Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Forest Thinning to Stop Wildfires as Strong as Weakest Link
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 13, 2019

Share

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS — Buzzing chainsaws are interrupted by the frequent crash of breaking branches as crews fell towering trees and clear tangled brush in the densely forested Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco.
Their goal: To protect communities such as Redwood Estates, where giant redwoods loom over the houses of tech workers who live in the wooded community just 20 miles from the heart of Silicon Valley. With California’s increasingly warm, dry and overgrown landscape, wildfire has become a perpetual danger.
Among the most important tools the state has against fires is to mimic their effects: thinning trees and brush by hand to reduce the amount of vegetation that would become fuel in a fire, and using controlled burns to keep undergrowth and shrub lands in check.
State lawmakers committed more than $200 million annually to fire prevention efforts and Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend even more, motivated by infernos such as one last year that killed 85 people in the town of Paradise, some who died in their cars while trying to flee.
Yet officials say efforts to make areas such as this road corridor in Northern California more fire safe are undercut by property owners who refuse to let fire crews work on their property. Offered the choice between clearing vegetation-choked areas or retaining greenery that acts as a shield against the din of the nearby highway, a small minority opted for privacy over safety or said they’d do the work themselves.
That means patches of low-lying shrubs and some thickets of trees will remain when the job wraps up next year. As a result, future fires will retain potential avenues to spread into residential areas and threaten people and property.

Photo of an employee loading eucalyptus logs onto a truck
An employee of ArborWorks loads eucalyptus logs onto a truck after a stand of the highly-flammable trees was removed as part of wildfire prevention efforts on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, near Holy City, Calif. Climate change and decades of lax land management practices put the U.S. West on a collision course with out-of-control wildfires. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

California Is Now Nearly 3 Degrees Warmer Than in 1990 Due to Climate Change

“It’s a chink in the armor,” said Ed Orre, division chief with Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting and fire prevention agency. “If that property catches fire, then you get a chain-reaction, domino effect… It compromises the effectiveness of the entire project.”

“It’s a chink in the armor. If that property catches fire, then you get a chain-reaction, domino effect… It compromises the effectiveness of the entire project.” — Ed Orre, division chief with Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting and fire prevention agency
Climate change and decades of lax land management practices put the U.S. West on a collision course with out-of-control wildfires, and authorities are now rushing to limit the potential damage from blazes that threaten year-round.
Since 1970, the amount of land burned each year in California has increased five-fold. Across the 11 western states, acreage burned annually has doubled since 1984. Over the past three years, fires have killed 149 people and destroyed almost 25,000 homes across the state.
California is now nearly 3 degrees warmer than in 1990 due to climate change, with hotter temperatures during the Golden State’s long dry season removing moisture from plants and soils, said Park Williams, a climate scientist at Columbia University.
“I see the recent wildfires as a tidal wave — it’s going to be very hard to stop that,” Williams said.
Rapid residential development in recent decades boosted populations in high-risk areas. Almost 2 million homes are in flammable areas in western states, said Jennifer Balch, a fire expert at the University of Colorado.

Many of the Community’s Original Cabins Are Gone

Some common but non-native plants — including eucalyptus trees, cheatgrass and pernicious shrubs such as French and Scotch broom — burn more readily than native species.
Although it’s not feasible to manually thin all the forests and shrub land in California, targeted efforts to remove flammable vegetation in areas of high human activity can effectively reduce the chance of major fires.
“If we’re going to do field treatment, we have to do it where it matters most — where people live and work,” Balch said.
The changes in climate and development are on display Redwood Estates, which was conceived in the 1920s as a vacation community, an escape from the city where families could weekend in small cabins in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
promotional film from the community’s early days reveals that much of the surroundings were once bare of trees, due to logging and the use of the land for ranching and vineyards.
Today those same views are largely blocked by thick stands of redwoods, oak and eucalyptus.
Many of the community’s original cabins are gone, replaced by larger single-family homes that in some cases push right up to the property line. That leaves little space between houses and the forest, meaning embers could easily leap from house to house in a fire.
Much of the surrounding land is also private, and real estate development grew unchecked for much of the past century. The area has a long history of large wildfires, yet the land on which Redwood Estates sits has not burned since the 1800s, said Jeff Bates, a lifelong resident of and manager for the local homeowners association.

Photo of a biologist marking up a tree stump
Biologist Jessica Gonzalez marks a tree stump where a San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat was found after workers cut down the tree as part of fire prevention efforts along a crowded highway corridor on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, near Redwood Estates, Calif. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Managing the Risk of Wildfires Isn’t Only the Job of Firefighters

Route 17, which gets about 80,000 vehicles daily and is flanked by hundreds of homes, is the only direct way into or out of the area. Given the highway’s high traffic volume and frequent backups, a quick escape from an approaching fire is unlikely. Bates said a county emergency official told him that in the event of a major fire, “You folks are on your own.”

The most important prevention strategy is education — teaching people about what starts accidental fires, and how to minimize them. They recommend avoiding highly flammable materials for roofs and decks, and not planting fire-prone non-native species.
“They won’t be able to get here — and we won’t be able to leave,” Bates said.
While lightning strikes can start wildfires, today more than 95% in California are started by people — mostly accidentally. Fires are sparked by downed power lines, campfires, mechanical equipment such as chainsaws, and even hot vehicle exhaust pipes touching dry grass.
Managing the risk of wildfires isn’t only the job of firefighters, say experts.
The most important prevention strategy is education — teaching people about what starts accidental fires, and how to minimize them. They recommend avoiding highly flammable materials for roofs and decks, and not planting fire-prone non-native species.
Yet these steps won’t entirely keep the flames away.
“California is in the fire sweet spot,” said Williams, the climate scientist. “Some big fires are probably inevitable.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley, Evacuation Warning Issued

DON'T MISS

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

DON'T MISS

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

DON'T MISS

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

DON'T MISS

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

DON'T MISS

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

DON'T MISS

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

DON'T MISS

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

UP NEXT

Trans Athlete in Political Storm Earns, and Shares, First Place in Event

UP NEXT

California Plans to Ban Most Plants Within 5 Feet of Homes for Wildfire Safety

UP NEXT

American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

UP NEXT

How Gentrification Is Killing the Bus: California’s Rising Rents Are Pushing Out Commuters

UP NEXT

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

UP NEXT

Medicaid Work Rules Could Leave a Million Californians With No Health Insurance

UP NEXT

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

2 hours ago

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

2 hours ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

2 hours ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

3 hours ago

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

3 hours ago

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

3 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

4 hours ago

Mattel Is Combining Film and Television Units to Create Mattel Studios

4 hours ago

Campbell’s Co. Says Sales Rise as More Americans Cook at Home

4 hours ago

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

HOUSTON — Jonathan Joss, a voice actor best known for his work on the animated television series “King of the Hill,” was fatally shot near h...

55 minutes ago

Photo of caution tape
55 minutes ago

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

Fresno County fire crews are battling a wildland blaze in Yokuts Valley near Rector Lane, where the RECTOR incident has burned 10 acres with the potential to spread to 100 on Monday, June 2, 2025. (CalFire)
1 hour ago

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley, Evacuation Warning Issued

2 hours ago

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

Photo of a laptop with a Department of Justice logo on the screens
2 hours ago

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

2 hours ago

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

2 hours ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

3 hours ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

Stephanie Marie Zamarripa is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for June 2, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend