Thumbnail photo: The Del Norte Fire Safe Council hosted a prescribed burn workshop in March 2025 aimed at helping residents learn how to harden their home against wildfire. | File photo by Ethan Caudill-Derego
Noting that staffing capacity within the U.S. Forest Service is a challenge when it comes to wildfire mitigation, Aaron Babcock outlined a “broad landscape style” approach that stretches from the Klamath River in the south to the Oregon border in the north.
The Smith-to-Klamath Shared Stewardship Initiative would focus on state, federal, local and tribal partnerships within Del Norte County who are ready to “help perform the stuff that needs to be done as far as wildfire mitigation,” the Del Norte Fire Safe Council county coordinator told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The “stuff” includes about 30,000 acres of shaded fuel breaks with 9,500 acres centered around communities impacted by wildfire, Babcock said. The initiative also aims to conduct prescribed burns on about 100,000 acres, he said.
Continue reading DN Fire Safe Council Coordinator Presents ‘Broad Landscape Style’ Wildfire Mitigation Strategy →