Dear Neighbors,

This summer we experienced relentless heat and there were wildfires to the north, south, east, and west of Austin. Today I want to share an important update with you on my work to protect us from this extreme risk and safeguard our beloved parks and preserves.

The Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) is the steward of over 10,000 acres of natural areas and last month Council initiated the implementation of a new plan to reduce our wildfire risks and improve the climate resilience of these lands. I’ve worked diligently to create and adopt this PARD Land Management Plan, which was the only remaining recommendation from a 2019 Wildfire Prevention Audit I initiated. During our FY24 budget deliberations, I secured funding and additional staffing to allow this important work to be implemented as quickly as possible.  

The plan includes strategies and frameworks which will guide the restoration and management of our beloved greenspaces and mitigate wildfire risk in outdoor spaces, many of which are in close proximity to neighborhoods and homes. The plan accounts for the unique ecologies and distinctive features of our various greenspaces so our staff can tailor effective strategies for a specific context. The plan also requires staff to engage closely with neighboring communities during implementation. I invite you to review the plan in its entirety here and my amendments here.

As a longtime advocate of parks, environmental resilience, and wildfire prevention, I’m pleased to be taking these next steps to fortify our community and our natural areas.  I want to thank our Parks and Recreation staff for their efforts, as well as the Travis County Fire Marshall and the various City stakeholders who supported the plan: the Austin Water Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, Austin Fire Department, Watershed Protection, Austin Public Health, and the offices of Sustainability, Resiliency, and Equity. By championing multi-departmental approaches to wildfire prevention and climate resilience, we can keep our community safer and better prepared.

There is still more work to be done, and each of us must play our part in reducing our wildfire risk. In my May 2023 newsletter, I provided an overview of our wildfire prevention efforts and some preparedness tips, which I invite you to revisit.

As planned for many months, in my next newsletter I will mark the two-year anniversary of the arson attack on Congregation Beth Israel, my synagogue, and provide an update on our work to improve the city’s efforts to prevent and respond to hate in all forms. That is still my intention, but I want to conclude this letter with some brief thoughts and resources related to the crisis in Israel.

I join the many members of our community who are grieving the lives lost, praying for peace, and awaiting the return of the hostages. Each of us in our own way are processing complicated feelings of mourning, shock, fear, confusion, and vulnerability. The images and details emerging are more and more disturbing and it is hard not to anticipate more death and destruction in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has produced a new discussion guide which provides key background, discussion prompts, and useful reminders about navigating misinformation online. I encourage you to consult this resource as needed.

We are co-hosting an event with Congregation Beth Israel on November 1st as part of our We All Belong Campaign. Please save the date and we will have more details forthcoming.

In the remainder of this letter, you will find financial and rebate incentives for going green, opportunities to share your priorities for the 2024-25 budget, and more.

In peace,