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Fire Mitigation Sangha Work Day

Fire Mitigation Sangha Meeting 
Saturday March 29 | 10:00am – 1:00pm | Onsite Only

If you are interested in learning more about Fire Mitigation and what this means for our campus and community, and getting your hands in the soil to help, or just want to help by bringing some snacks for our hardworking volunteers, please join us.

RSVP HERE. 

If you plan to get your hands dirty, wear shoes with traction and long sleeves! We welcome you to bring your own gloves and any other tools you might have to help.  We will provide tools, gloves, and protective glasses, as well.

Mountain Cloud’s Vision for 2025 includes turning towards our campus both in terms of practical caretaking, and in terms of deepening our relationship with the land through ecodharma. Fire Mitigation is an effort within larger vision of stewarding the land, and the non-human communities that we share it with. Our aim is to reduce risk of losing our precious facilities, while maintaining the integrity of our ground surface, preventing erosion, and protecting the natural habitat of others living on our 24 acres. We hope that our efforts in this matter can be a community effort, and that our friends and neighbors might gain the opportunity to learn and build skills through our process. 

Thank you for your care and support as we protect not only our precious sangha-built buildings, but also the communities of wildlife that share this land with us.

FAQ

The Fire Mitigation Committee is a Committee of the Board comprised of Board Members, Staff, and Sangha members including: Executive Director Sarah Giffin, Facilities Specialist John Juan Handelin, Sangha member (and fire mitigation professional) Laura McCarthy, and Sangha member (and fire mitigation professional) Brian Stampe. To reach out to this committee, email Sarah at sarah@mountaincloud.org. The committee is also greateful for the help and insight of earlier members including Peg Froelich, Jay Coghlan, adn Bill Bruce.

Work to Date 

  • 2 professional Fire Mitigation Assessments of the land
  • Drafted Fire Emergency Plan
  • Updating and Maintaining our relationship with the Hondo Fire Department
  • Hardening of Cabins
  • Installing necessary emergency signage at entryway
  • Professional check of building watering system
  • Targeted removal of recently downed trees (to prevent the attraction of beetle infestation)
  • refreshed survey of property to clarify property lines
  • Learning and discussion!

Future Plans 

March & April:

  • Professional Arborist will, with the guidance of our sangha group the Turtles, remove high-risk branches from within 0-5ft of our buildings, fire hydrant, and the heritage pine on our property.
  • Professional Forester will, with the help of volunteers and the guidance of sangha group the Turtles, guide a process of clearing deadwood from the radius of 0-30ft from our buildings, fire hydrant, and heritage pine. This project may include the thoughtful removal of high-risk plants within 0-5ft of buildings.
  • Committee will meet with a surficial geomorphologist to make plans for concurrent and/or longterm erosion mitigation in the 0-30 radius of these areas.
  • Committee will finalize and shop around a call for proposals to fire mitigation specialists in the area, for a larger scale mitigation project to be done in the Fall. The proposal makes consideration for the protection of wild habitat on the land.

May & June:

  • Erosion Mitigation TBD
  • Trail Maintenance work

September – November:

  • Larger-scale fire mitigation project

 

Want to learn more about what’s happening with Fire & Habitat in the Southwest? Browse below. 

 

 

Date
March 29, 2025
Time
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Event Category