The new workplan supports safer homes, stronger neighborhoods and coordinated wildfire prevention across Marin.
Wildfire safety starts at home, but it does not stop there
The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority has approved a $24.1 million budget and workplan for the coming fiscal year. The plan supports wildfire prevention efforts across Marin, from home hardening and defensible space to vegetation management, evacuation improvements and community education.
The budget was approved at Marin Wildfire’s board meeting on May 21, 2026. It is funded primarily through Measure C, along with grants and interest income.
Background: The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority was formed in 2020 through a Joint Powers Agreement among fire agencies, town/city governments, utility districts, and the County government, covering most of the jurisdictions in Marin County. Funded by a 10-year parcel tax called Measure C, which was approved by 70.8% of Marin voters in March 2020, Marin Wildfire is tasked with leading the development of fire adapted communities using sound scientific, financial, programmatic, ecological practices, vegetation management, community education, evacuation and warning systems.
Working from the House Out
Marin Wildfire’s workplan follows a “house out” approach. That means starting with the areas closest to homes, including home-hardening improvements, defensible space and Zone 0, the first five feet around a home. From there, the work expands into neighborhoods, along roads, across evacuation routes and into larger open spaces and wildland areas.
This layered approach is important because no single project can eliminate wildfire risk. Safer homes, prepared residents and well-maintained landscapes all need to work together as a system.
Marin has more than 106,000 residences, and about 69,000 are in the wildland-urban interface, where homes are close to open space or wildland vegetation. Inspectors from the various fire agencies plan to evaluate approximately 30,000 homes this year for defensible space and wildfire risks through Marin Wildfire’s Wildfire Home Risk Evaluation Program. Once a property has been evaluated, the residents receive a personalized report with a prioritized list of items that will help improve their home’s wildfire resilience. Through the Program’s outreach efforts, residents are encouraged to take action on their reports and mark their tasks completed, which in turn helps track the Program’s success through metrics.
Public Education Helps Residents Take Action
Wildfire prevention projects make a major difference, but residents also need clear facts regarding the realities of wildfire risk and reliable information about what they can do at home and in their neighborhoods.
To deliver on that responsibility, the Marin Wildfire budget includes $1.25 million for public education and outreach through Fire Safe Marin.
As Marin Wildfire’s community education partner and public information arm, Fire Safe Marin helps turn wildfire science and technical guidance into practical help and resources that residents can understand and use.
We help people learn how to:
- Take practical steps to improve wildfire preparedness
- Create and maintain defensible space
- Reduce combustible materials near their homes
- Improve home resistance to embers, heat and flames
- Properly plan and prepare for evacuation
- Work together at a neighborhood-level through the Firewise program
Public education connects residents with the larger work happening throughout Marin. A fuel break can help slow a wildfire, but homes must also be prepared for embers. An evacuation plan is most effective when residents know what to do and are ready to leave when the time comes.
Our role is to help more people understand where to begin and how to take the next step.
Direct Support Programs for Residents
The workplan also provides direct support for residents. More than $1.35 million is dedicated to Chipper Days, which help residents remove excess vegetation and create defensible space around their homes free of charge. Over $3 million is allocated towards various town/city reimbursements, as well as resident grant programs and direct assistance activities.
Together with home evaluations, public education and neighborhood programs, and coordinated projects, these efforts help make wildfire preparedness more manageable and accessible across Marin.
Reducing Risk Across Marin
The workplan funds agency-level projects throughout five budgeted zones: Central Marin, West Marin, Novato, San Rafael and Southern Marin.
These efforts include:
- Vegetation management and fuel reduction
- Shaded fuel breaks
- Evacuation route improvements and management
- Wildfire detection and notification improvements
- Prescribed burning
- Local staffing and inspection/evaluation programs
Because wildfire risk varies from one community to another, local agencies help identify and carry out the projects that best fit their areas. At the same time, the projects remain connected to Marin Wildfire’s broader countywide goals. This balance allows Marin to take a coordinated approach while responding to local conditions.
To facilitate this coordination and effective project prioritization, Marin Wildfire developed the Marin Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Created in 2020, the CWPP underwent an overhaul in 2026 to reflect the lessons learned from major California wildfires since 2020 and the new data and scientific analysis that came from those catastrophic events.
The 2026 CWPP also incorporates the latest tools, technology, and industry protocols for wildfire preparedness, detection and mitigation. The plan serves as a roadmap for local agencies to identify where wildfire risk is greatest, how wildfire will behave across Marin’s diverse landscapes, and develop long-term resilience strategies. This ever-evolving tool helps local agencies prioritize projects to effectively and efficiently work towards a more resilient county.
Measure C at Work
Marin voters approved Measure C in March 2020 to provide dedicated funding for wildfire prevention and preparedness via a parcel tax of 10 cents per square foot of building space.
That funding now supports home evaluations, defensible space inspections, vegetation management, risk reduction projects, evacuation improvements, public education, staffing and other projects throughout the county. The result is a connected wildfire preparedness system, from individual homes to entire communities and landscapes.
When You’re Living with Wildfire, Everyone Has a Role
Marin Wildfire’s workplan represents a major public investment, but wildfire preparedness also depends on residents taking action.
Clear combustible materials near your home. Maintain defensible space. Participate in Chipper Days. Learn your evacuation routes. Strengthen your neighborhood through the Firewise program. Every step helps.
By working from the house out, and neighbors working together, we can reduce wildfire risk and build a safer, more resilient and prepared Marin.
