National Fire Plan Success Story

Camp Caloosa Project
Lee County, Florida
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction

Camp Caloosa is an 80 acre property located in Lee County, and is designated as a high wildfire risk area. The camp is owned by the Southwest Florida Girl Scouts and is used as a residential camp and instructional retreat. Most of the 80 acres are pine flatwoods with a significant accumulation of dense palmettos reaching 10 to 12 feet tall and areas with dense melaleuca growth.

Hazardous fuels mitigation work began in the area following a request by the local fire department in 2006. They had responded to a small wildfire on the property that they had difficulty accessing and were concerned about the dense vegetation and the need for additional fuel management of the camp. Following a meeting with Scout staff at the camp, a management plan for the property was developed that included a comprehensive mitigation plan.

During the initial phase of the mitigation plan walking trails through the camp were widened by the Region 4 Mitigation Team. The widened trails were used to define prescribed burn units for the next phase of the work.

On April 4, 2007, a wildfire burned into the northwest boundary of the camp. The widened trails served as firebreaks that stopped or slowed the fire enough for suppression equipment to work effectively. The trails were also wide enough for brush truck access. As a result, the fire burned only 8 acres before it was contained.

The cost of this project, including Region 4 Team personnel and equipment and local district personnel working jointly on the mitigation project was approximately $9000; however, the project protected 21 structures with an estimated value of $3,675,000 in the face of wildfire. The per structure cost in order to provide this additional protection was $426.