Evaluating Your Landscape

Recovering from Wildfire: A guide for California's forest landowners: This publication discusses issues that forest landowners should consider following a wildfire in their forest, including how to assess fire impacts, protect valuable property from damage due to erosion, where to go for help and financial assistance, how to salvage dead trees or replant on your land, and how to claim a casualty loss on your tax returns.

Erosion Control after a Wildfire: Erosion is probably one of the most common concerns after a wildfire. Post-fire erosion depends on many factors, but generally erosion hazard increases as slope increases and vegetative cover decreases. To be safe, assume all drainages in steep hilly areas can carry debris flows and that they are vulnerable after a wildfire.

Using Mulch to Control Erosion after a Wildfire: Using mulch to control erosion after a wildfire is a very common practice. Research has shown that mulching is the only treatment which consistently and significantly reduced erosion rates after a burn by immediately increasing the percent of ground cover, compared to gradually increasing cover by growing vegetation such as grass.

Using Barriers to Control Erosion after a Wildfire: Using barriers to control erosion after a wildfire is a common practice. Barriers are installed on hillslopes and in streams to slow water flow, increase infiltration, and trap sediment.

Taking Care of Residential Trees After Wildfire: This publication by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension discusses how to take care of residential trees after wildfire. Which ones may survive and which ones need to be taken down.