NEVADA COUNTY

Nevada County Supervisors approved the largest Good Neighbor Agreement to-date to improve critical evacuation routes and access for wildland firefighters. The Evacuation Safety Corridor and Protection Enhancement (ESCAPE) agreement will fund hazardous fuels reduction across 3,000 acres of the Tahoe National Forest over the next decade.

Backed by over $8 million in state and federal grants across seven different projects, this effort will target multiple priority locations in the 2025 Community Wildfire Protection Plan and the 2024 Evacuation Study.

Project areas include Cascade Shores, Lowell Hill Ridge, Chalk Bluff Ridge, Gaston Ridge, Cruzon Grade, Bowman Lake Road, along Highway 20, and near the Town of Washington. The goal is to improve evacuation routes, reduce hazardous vegetation, and improve forest health.

Work will build and extend roadside shaded fuel breaks, preserving larger trees while reducing hazardous vegetation to improve wildland firefighter access and the effectiveness of aerial retardant drops.

The agreement includes $7 million in grant funding from the National Forest Foundation (the official nonprofit of the U.S. Forest Service), $1 million in grant funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for the Town of Washington Wildfire Defense Project, and $158,261 in funding from the U.S. Forest Service for ESCAPE Project maintenance.

Overall, the funding will maintain previously completed projects and launch approximately 1,700 acres of new fuel reduction work.

Under the Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant, Nevada County OES will partner with the local tribally-led fuels crew of HUṠWEJ for project work.

For more information, visit readynevadacounty.org/escape. 

~ Nevada County press release