What is Marin Wildfire's Approach to Vegetation Management?
Marin Wildfire takes a house-out approach to risk reduction. This work includes home hardening and defensible space inspections; projects, programs, and grants to help residents harden homes and create defensible space; evacuation and alert planning; and public education. One other tool available for reducing wildfire risk is vegetation management in key locations to reduce unnatural levels of fuel loading. A century of wildfire suppression activities, elimination of frequent and low intensity fire (outlawing cultural burning as a traditional Indigenous practice), expansion of human settlement, introduction of non-native invasive plants, and climate change have altered the vegetation in our region.
"The removal of natural fire from an ecosystem can lead to excess fuel buildup and changes in vegetation composition, which can increase the risk of uncharacteristically large high-severity fires," according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Vegetation management can provide both ecological benefits and play a crucial role in creating more wildfire-adapted communities and landscapes. Marin Wildfire and its Member Agencies work with environmental partners, land management agencies, wildlife biologists, botanists, geologists, archaeologists, Tribal representatives, residents, and many others to do just that.
Vegetation management projects are designed and implemented according to a set of best management practices developed through collaboration with environmental partners (Ecologically Sound Practices Partnership) in 2021. These are updated periodically. The most recent version of these Project Design and Implementation Features (or PDIFs) is available HERE.
Flyer: "What is Vegetation Management?"
Frequently Asked Questions: "Vegetation Management"
Story Map: "Reducing Wildfire Risk with Vegetation Management"
What Kind of Work is Typical of a Vegetation Management Project?
In a nutshell, we "keep the trees and pull the weeds."
More specifically, this means most work is done using small crews on foot carrying hand tools and consists of some or all of the following activities:
- removal of much of the accumulated dead and down woody material (while leaving some for wildlife habitat such as "snags" that don't pose a hazard to nearby homes);
- removal of nonnative, invasive, fire hazardous vegetation (particularly French broom and other broom species as well as gorse);
- pruning the lower branches of trees; and
- thinning of fire hazardous native vegetation (such as small diameter tightly packed trees or diseased trees) where necessary.
Removal of large, healthy, native trees is not the focus of these projects.
How is This Different From Logging?
A logging operation would prioritize larger, more mature trees with economic value for removal. Wildfire resilience work, in contrast, leaves the large, healthy, mature trees in place and targets non-native shrubs, dead and down material, and diseased/hazard trees instead so that the larger trees can continue to grow. The material removed during wildfire resilience work has little to no economic value currently.
How Wide are Shaded Fuel Breaks?
The width of linear fuel breaks may vary from 10 ft to 200 ft or even up to 300 ft in some locations depending on topography, vegetation type, and infrastructure nearby. In steeper areas, flame lengths and fire behavior may pose more of a risk to uphill homes, roadways, or other infrastructure thus necessitating a wider project area. The width of every approved vegetation management project is specified in its environmental compliance document. Generally, the further from homes the work occurs, the lighter the touch of the project activities.
How is Vegetation Removed?
Most work is done by hand using hand tools by crews on foot but some include mechanical equipment (such as mowers), prescribed herbivory (generally goat grazing), prescribed fire (including pile burning and broadcast burning), targeted herbicide use (such as painting onto cut eucalyptus or broom stumps) or other fuel management techniques as appropriate.
How Does Vegetation Management Help Reduce Risk?
CLICK HERE for a short video explaining how vegetation management alters wildfire behavior and reduces flame length, rate of spread, ember production, and intensity/severity.
CLICK HERE to see recent case studies from CAL FIRE describing how vegetation management projects helped during recent fire suppression efforts.
CLICK HERE to see a description from the US Forest Service describing how vegetation management projects helped drastically reduce flame length and save homes during the 2021 Caldor Fire.
CLICK HERE for more resources on the science behind our work.
What Vegetation Management Activities are Marin Wildfire and its Member Agencies Doing?
CLICK HERE to view an interactive dashboard showing progress that Measure C funded vegetation management projects are making to reduce wildfire risk.
CLICK HERE to view a general map of approved vegetation management projects funded by Measure C including brief project descriptions and photos.
CLICK HERE to see photos of a typical shaded fuel break in which dense stands of nonnative invasive French broom are removed from the understory and native plants and trees remain.
CLICK HERE to read more about French broom and why removing it improves habitat and reduces fire risk.
CLICK HERE to learn about how you can help maintain treated areas on your property.
Continue reading below for more information on the types of vegetation management activities that are taking place and links to project webpages for additional details.
Projects and programs are designed to reduce hazards and achieve measurable fuel reduction as outlined in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and Marin Wildfire's Board-approved Goals, Objectives, and Strategic Measures. Projects are also identified in Marin Wildfire's annual Work Plans.
Vegetation management projects vary depending on fire risk, proximity to communities and roads, vegetation type, topography, land management agency stewardship goals, potential for sensitive resources to be onsite, and other factors. Member agencies, Marin Wildfire staff, and project partners work together to fine tune projects and determine the best approach.
The projects featured on the Marin Wildfire website are cross-jurisdictional projects known as "Core Projects" (60% of Marin Wildfire's budget) as well as Defensible Space and Home Hardening projects (20% of Marin Wildfire's budget). The remaining 20% of the budget goes to member agencies for Local Wildfire Prevention Mitigation projects (20% of Marin Wildfire's budget). See member agency websites or Marin Wildfire's annual Work Plans for specific project details for Local projects. In addition to project planning and environmental compliance, Marin Wildfire also helps fund positions and equipment to implement these projects and modeling and data collection to track projects and measure their effectiveness.
Mowing or weed whipping non-native, annual grasses along the edges of communities reduces the likelihood that wildfire would enter the adjacent community from the wildlands or enter the wildlands from an adjacent home.
Pile burning requires careful planning, including coordination with the local air district, but can be a safe and effective way to address excess biomass.
