Press release

The Mammoth Lakes Fire Safe Council (MLFSC) has received approval from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) on a grant application for the Lakes Basin Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project in the amount of $500,000 to conduct mechanical and hand thinning, fuel breaks, roadside and campground fuels reduction, forest restoration, and meadow aspen release treatments on a minimum of 406 acres and up to 632 acres on Inyo National Forest land over a two- to three-year period.

These activities will protect public infrastructure, recreational access, and forest and watershed resources. The project lies within the headwaters of Mammoth Creek which provides municipal water to the Town of Mammoth Lakes and flows into the Owens River. The award was authorized by the Governing Board of the SNC at a recent quarterly meeting. Funding for this project comes from Proposition 1, The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014.

The application for the grant was initiated by the MLFSC with support by the Mammoth Lakes Fire Protection District, United States Forest Service, Town of Mammoth Lakes, Mono County Board of Supervisors, Mammoth Community Water District, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

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The MLFSC is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization of local residents whose purpose is to provide information, education, and resources to the community and serve as a liaison between the community members, agencies and authorities to mitigate the threat and severity of wildfire. There are over 50 Fire Safe Councils in California with the mission of sponsoring this kind of community based interagency collaboration.

The SNC is a California State agency created by bi-partisan legislation (AB 2600) and signed into law in 2004. The SNC was created with the understanding that the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada and its communities are closely linked and that the Region and the State of California would benefit from an organization providing a strategic direction.