Santa Cruz County has released a draft of its Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and is asking for public feedback. The county held open-house meetings in October in several communities, including Sonoita/Elgin, Patagonia, Nogales, Rio Rico, and Tubac. Input from these meetings helped shape the draft plan.
The CWPP aims to lower wildfire risks and improve community readiness through local coordination. Santa Cruz County Emergency Management is leading the project with support from a grant provided by the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management and funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
“Community feedback remains an essential part of the CWPP process. Residents and stakeholders are encouraged to review the draft plan and provide comments to help ensure it reflects local priorities, conditions, and wildfire risks throughout Santa Cruz County,” according to county officials.
The draft CWPP can be viewed at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__matrixneworld-2Dmy.sharepoint.com_-3Ab-3A_g_personal_jjohnson-5Fmatrixengineering-5Fcom_IQBjVPC-2DfGLESIZZH7XTSHKHAUvbgSzNdNquKIf3qz2JJLk-3Fe-3DdrkW3Z&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=NWHyTH1qMl3h-Iu7_E_OtmrsVdi_jh4jyW3X-0GDk0XRQfiiQEHaOvUU7MXmicFt&m=KQxlH5dnXVhbDkTfo5Q5V0QfXXSGtD7HEs-LUujMEq4S39qWQHQB6aTsb9dhCci-&s=K9vnd3HTrjFE0wsHNI1zDe08Z8zF31F5J6k0M4kelHk&e=. Comments may be submitted online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiG3ZsDEJjr91CySopBOJ3Dbb_V7B7VbJPtXUbADdl6xAoqQ/viewform until January 20, 2026.
Questions about the CWPP or how to submit comments can be directed to Santa Cruz County Emergency Management at 520-375-8000.
Santa Cruz County also faces challenges in education. During the 2022-23 school year, over 74% of students in grades 3 through 8 did not pass the mathematics section of the AASA exam (https://www.azed.gov/), while more than 84% of high schoolers did not pass the mathematics section of the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/). In English, more than two-thirds of students in grades 3 through 8 failed that section on the AASA exam (https://www.azed.gov/), and about 72% of high schoolers did not pass English on the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/). More recently, only about one in five high schoolers passed math on the ACT during the 2023–24 school year (https://www.azed.gov/), while just under a quarter of third through eighth graders passed math on that year’s AASA test (https://www.azed.gov/).
