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Spy Rock Community Gains Safer Roads and Healthier Forests with Wildfire Prevention Project

Residents living off Spyrock, Iron Peak, and Simmerly Roads are breathing easier this year, thanks to Spyrock Safe Access and a $950,000 grant from CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Prevention Program. This initiative is part of the California Climate Investments, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening community resilience.

At a recent community meeting, neighbors gathered to learn about wildfire home hardening tips and celebrate the grant announcement—a significant investment directly benefiting every household dependent on Spyrock Road for access.

Why Spy Rock Matters

Hundreds of families reach their homes off these roads, which means if the road is blocked by wildfire, they have no way to escape. Spyrock Road stretches east from Highway 101, serving as a lifeline to a network of rural homes spread across five watersheds: Blue Rock Creek, Big Bend Creek/Eel River, Tin Cabin Creek/Eel River, Rattlesnake Creek, and Woodman Creek.

Beyond resident safety, these watersheds are vulnerable to wildfire-driven erosion. This sends sediment into streams, harming water quality and affecting coho salmon populations. Reducing roadside fuel loads isn’t just about saving homes—it also protects rivers, fish habitat, and the water residents depend on.

The Spyrock Safe Access project represents a nature-based solution to a changing climate. By thinning smaller trees and hazardous ground fuels while preserving large, mature trees, the project recreates resilient forest structures once maintained by natural fire cycles and tribal stewardship.

Today’s overgrown forests are crowded with too many trees competing for too little water, reducing both resilience and carbon storage. By protecting the carbon locked in big trees and soils, the project strengthens forest health, improves water quality, and builds a safer environment for the Spy Rock community.

For the Spy Rock community, the stakes are personal. The road is the only way in and out. If wildfire blocks it, residents face the terrifying prospect of climbing steep hillsides on foot or ATV. For families with kids, elders, or mobility challenges, this isn’t an option. Spyrock Safe Access ensures the community has a realistic evacuation route—and gives firefighters a clear path in.
I’ve lived off Spyrock Rd more than 35 years and I’ve never seen brush and trees reduced anywhere near as well as this is being done. This is tremendous work and makes Spy Rock really fire safe.
Ron Surratt

Wildwood Fire Safe Council

Community-Led, Community-Powered Ethos

Ethos Environmental, a nonprofit rooted in the Spy Rock community, wrote the grant. Founder Heidi Wordhouse, who moved to the hill two decades ago, speaks from experience: “The Spy Rock community is made up of the most determined people I’ve ever met—known to fight lightning fires with nothing but backpack sprayers and shovels. But clearing over 10 miles of dense fuels along our escape routes was beyond what we could do alone. So, we asked CAL FIRE, and they answered.”

Ethos partnered with the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, local Fire Safe Councils (Spy Rock Ready!, Wildwood, and Blue Rock FSCs), Assistant Fire Chief Greg Smith, and County Supervisor John Hashak. Landowners along the road signed access agreements, allowing crews expanded access to work up to 50 feet from the road’s edge.

Visible Change: Safer, More Beautiful Roadsides

With the project almost halfway complete, the difference is striking. What was once choked with undergrowth now has a park-like quality. Drivers can see around formerly blind corners, making travel safer. Landowner concerns were respected—favorite trees were preserved, views protected, and consultations offered when requested.

Treatments reduce surface fuels, preventing fire from racing into the canopy and cutting the risk of high-intensity roadside wildfire and road closures.

“If the road stays passable, residents can get out and firefighters can get in—and that’s what matters most.”
Heidi Wordhouse

Ethos Environmental

Local Jobs, Stronger Rural Economy

The project also supports local livelihoods. Elk Ridge Landscaping, led by Ben O’Niell of Bell Springs, employs workers from Bell Springs, Laytonville, and Spy Rock itself. By keeping jobs local, the project strengthens the rural economy while improving community safety.

Crews carefully hand-thin trees and brush, lay material neatly for next-day chipping, and mulch the forest floor with the chips. Larger branches and small logs are left for landowners’ use, ensuring resources stay in the community. The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council provided expertise, including essential biological and forestry review, keeping the work both effective and environmentally sound.

Part of a Bigger Vision: California Climate Investments

Spyrock Safe Access is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities.

The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California.

For more information, visit the California Climates Investments Website