Why is Work Needed in Coastal Marin? Coastal Marin has a long history of frequent low intensity fire, both cultural burning and wildfire, that provided ecological benefits. In fact, coastal grasslands likely burned every 1-3 years and coastal redwoods likely burned every 10-30 years according to the Point Reyes National Seashore. These low intensity frequent fires were an important part of Marin's local ecology. Cultural burning was outlawed in the mid-1800s and wildfires have been largely eradicated from the landscape with modern fire suppression efforts. Additionally, with European settlement, highly flammable non-native invasive plants have become prevalent on the landscape, often crowding out native species. Without frequent low intensity fire, vegetation builds up on the landscape to levels dangerous to people and ecosystems.
"The removal of natural fire from an ecosystem can lead to excess fuel buildup and changes in vegetation composition, which can increase the risk of uncharacteristically large high-severity fires."
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
When conditions are right for fire, Coastal Marin is at risk of an ignition becoming a catastrophic wildfire. To see what this looks like in Marin, click on THIS LINK to view CAL FIRE's updated risk map. The 1995 Vision Fire served as an example of the vulnerability of coastal Marin communities.
Working with experts to both reduce unnatural fuel buildup and restore native plant communities can reduce the likelihood that future catastrophic wildfires could destroy forests, burn down homes, and risk the lives of residents. Only a combination of strategic vegetation management, home hardening, defensible space, and public education can make our communities and landscapes wildfire resilient.
Vegetation management projects for wildfire resilience typically target dead and down woody debris, non-native invasive shrubs and trees (such as French broom, gorse, acacia, echium, etc.) which out compete native understory plants and act as ladder fuels, diseased and otherwise hazardous trees (like dead trees if they pose a hazard to nearby homes). These understory plants compete for water and nutrient. Without this competition, mature native trees thrive, sequester more carbon, and are more resilient to future droughts and fires. Removing excess understory plants acts as a surrogate for fire that would otherwise be occurring naturally. These activities have ecological benefits as well as wildfire resilience benefits and help create landscape conditions that more closely resemble those before widespread fire suppression and invasion of non-native species. Want to learn more about vegetation management? CLICK HERE
Want to learn more about the types of work already in progress in Coastal Marin County? CLICK HERE
How Does an Agency Get Permission from the California Coastal Commission to do Work in Coastal California?
One way to get permission to do restoration and fire fuels management is to prepare a Public Works Plan with California Coastal Commission staff and other partners. Marin Wildfire and the coastal member agencies are currently proposing the Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience Public Works Plan (PWP).
Questions or Comments
Questions and comments regarding the Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience PWP can be directed to:
marinwildfire-pwp@panoramaenv.com
What is a PWP? PWPs are drafted specifically to comply with California Coastal Commission requirements in Coastal areas of California. PWPs are meant to provide a single document that establishes a framework for comprehensive planning, reviewing, and permitting of activities that would otherwise trigger the need for individual Coastal Development Permits (CDPs). Rather than pursuing a CDP, projects may instead be analyzed as an integrated and coordinated system, thus expediting the permitting process, maintaining protections of sensitive resources, and saving money through use of a comprehensive permit vehicle.
PWPs Set Up a Process for Future Project Approvals: The PWP does not identify specific vegetation management projects. Rather, it provides a planning framework to review and authorize future individual vegetation management projects in Marin County’s Coastal Zone over the next 10 years or until dissolution of Marin Wildfire, whichever occurs sooner, using principles, strategies, and best management practices that align fire risk reduction planning with the protection of coastal resources. Over the authorized period of the PWP, Marin Wildfire and its partners plan to conduct targeted high priority forest health and fire prevention projects with voluntary collaborating landowners and land management agencies within the PWP Program Area (refer to figures) in moderate to very high wildfire hazard areas of the Coastal Zone of Marin County.
Collaboration and Coordination: This PWP has been designed in consultation with staff from the California Coastal Commission (CCC), Marin County Community Development Agency, Marin Wildfire and its member agencies, biologists, forest health experts, fire officials, and major land management agencies including the Department of Parks and Recreation (California State Parks).
Potential Future Projects Under the PWP: While the PWP program area is quite large, the entire program area would NOT be treated. Rather, future projects would only occur within a very small portion of the program area. Future projects that may be permitted through the PWP would include projects along the edges of communities and areas that would be critical for slowing fire spread on the landscape. For example, one project currently permitted temporarily through the Governor's Emergency Proclamation (CLICK HERE) could be permitted for the longer term through the PWP and includes targeted fuel reduction in targeted areas next to neighborhoods and roadways and reflects, in part, the footprint of the 1995 Vision Fire.
Notice of Availability for the Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience Public Works Plan
The Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience PWP is available for a 6-week period of public availability starting July 18, 2025 to August 29, 2025 (Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14, § 13515). Refer to this link for the Notice of Availability. (HERE)
Refer to these links to review the public Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience PWP, revised 7/30 (HERE) and Exhibit D of the PWP, which is a mapbook of fine-scale vegetation data in the PWP Program Area. (HERE)
Hardcopies of the public Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience PWP are available for viewing at the following locations:
Coastal Zone Public Meeting
Thank you to those who joined us on August 5, 2025 for an in-person public hearing in the Coastal zone on the Draft PWP at the Dance Palace Community & Cultural Center in Point Reyes Station. Links to slides and other materials from this meeting are below.
The meeting included:
HANDOUT 2: USEFUL LINKS, CASE STUDIES, AND CITATIONS
EXAMPLE PHOTOS OF TYPICAL FUEL BREAK WORK IN CENTRAL MARIN
Addressing Public Comments
The 6-week public comment period on the Public Draft PWP runs from July 18 to August 29, 2025. Marin Wildfire staff will then work with the Coastal Commission to respond to comments and prepare a Final PWP for Board of Directors consideration of approval.
Marin Wildfire Board of Directors Public Meeting
On September 18, 2025 at 3:00 pm the Board of Directors for Marin Wildfire will host a meeting to review and consider approval of the PWP. This meeting can be attended virtually or in person:
Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority
1600 Los Gamos Drive, Suite 335
San Rafael, CA 94903
Coastal Commission Approval
Following Board of Directors approval, the Coastal Commission will hold a hearing for consideration of approval. This will take place sometime during the Winter of 2025/2026.
Once a PWP is Approved
Following Coastal Commission approval and once the PWP is in place, any proposed projects still require CEQA compliance, preparation of a Notice of Impending Development (NOID), and Coastal Commission approval under the PWP before work could begin. For example, one project currently permitted temporarily through the Governor's Emergency Proclamation (CLICK HERE) could be submitted for approval under the PWP to allow for long term implementation and maintenance. It's important to note that only a very small portion of the program area would be part of any proposed future projects.
Questions or Comments
Questions and comments regarding the Draft Marin County Forest Health and Fire Resilience PWP can be directed to:
marinwildfire-pwp@panoramaenv.com
Having a PWP in place will allow for streamlined Coastal Act permitting for future vegetation management Projects. Please explore the links below to learn more about how vegetation management helps reduce risk.
CLICK HERE to see recent case studies from CAL FIRE describing the role of vegetation management projects in recent fire suppression efforts.
CLICK HERE for information about how vegetation management helped prevent large scale destruction of homes during the 2021 Caldor Fire.
CLICK HERE for a short video explaining how vegetation management alters wildfire behavior.
CLICK HERE for more resources on the science behind this work.
