Develop the Wildfire Resilience Workforce

Santa Barbara Communities, such as Lompoc, lack the necessary workforce to implement fuel reduction, prescribed burns and other preventative measures. The workforce gap can be addressed via a variety of avenues including training for seasonal and/or displaced farmworkers, burn boss training (there are not enough burn bosses to develop Rx fire burn plans), and training to be able to assess and provide recommendations to homeowners for home hardening and defensible space. However, capacity within existing educational institutions such as Allan Hancock College with its Public Safety Training Complex is not adequate to meet the need and must be increased/developed.

Project Scope: Seek funding for Climate/Extreme Weather Resilience Workforce Development Plan to assess status, needs, capacities, partners and pipelines.

Status: Conceptual

Cost: Low cost

Partners: Allan Hancock College, Chumash Community, Native Coast Action Network, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center and Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board