Wildfire Resources - Northern California Conservation Center / Lassen County

Conservation for Northern California Landowners

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Wildfire Resources

With roughly 5 million homes in California located in, or bordering on land with a high to extreme threat of wildfire, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to prepare their home and family for the fire season. Just four decades ago, wildfires in California claimed an average of 100 structures per year. A decade ago, that number had risen to 300. Currently, that number has ballooned to an average of over 1500 structures destroyed by fire each year. Nationally, fire is now destroying, on average, over 7 million acres per year. As a result of this increase, the cost to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention alone has skyrocketed to over $1 billion per year. Given the current economic situation in California, and the country in general, these costs are unsustainable. What can you do about this, you might ask? Much more than you might think.

In the tabs below, you will find:

Fire Resources will help you connect with your local Fire Safe Council.
Fire Management Plans brings you to your area’s CALFIRE Unit Fire Management Plan. These plans are the foundation for planning, prioritizing, and funding the Unit’s projects.
Wildfire Articles will help you find informative articles on topics such as how to create an effective survivable space around your home.
Maintaining a Fire-Resistant Landscape will provide some additional, useful tips.

Fire Resources

CalFire Units & Mgmt Plans

Wildfire Articles

Maintaining a Fire-Resistant Landscape

The Fire Safe Council provides resources for establishing and maintaining local Fire Safe Councils, such as the FSC Handbook, nonprofit and funding information.

Mission: Mobilizing Californians to protect their homes, communities and environments from wildfire.

Vision: Together, people and communities have eliminated the impact of catastrophic wildfires on all they hold dear.

Since its formation in April 1993, the Council has united its diverse membership to speak with one voice about fire safety. The Council has distributed fire prevention education materials to industry leaders and their constituents, evaluated legislation pertaining to fire safety and empowered grassroots organizations to spearhead fire safety programs.

Check out some fire safe tips from the Shasta County Fire Safe Council

Fire Safe Councils

Janesville Fire Safe Council - Janesville, CA
Lassen County Fire Safe Council - Susanville, CA
Tionesta Basin Advisory Group - Susanville, CA

Fire Safe Councils in the Region

Fire Safe Councils in the State

Show All Fire Safe Councils on a Map

Fire Management Plans assess the fire potential within a unit. They identify strategic opportunities for proactive project-based solutions identified by people who live and work within the fire threat areas as well as engaging the private land owners to take action.

The plan coordinates CDF’s prefire activities with adjacent CDF Units, National Forests, and local collaborators. The fire management plan is the foundation for planning, prioritizing, and funding the Unit’s projects.

CalFire Units
Click on an area in the map below for contact info.

CalFire Units & Management Plans

California Fire Plan - Sacramento, CA
Lassen-Modoc Unit - Susanville, CA

CalFire Units & Management Plans in the Region

Show All CalFire Units & Fire Plans on a Map

Creating an Effective Survivable Space...A Step-by-Step Guide

By: United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
Are you worried about the wildfire threat to your home, but aren’t sure where to get started in making your home survivable? Follow these six steps to an effective survivable space...

Is Your Property Safe From Wildfire?

By: Yvonne Carree Barkley
Fire is an important natural process of forests and rangelands. But while fire plays an important role in the ecology of these areas, it can be devastating if homes, valuable timber, and range areas are destroyed.

After the Burn: Assessing and Managing Your Forestland After a Wildfire

By: Yvonne Carree Barkley
On public lands, forests and rangelands actually begin healing before most of major fires are controlled. Teams of specialists in hydrology, geology, soils, range management, botany, engineering, archaeology, and forestry assess the damage done by the fire and determine how to prevent one natural disaster being followed by another. But what should private forestland owners be looking for? How do you assess wildfire damage to your forest and plan for the future management of your land?

After the Fires: Hydrophobic Soils

By: Randy Brooks
Hydrophobic soils repel water. A thin layer of soil at or below the mineral soil surface can become hydrophobic after intense heating. The hydrophobic layer is the result of a waxy substance that is derived from plant material burned during a hot fire.

Landscaping for Fire Prevention

By: Yvonne Carree Barkley, Chris Schnepf and W. Michael Colt
Fire has been a natural part of our ecological history, and will continue to be so. Wildfires can be very destructive, destroying homes and property and placing firefighters at risk. Residents of the forested areas of Idaho should view wildfire the same way residents of the Midwest view tornadoes – an expected natural phenomenon that can devastate property and life – and prepare accordingly.

Do I still believe in landscaping for fire prevention?

By: Ron Mahoney
On July 30, 2003, our Moscow Mountain home, shop, and 5-acre forest property burned to the ground in a human-caused wildfire that covered 200 acres and consumed 4 other homes. It was 98 degrees that day, with about 5% humidity and a 10 mph wind when the fire started. We had done many of the things we advise in our popular publication Landscaping for Fire Prevention. We had a large area of gravel and grass around the home, a circular turnaround that could accommodate large trucks and fire engines

Fire in Forest Ecosystems of the Inland West

By: Yvonne Carree Barkley
Fire in the forest! Though a natural part of the ecosystems of the Inland West, wildfire is one of the most feared, most fought, and most controversial components of our physical environment.

Burned Oaks - Which Ones Will Survive?

By: Doug McCreary
Each year fires burn thousands of acres where the predominant vegetation is oak trees. Where fires burn intensely, trees can be totally consumed. In other places, leaves on trees can be scorched, but the trees remain standing. Where fires burn only the surface vegetation, many trees appear relatively unaffected, except for some blackening of the bark near the ground. The question arises, which of these trees will survive?

