Aerial view of Port Townsend area by John Gussman.
This past summer, Jefferson County became a safer place to live as the county officially adopted its first-ever Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP): a comprehensive strategic plan that aims to reduce the risk of wildfire damage to people, property, and natural and cultural resources.
Jefferson County’s CWPP was developed over the past couple of years with the participation of local residents, community leaders, land managers, fire personnel, and other stakeholders, including Jefferson Land Trust.
The CWPP development process involved a thorough assessment of the community’s wildfire risk and vulnerabilities, including the analysis of fire history, fuel (vegetation) conditions, weather patterns, and the community’s capacity to respond to wildfire events. Based on the assessment, the CWPP outlines a set of actions that can be taken to reduce risk and improve our community’s preparedness and resilience.
We encourage you to check out the CWPP website today to view the full plan (including a detailed interactive map), check out homeowner and landowner resources, read about how the CWPP was developed, and more.
We applaud Jefferson County for their leadership in developing this essential tool to help our community understand and address wildfire risk and improve our resilience in the face of wildfire events.