SAN DIEGO - Hoping to limit the threat posed by disastrous wildfires, regional officials decided Friday to seek federal authorization to clear a greater amount of vegetation around homes and to regularly thin backcountry brush.

Prompted by the mayor of Poway, whose city lost 90 homes to October's Witch Creek fire, the San Diego Association of Governments' board voted 19-0 to direct its regional planning committee to open talks with federal and state wildlife agencies on the matter early next year.

Approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies would be required for a vegetation thinning program because many plants elected officials want to cut back provide habitat for imperiled species.

And San Diego County, as a result of its diverse coastal, inland valley, mountain and desert landscapes, is home to more endangered animals and plants than any other county in the nation.

Poway Mayor Mickey Cafagna told his colleagues on the board that something needs to be done in the wake of the second disastrous wave of wildfires in just four years.

"These fires are not over," he said. "We're going to see them again."

A letter Cafagna wrote Nov. 15 prompted Friday's board discussion.

He wrote, "Obviously, a balance must be struck. But I believe that we need to engage the federal and state agencies in a dialogue about how we might modify the requirements to enhance fire protection in San Diego County."

Several elected officials on the panel agreed that some sort of regional vegetation thinning program should be pursued in a bid to limit the breadth of the next firestorm. They referred to the suggestion of some scientists that regular thinning and controlled burning could produce a patchwork of older and younger chaparral, making it less likely that another conflagration would spread all the way from the desert to the coast.

At the same time, said board member Crystal Crawford, a Del Mar councilwoman, the region must balance any program against impacts on the environment.

A county report recently found that half of lands already in or targeted for wildlife reserves burned in October. And Crawford said that as a result, the blazes could have compromised the region's efforts to preserve its diverse but fragile inventory of endangered species.

The October fires torched 368,316 acres and destroyed 1,751 homes and businesses in San Diego County, according to county reports. The biggest of them, the 198,000-acre Witch Creek fire, was the fourth-largest in California history.

Both this year and in 2003, the fires were stoked by fierce Santa Ana Winds blowing offshore.

Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife in Carlsbad, said by telephone later Friday that federal officials would welcome an invitation to meet with the association's regional planning committee. The association is governed by a 21-member board that represents the region's 18 cities and county government.

"This is an important topic and one that is deserving of focused, serious discussions," Hendron said. "But on the flip side, brush clearing does not in and of itself make everyone safe from wind-driven wildfires. In these Santa Ana winds, embers can travel half a mile or more. … It's not a panacea."

During the meeting, Cafagna acknowledged clearing is not a cure-all.

"Obviously, there's not a heck of a lot you can do in an 80 mph firestorm," he said.

But Cafagna said it might help if homeowners were permitted to carve wider vegetation buffers around their houses.

And board member Bill Horn, a county supervisor, said it also might help if federal officials regularly thinned vegetation on national forest lands.

"We need to be able to clear the underbrush … so that we can slow these fires down enough so that we can control them," Horn said. "Otherwise, we're going to repeat this every four years in San Diego County."

In shining the spotlight on the issue, Cafagna highlighted his city's efforts to cut down brush around homes.

He said federal and state agencies limit clearing in his city to no more than 2 acres for any single-family home lot, although on a couple occasions 4 acres were allowed.

"We would like to see more flexibility in this area," Cafagna said.

Hendron said she couldn't address the specific circumstances in Poway. But she said that for a decade, Fish and Wildlife Service has had an agreement with local governments that allows homeowners throughout the county to clear a minimum of 100 feet around their homes.

And in many cases, she said, her agency has allowed a wider swath of vegetation to be cut.

"There is flexibility that already exists - and has for years," she said.

Hendron added that the purpose is defeated if brush is replaced with certain ornamental plants prone to burning.

"Eucalyptus trees contain a lot of oil. They burn explosively," she said. "And palm trees next to homes? Not a good idea."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.