Fire Ecology in Rocky Mountain Landscapes

By: William Baker
Fire Ecology in Rocky Mountain Landscapes brings a century of scientific research to bear on improving the relationship between people and fire.

Grass. Green turf is very fire resistive, so if possible, water your lawn through the summer. Longer watering cycles of 1-1.5" of water per week in one to two applications will maintain healthy grass on most soils. If you cannot keep the grass watered, keep it trimmed low, especially close to the house. At the outer edge of your landscape, establishing a low-maintenance, low-growing grass, such as sheep fescue or hard fescue, both of which are very competitive, will help reduce new tree or shrub establishment.

Remove plant litter around structures. When maintaining your landscape, you must actively reduce fuel accumulations by regular pruning, mowing, raking and removal. The less accumulated plant debris, the slower a fi re will spread, and the lower your spot fi re potential. Since fuels and other factors closest to the home have a great infl uence on the probability of a home burning down in a wildfi re, pay extra attention to fl ammable materials that contact the house. Keep the roof and gutters clear of needles and other debris. Don’t allow plant litter deposited by wind to accumulate in corners or at the foundation of the house - burning embers may easily collect in the same places and ignite your home.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Beyond your lawn, creating more spaces between trees means more light will reach the forest fl oor. There also will be more moisture and nutrients available for plant growth. All of this means remaining understory plants and trees will grow larger and faster, especially younger trees, and new plants have a more favorable environment to germinate and grow. To make matters worse, the tree species that tend to regenerate in these partially shaded environments are shade tolerant species such as Douglas fir and grand fir. Douglas fir and grand fir are typically less resistant to insects, disease, drought and fire than shade intolerant species such as pine or larch.

Trees. If trees have just a few branches within 10-15 feet of each other, prune them back. If adjacent trees have many branches crowding together, it may be time to thin out a few more trees. This also will improve the health of the remaining trees. Prune dead branches as needed. Cut seedlings periodically after they emerge in the understory. For trees you are keeping, be sure to water them directly and deeply – lawn watering does not usually penetrate the sod to the tree roots. Insects and disease also should be monitored and controlled as necessary.

Shrubs. There are a variety of control options for shrubs that you do not want to keep as part of the landscape.

Mechanical control. Cutting shrubs off at the base can reduce fuel hazard. Many native shrubs will re-sprout vigorously from latent buds in the root crown – an adaptation to top removal by fire especially on stems smaller than two inches thick. Repeated trimming is usually necessary to maintain reduced fire risk. Mid-summer is the best time to do this.
A variety of tools can be used for mechanical control, ranging from loppers and pruning shears on smaller jobs, to chainsaws or clearing saws for multiple stems or stems larger than one inch. For smaller diameter stems, brush mowers, brush hogs or similar devices may be used. Regardless of the tools used, take proper safety precautions (e.g., protective eyewear, chaps for chainsaw use, etc.).

Mulch. Mulch can help suppress understory plants, but remember, bark, wood chips and other organic materials will burn - keep them away from the base of structures. Use rock or other non-flammable material instead. Do not make the mulch deeper than one inch to avoid interference with root activity and tree health.

Livestock. Sheep or goats also may help maintain brush at a low level. Time grazing to late spring or early summer (not early spring) to minimize soil impacts. Later grazing also reduces plants’ ability to regenerate because of drier soils.

Herbicides. Several herbicide brands are sold to kill brush. Brush control herbicides available in local home and garden stores frequently include triclopyr (e.g., Blackberry and Brush Killer®, Brush-B-Gon®) or glyphosate (e.g., Round-up®). Brush control herbicides targeted to larger forest owners or commercial contractors for forest use are often packaged in larger containers and may have to be specially ordered. These herbicides include: imazpyr (e.g., Arsenal®), glyphosate (e.g., Accord®), 2,4-D, triclopyr (e.g., Garlon®), picloram (e.g., Tordon®), dicamba (Banvel® or Clarity®), or combinations of these (e.g., 2,4-D and triclopyr in Crossbow®). Some of these herbicides have specific state regulations such as requiring an applicator’s license or restrictions on how close they can be applied to a home or stream. The herbicide labels will list plants controlled by the herbicide. Regardless of the herbicide, always read and precisely follow the label recommendations before purchasing and using it. For current recommendations for specific brush species, call your local Extension Office or consult the Pacific Northwest Weed Management Handbook, available online at: http://pnwpest.org/pnw/weeds.

Herbicides control brush species efficiently, and if label directions are followed, the effects on other forest values, beyond removing the brush, are negligible. There are many methods of killing brush with herbicides, but the most common for landscape maintenance are stump treatments, basal bark treatments and foliage treatments.

Stump treatments. You can effectively reduce sprouting by immediately (within an hour) applying a very small amount of undiluted herbicide to the perimeter of freshly cut stump surfaces. Immediate application is important; otherwise the plant quickly develops a protective wax layer over the wound.
Basal bark treatments. Some herbicides can be applied directly to the stems at the base of the plant. These applications usually require a specific additive, described on the herbicide label. They may be applied either during the growing season or dormant season. For example, both Banvel® and Forestry Garlon 4® are labeled for use as dormant stem treatments for small diameter brush. Brush will still have to be cut and removed after killing it to remove fuel.
Foliar treatments. Foliar sprays involve treating the whole plant after it is fully leafed out. Timing varies according to the herbicide used and it is important to make sure the herbicide is moved by the plant into the roots to minimize re-sprouting. Avoid applying the herbicide until the spray drips off the plant, since this indicates you are applying more herbicide than necessary. Again, brush will still have to be cut and removed after killing it to remove fuel.

Source:
Barkley, Yvonne C. "Protecting and Landscaping Homes in the Wildland/Urban Interface."