The purpose of the Greater Mill Valley Fuel Break (GMVFB) project is to create and maintain a continuous fuel reduction and wildfire resilience zone around the City of Mill Valley and residential communities in southern unincorporated Marin County (i.e., Muir Woods Park) to reduce wildfire risk, including wildfire intensity and rate of spread, and to provide strategic locations for firefighters and emergency personnel to fight a wildfire in the event of ignition. The proposed project would involve conducting vegetation management activities to create an approximately 23-mile-long continuous shaded fuel break within a 345-acre area. Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fuels reduction areas account for up to 328 acres adjacent to the fuel break that may also be treated.
CLICK HERE to see photos of a typical shaded fuel break in which dense stands of nonnative invasive French broom are removed from the understory. Removal of French broom and other nonnative, invasive, fire hazardous vegetation is a huge focus of this and many other projects. CLICK HERE to read more about French broom and why removing it improves habitat and reduces fire risk.
To view the project area spatially, click on this link: Overview KMZ and download the file. This file is viewable using Google Earth and allows the user to navigate and zoom into different parts of the project area. Open the file with earth.google.com or install Google Earth - use these instructions.
To view the project in detail in pdf form, please click on this link for a high resolution poster.
Frequently Asked Questions (Dated June 2025)
Do you have a question about the project? Please reach out one of the following ways:
Project contact email: prevention@smfd.org
Project contact number: (415) 380-1120
The Project-Specific Analysis (PSA) and Addendum is available for the GMVFB Project. Refer HERE to view the document. The PSA and Addendum and the GMVFB were approved at the August 21, 2025 Board of Directors Meeting and is available to download at the previous link.
Marin Wildfire and participating member agencies hosted an online public meeting via zoom on June 24, 2025 from 6-7:30pm to share information about the Greater Mill Valley Fuel Break Project. Thank you to everyone who joined our virtual meeting.
Topics included:
Stay tuned for information on additional public meetings later this summer/fall.
Would you like 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 a short video explaining how vegetation management alters wildfire behavior.
CLICK HERE for more resources on the science behind this work.
