The Resource Conservation District (RCD) of Santa Cruz County is offering neighborhoods with five or more participating households a reimbursement of chipping costs related to the creation of defensible space for wildfire preparedness. The program is available to Santa Cruz County residents who live in areas -- defined as “Wildland Urban Interface” areas -- that may potentially be impacted by wildfire. Important program dates are as follows:

• August 1st – October 31st, 2024: Application opens for all  neighborhoods.
• November 30th, 2024: Last day to submit reimbursement forms.

A neighborhood representative should sign up to reserve funds HERE . The program is first-come-first-serve.

California Conservation Corps workers build burn piles along Buzzard Lagoon Road in May 2024.

Prescribed fire preparation work began in mid-July along Aptos Creek Fire Road in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, the Soquel Demonstration State Forest, and land owned by Redwood Empire. This 211-acre project will prepare the upper Aptos Creek watershed for later pile- and broadcast-burns by State Parks personnel.

There will be intermittent trail closures along Aptos Creek Fire Road from the Buzzard Lagoon Gate to the Sand Point overlook, as well as along the Cusacks trail and other interior single-track trails that intersect with Aptos Creek Fire Road, on weekdays from mid-July until December 2024. Hikers and bikers should expect delays in these areas and may experience equipment noise during work hours.

The RCDSCC invites contractors to bid on the Amber Ridge Loop Road Drainage Project. The project will help to improve water quality in the San Lorenzo River Watershed by reducing sediment loading through the improvements to private road infrastructure.

The RCDSCC invites contractors to bid on the Amber Ridge Loop Road Drainage Project. The project will help to improve water quality in the San Lorenzo River Watershed by reducing sediment loading through the improvements to private road infrastructure.

The RCDSCC invites contractors to bid on the Watsonville Slough Farms Sediment Basins Project, a 1.5 acre sediment basin permitted through the Permit Coordination program (PIR) at the RCD. See documents below. The project will prevent sediment from nearby agricutlural fields from running into the middle watsonville slough. 

The RCDSCC invites contractors to bid on the Aptos Truck Trail Forest Health & Fire Resilience Project, a 211-acre vegetation management and prescribed fire preparation project permitted through the Santa Rosalia Project Specific Analysis (PSA). See documents below. The project treatment will prepare the Nisene Marks watershed for the reintroduction of prescribed fire, and prepare the Truck Trail as a potential site for fighting future wildfire.