioritization recommendations are then presented to the full SLOFSC board of directors for approval. This prioritization determines which projects will be advanced by the collective SLOFSC effort for resource acquisition and regulatory endorsement, though proponents retain the ability to pursue independent implementation. The Fireshed project evaluation is advisory, providing guidance on project efficacy and informing regional priority-setting for the allocation of limited resources and project execution.

Regional Planning