AUBURN, Calif. — Placer County Regional Forest Health Coordinator Kerri Timmer presented the Regional Forest Health Division’s annual program update to the Placer County Board of Supervisors yesterday, outlining significant milestones in countywide wildfire risk reduction, strategic partnerships and landscape-scale forest resilience projects.

Established in 2021 by the Board of Supervisors to strengthen county-level leadership in wildfire resilience, the Regional Forest Health Division has grown from a startup operation into a coordinated program managing an active portfolio of projects across Placer County’s forests, communities and public lands.

Record funding and an expanding project portfolio
Since its inception, Regional Forest Health has helped secure more than $6.8 million — including upwards of $800,000 in the past year alone — to advance wildfire resilience goals.

The division currently manages approximately $5 million in active Tier 1 implementation projects spanning more than 22,000 acres.

Key projects include:

  • French Meadows Fuel Reduction Program, one of the nation’s first large-landscape public-private partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, a model now replicated in other regions across California.
  • Cabin Creek and Olympic Valley Park fuel reduction, where strategic procurement allowed the county to double the number of treated acres at roughly half the anticipated cost by joining a larger adjacent Forest Service project.
  • Yankee Jim’s Fuel and Habitat Mitigation Project, integrating forest health work with the Placer County Department of Public Works’ bridge replacement effort along Shirttail Creek.

Emerging as a regional leader
The Regional Forest Health Division is now recognized statewide as a model for county-led forest resilience.

The State of California selected Placer County to pilot the Digital Marketplace, a new platform that connects private landowners with forestry professionals to accelerate forest health work on non-public lands.

The county is also co-leading the Tri-County Memorandum of Association for forest health and biomass coordination, which supports the Biomass Development Opportunity Zone  — a regional effort to develop markets for excess forest biomass removal.

“Placer County’s role as a coordinator allows us to align partners, reduce duplication and leverage funding and expertise — effectively scaling impact beyond what any single entity could achieve alone,” said Timmer. “We serve as the connective tissue between ideas and the on-the-ground benefits that come from acting on those ideas.”

Strategic tools driving smarter investments
A key driver of the program’s increasing effectiveness is the adoption of Vibrant Planet, a data-driven planning tool that identifies where fuel reduction investments will provide the greatest risk reduction benefit — particularly for communities in the wildland-urban interface.

This analytical capability enables Regional Forest Health to prioritize resources more proactively, compete more successfully for grants and coordinate more effectively with partner agencies.

Community Engagement and Transparency
Timmer also introduced the new Regional Forest Health Story Map, a public communications tool debuting alongside this presentation that allows residents to explore Regional Forest Health-supported projects and understand how each contributes to community protection.

The division additionally maintains a “Big Map” tracking wildfire resilience work across all partners and land ownerships countywide.

Regional Forest Health’s County Coordinator initiative is also actively reaching private landowners with resources, funding opportunities and tools — including the Fire Risk Reduction Community List, which may help property owners reduce fire insurance costs. 

Looking Ahead
Looking forward, Timmer emphasized that success in forest health extends far beyond acres treated. She highlighted the critical importance of planning, partnerships, policy alignment and sustained funding as the foundation for durable, scalable wildfire resilience outcomes.

“Regional Forest Health is positioned to continue delivering lasting community protection through strategic planning, partnerships and implementation,” Timmer told the board. “As demand for our services grows and the program matures, we look forward to ongoing dialogue about how to best align program capacity with the county’s long-term wildfire resilience goals.”

Learn more about the Placer County Regional Forest Health Division at https://www.placer.ca.gov/forests.