This agreement will support 199 acres of fuels reduction on non-national forest system lands south of the city of mount shasta wildland urban interface (WUI)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Region 5 (Pacific Southwest Region), awarded a Cooperative Agreement totaling $893,800 to the Fire Safe Council of Siskiyou County on August 30, 2025, under the Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Agreement Authority (CFDA 10.693) program. The agreement funds fuels reduction and wildfire mitigation efforts on 199 acres of non-National Forest System lands located south of Mount Shasta in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) area. Primary deliverables include vegetation removal activities—specifically mastication, piling, and chipping—to reduce fire risk in a strategically targeted high-risk fireshed aligned with predominant wind patterns. The project is designed to provide treatment continuity and enhance safety coordination with an adjacent fuels reduction project on National Forest System lands.

In addition to on-the-ground implementation activities, the cooperative agreement funds environmental planning and compliance work necessary to support project execution. The five-year performance period extends through August 29, 2030. By targeting vegetation posing fire risk through coordinated implementation with private property owners, this project directly supports the Forest Service's objectives of reducing natural disaster risk where public safety is threatened and enhancing ecosystem resilience within the affected watershed.

This project strategically targets a high risk fireshed in direct alignment with predominant south and southwest winds should a fire approach from the south. The project is also directly adjacent to a fuels reduction project on national forest system (NFS) lands. This project will provide continuity of treatment and increase the safety of the prescribed burn on the NFS lands. The funds will primarily support implementation of the removal of vegetation posing fire risk, but will also be used to complete environmental planning and compliance work. Specific implementation activities will be coordinated with property owners and will include mastication, piling, and chipping.