COBB, Calif. — Residents, forestland owners, and fire and forestry service business owners are invited to attend the first Cobb Mountain Forest Summit on June 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the historic Little Red Schoolhouse in Cobb.

Space is limited and registration is required at www.sscra.org.

The program, produced by the Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association, or SSCRA, will kick off the development of a Cobb Mountain Area Community Wildfire Protection Plan, or CWPP.

Cobb was the epicenter of the 2015 Valley Fire and the community has been active continuously since then, working diligently to reduce hazardous fire fuels while re-creating a local culture of fire-adaptation based on the recognition that fire is an important part of the local natural environment.

Event co-organizer Magdalena Valderrama encouraged local residents to attend the Summit saying that, "In recent years, Cobb has been at the forefront in our county when it comes to community-based wildfire readiness. But careful planning and consistent application of best practices in adapting to a fire ecology, including cultural approaches, can make living in this area much, much safer."

The CWPP kickoff Summit will feature presentations on the Cobb area forest ecology, traditional tribal practices that kept people safe for thousands of years, building a local business sector that can do the work necessary to keep the community fire safe, organizing local "Firewise Community" groups, and the state of fire insurance in California. Booths staffed by local fire and forest groups will offer additional information.

The event is free to the public. Registered attendees will be served lunch and also receive a free black oak seedling donated by Lawrence Ray.

Lake County approved a countywide CWPP in 2023, which qualified any organization in the county to apply for significant federal grants to clear hazardous fuel buildups throughout local forestlands.

The new Cobb Mountain CWPP will dive deeper into specific challenges in the Cobb Area, including a complex mountainous landscape, a patchwork of medium sized land holdings, many out-of-area land owners, subdivisions nestled deep in the forest landscape, and the need to support local businesses to do the work needed to fully adapt the area to its natural fire ecology.

Community involvement in creating the new Cobb Mt. CWPP will also cultivate active relationships with local tribes whose ancestral territories included the Cobb Area and whose traditional indigenous knowledge systems hold important lessons for the challenges we face today.

The project to complete a Cobb Area CWPP is expected to take two years and involve extensive data gathering, local outreach and further coalition building.

The complete CWPP will then qualify the area to apply for additional federal funding to do the work outlined in the plan.

The event is made possible with support from the Cobb Area Council, North Coast Opportunities, the Sierra Club Lake Group, Cal Fire and the Cobb Mountain Lions Club.

For more information visit the SSCRA website at www.sscra.org.