- Author: Grace Nguyen-Sovan Dean
California's forests have long been adapted to fire, where the presence of regular, low-severity fires helped maintain forest health. After decades of fire suppression, many private forest landowners are interested in reintroducing fire to their landscape through prescribed burns. When planning for a prescribed fire, landowners must consider a variety of factors, including the age of their trees.
A new study from Hunter Noble (University of Nevada, Reno) and Rob York (UCCE) sheds insight on how prescribed fire affects stands of varying ages. The 2024 paper is a continuation of research conducted at Blodgett Forest Research Station following a 2018 prescribed burn. The new findings provide crucial information for Sierra Mixed-Conifer (SMC) land managers who seek to implement prescribed fire in young forests.
For the tree species in the SMC forest type (Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, white fir and giant sequoia), low-severity fire is a natural part of the ecological process. Reintroducing fire to young, reforested SMC stands can help protect areas burned by high-severity fires from future “reburn” fires by reducing fuel. This study seeks to help answer the question: what is the earliest age you can burn a stand of trees?
In this study, tree mortality rates among 12, 22, and 32-year old stands at UC Berkeley's Blodgett Research Station were observed two years post-burn. There is little known about the effects of prescribed fire on young trees, as prescribed burns are often used to treat older trees with more fire-resistant characteristics. However, understanding when fire can be reintroduced to young stands is critical for those in California managing reforested, post-wildfire landscapes.
When surveying trees in each age class, researchers found that the 32-year old stands experienced the lowest rate of tree mortality (78% of trees survived), whereas the 12-year old stands experienced the highest (31% of trees survived). The 22-year old trees had a 63% survival rate.
An important consideration is that burn conditions may have greatly contributed to the recorded high mortality rate among the 12-year stands. The 2018 burn was conducted at the end of the burn prescription, meaning conditions were hotter and drier than is typical. York and Noble described these mortality results as a “worst case scenario”, referencing a previous study that described a 0-24% mortality rate for a similarly aged stand. However, the authors note that a high mortality rate may not necessarily be undesirable if one's management goal is to create a “low-density, high-complexity stand...similar to historic conditions.”
For those managing post-fire landscapes, utilizing prescribed fire is beneficial towards preventing reburns and can work in harmony with reforestation treatments. However, as outlined in the study, burning under different conditions can significantly affect tree mortality, yielding higher or lower rates. York and Noble conclude that when land managers seek to implement prescribed fire, identifying an acceptable level of tree mortality is key, and burning under the right conditions can lessen fuel loads without sacrificing tree survival in the years to come.
Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.3733/001c.117485
- Author: Grace Nguyen-Sovan Dean
This July, San Luis Obispo county's first cultural burn since 1850 took place. This reintroduction of indigenous, ‘good fire' to the landscape was led by the yak tit?utit?u yak ti?hini Northern Chumash Tribe, who worked in collaboration with city officials and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE). Being involved with the burn was a standout moment for CALFIRE San Luis Obispo Unit (SLU) forester Dave Erickson, whose work often brings him in close collaboration with a variety of community stakeholders.
For Erickson, being a unit forester in San Luis Obispo is dynamic work within a unique area. He notes how the county “stretches from the ocean to alkali deserts” and is home to “tons of different microclimates, which require different types of management”.
For example, though oak woodlands are commonly associated with the region, Monterey pine restoration will be a focus for Erickson later this year. CALFIRE will be working with the San Luis Obispo Fire Safe Council to reforest and reduce fuels in the Cambria Monterey Pine Forest, an effort funded by a California Forest Health Program grant. “This is a super unique and rare habitat, and Monterey pines are affected by a number of different pathogens such as mistletoe and canker. They require active management in order to be healthy and sequester carbon,” he explains.
Though the county is rich in differing ecosystems, Erickson points out a common feature: for a fire-adapted region, the absence of fire over the past 100 years has led to a creeping lack of plant biodiversity. He says, “There are areas [here] that haven't seen fire in a long time, they're crowded out.” Getting fire on the ground, whether prescribed fire or cultural fire, is essential for reducing that crowding, and giving rarer plants the opportunity to grow and thrive.
Erickson's position also brings him in close collaboration with local landowners. He described a project where CALFIRE worked to perform a prescribed burn on a private property in the Long Canyon area: “We got to know the landowners really well, and they were very supportive of what we were doing.” Positive landowner attitudes towards prescribed fire and vegetation management projects are common, with Erickson pointing to the county's long history of resident-driven land management. The county's Rangeland Improvement Association is one of the oldest in California, and organizations like the Fire Safe Council encourage what Erickson describes as community motivation to “help one another...get landscape level projects done”.
Though county residents are accustomed to seeing hand crews at work and smoke from prescribed fires, CALFIRE SLU also aims to increase public understanding of why these projects are necessary. Erickson shared that one of the ways CALFIRE SLU has increased its public outreach is through the online platform ArcGIS StoryMaps. CALFIRE SLU's StoryMaps detail two ongoing CALFIRE vegetation management projects on SRA land, and invite curious viewers to explore each project's methodology, environmental outcomes, and monitoring protocol.
CALFIRE SLU's StoryMaps and this summer's cultural burn help increase public understanding of forest management, while also illustrating the necessity of collaboration when implementing landscape-level projects. This feature of forestland management is something Erickson sees as applicable for any forest landowner: “We [CALFIRE] work with a lot of partners to get projects done. No agency can do it all alone. [Management] takes a lot of time, effort, collaboration, and partnership. Create relationships with your local CALFIRE [unit], RCD [resource conservation district], UC ANR [office], and people who can give you information.”
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Learn the how, where and why fire is used to manage the natural landscape at the Central Coast Good Fire Fair on Saturday, Oct. 5. The fair is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Felton in Santa Cruz County. The event is sponsored by the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network and California State Parks.
“You can witness a live prescribed fire in the redwood grove and learn about using fire in our coastal ecosystems,” said Barb Satink Wolfson, UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for San Benito, Santa Clara, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
Representatives of California State Parks, CALFIRE, indigenous groups and the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association are scheduled to talk about how they work with fire.
The Good Fire Fair will offer educational activities for children and adults:
- Learn how to safely build, tend and extinguish a campfire
- Watch live burns of piles and redwood understory growth (likely between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., depending on the weather)
- Savor sandwiches, burgers and Venezuelan food from local food trucks
- Observe demonstrations and visit informative booths
- Learn how to make your home more resilient to wildfire
- Test your fire knowledge and win prizes
“Kids will get to see a wildland fire engine up close, try fire science experiments and play educational games. Bring a camera,” said Satink Wolfson. “Knowledge feeds the soul, but two of Santa Cruz's best food trucks will feed your hunger!”
The event is free, but parking at the park is $10. No registration required.
- Author: Daniel K Macon
There's still time to register for our first-ever Sierra Foothills Rancher's Fire Academy! We'll be covering topics like using prescribed fire to control rangeland weeds, planning your own prescribed fire, fire tool basics, ranching hardening, and managing livestock during wildfire. You'll learn from local and regional fire experts, UC researchers, and from your fellow ranchers! Each session is just $10 per ranch (with up to four people from each ranch eligible to participate)!
- Author: Kara Manke