San Juan County is seeking public input on its draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan, released today, June 20.

The draft plan, released today, June 20, is available until July 6 at public libraries on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez island, and online at www.sanjuandem.net/CWPP. Public comments may be submitted until 5 p.m., July 6. The CWP plan is intended to assist San Juan County to do the following:

— Reduce wildfire risk for San Juan County residents, landowners, businesses, communities, local governments, and state and federal agencies.

— Identify high fire risk areas and develop strategies to reduce risk.

— Improve awareness of wildland fire issues locally.

— Provide opportunities for discussions among community members and agencies regarding priorities for fire protection and natural resource management.

— Maintain appropriate wildfire response capabilities, and improve access to funding to achieve wildfire mitigation goals.

The draft CWPP recommends various actions be taken by fire districts, property owners, local government and others, but does not impose regulations on private properties. The CWPP Steering Committee — comprised of representatives from local fire districts, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, private land managers, various San Juan County departments, and others — is coordinating the effort.

Comments can be submitted to the attention of Brad Tucker, Northwest Management, Inc., PO Box 9748, Moscow, Idaho 83843, or by email to tucker@nmi2.com.

For more information on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan project, contact Kevin O’Brien, CWPP Planning Committee chairman, (360)376-2331.