The purpose of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is to identify and prioritize areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommend current best practices as to the types and methods of treatment on land that will protect one or more at-risk communities. Additionally, CWPPs recommend measures to reduce structural ignitability. CWPPs are collaborative agreements, developed by at-risk communities in consultation with various interested parties and agreed to by the appropriate local government, fire department and the State Forester. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 encourages the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to give consideration to the priorities established by the local community as they develop and implement forest management and hazardous fuel reduction. CWPPs help make communities safer through identifying, educating and managing fire risk in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Given the environmental importance of the WUI, the process of developing a CWPP is a critical opportunity to cooperatively identify potential areas for fuel reduction, recommend “best practices” for fuel reduction treatments and to reduce structural ignitability. Any recommendation for fuel reduction treatment may be modified, or even not implemented at all, depending on a number of factors, including environmental review and the availability of funding.
