The Wildfire Conservation and Resilience Program at CCRCD provides technical assistance to individuals, communities and agencies to advance the goals of the Alameda and Contra Costa County Regional Wildfire Prevention Plan. Fire is a part of life in the Bay Area and at CCRCD we work to decrease the risk of destructive wildfire while facilitating controlled burning that restores ecosystems and enhances resilience to the compounding impacts of climate change.
To schedule a site visit to discuss wildfire prevention options available in your community or for questions related to any of the programs listed below, please reach out to Zoë Fung - Wildfire Conservation Coordinator by email (zfung@ccrcd.org) or by phone (408-621-9963).
The Contra Costa County Wildfire Mitigation Program is a program of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. Financially supported by Measure X dollars, the program enables county residents to apply for funding for Community Chipping Days, Evacuation Route/Fire Trail Clean Up, Firewise Strategic Plan, Dead Tree Removal and Shaded Fuel Break projects. For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit the program webpage by clicking the button below.
The Diablo Fire Safe Council (DFSC) offers up to $5,000 in cost-sharing assistance to organizations or groups of individuals to hire contractors to reduce fuel loads and create defensible space. For more information regarding DFSC, please visit their program webpage by clicking the button below.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Wildfire Prevention Pilot Program provides free chipping services to qualifying properties within the County. For More information on how to apply, please visit the program webpage by clicking the button below.
The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) and the Alameda County Resource Conservation District (ACRCD) worked jointly with funding from the Coastal Conservancy to develop a Regional Priority Plan (RPP) for Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. The goal of the Regional Priority Plan process was to identify regional natural resource concerns that could be exacerbated by catastrophic wildfire and develop projects or other methods to remedy those issues ahead of the next fire. The planning process started in November 2020 and completed in September 2022.
The Contra Costa and Alameda County Regional Priority Plan is available to view in two files, one with maps (60+ megabyes), one without maps (6 megabytes).
Skills: Permitting, conservation on agricultural land, illegal dumping prevention.
Fun Fact: Eagle Scout, former member of the University of California Marching Band, aspiring birder, and a Contra Costa native raised in Southern California.
Ben started working with Contra Costa RCD in January 2017 after receiving two Masters degrees from Indiana University in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Policy following undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. Ben manages the Voluntary Local Program, the EcoStewards Program, and other conservation programs focused on agricultural lands.
Skills: Rangeland ecology and management, fire ecology, California plant identification, data management and analysis.
Fun Fact: Puts buffalo sauce on everything, is passionate about native plant horticulture, and loves tiny plants and fungi.
Zoë grew up in the South Bay Area, where much of her childhood was spent hiking and exploring the local regional parks with her mom. Having grown up in a wildland urban interface community, Zoë is interested in the impact of wildfire on California ecosystems and communities, and aims to both restore historical fire regimes to Bay Area landscapes as well as promote the equitable allocation of fire preparedness, management, and mitigation resources.
Zoë received degrees in Ecology and Psychology from UC Santa Barbara, where she completed an undergraduate thesis exploring how leaf traits can be used to predict fire severity in Southern California forests. Her passion for wildfire ecology and fondness for Bay Area grassland and oak woodland landscapes led her to pursue a master's degree in Rangeland Management at UC Berkeley, where her studies focused on rangeland plant ecology, wildfire and prescribed fire on rangelands, grazing management, and the ways in which people and the environment influence each other. Zoë looks forward to using her ecological knowledge and her passion for environmental justice in her work managing and utilizing fire with the RCD.
