Meetings/20191009

Wednesday October 9 2019 Fire Safe San Mateo County

Big meeting!

power outage planning

• chain of communication on PG&E shut downs: PG&E -> OES -> Counties & Communities
• phased shutdown.
• the big tunnels on 1 now have emergency power, and will be open.
• OES/PGE status calls: 12:30, 4:30, 7:30.
• fire pumping stations in populated areas / Bayside have generators. Not so much Coastside

Prescribed Burns in Santa Cruz

the foresters / ecologists in State Park div do prescribed burns and wildfire engineering.

• this is the most bioderverse region in California
• too many Fir trees.
• the coastal prarire is going away. why?> no fire.
• California is a fire ecology
• Whitehouse Meadow
  • acquired a while ago, but protected / neglected for years
  • regular series of fires digs show going back thousands of years
  • under State ownership burned about every other year for 25 years
  • one of the best examples of this ecology
• burns
  • ideal situation - little rain, a dryout and then ok for a good burn.
  • Redwood edges the canopy is opening up and drying out. Tricky to start up a prescribed burn. too many invasive species not burned out.
  • post fire assessments of invasive plant grown is done.
  • burns are good to keep the invasive forest at bay. the old forest doesn't care.
• Understanding burns in Big Basin
  • desired and tricky to do
  • 4-6 weeks needed to dry out.
  • can burn for months afterword. expensive to monitor. schedule very difficult to manage.
  • result: not enough burns in Big Basin
• the high chaparral in Big Basin
  • FIRE BOMB!
  • 60-80 year big burn cycle natural
  • local fauna evolved to live in the resulting sandy soil.
  • local flora evolved to germinate by burns.
  • no burns, too much mulch provides beds for opportunistic invasive plants.
• Rigelines
  • 100' fire blocks are planned along strategic riges
  • examples up in Cowell State Park
  • blocks are burnt out after cut brush and soil dries enough
    • CalFire eager to burn as soon as brush is dry, the soil and native critter health isn't their hoe to row
    • negotiatinos between State parks and CalFire on when to fire up the blocks.
• Troubles
  • shrinking environmental windows for safe burns
    • wind, smoke fire
  • urban sprawl
  • $ for managing burns, no $ for planning the burns. !!
  • emerging public plea for double benifits - Fuel Reduction & ecosystem revival
• MidPen Conservation Org
  • stopped burns due to public pressure
  • mechanical 'destruction' of brush; mostly fuel reduction not addressing soil build-up
• Lots of negotiation with Air Quality Board in Sacramento. They are relaxing their sidelines, which is an unfort necess.
• CalFire itself needs wo work with large land owners; they are the only ones who's scale of land and resources lends itself to proper procedures. Otherwise way too much overhead for individual small lot owner negotiations.
  • CalFire has taken 3 years in one local area to coordinate permissions for fuel reduction, only to have it fail due to changing permission grants. ( new owners, etc )

CalFire Grant Discussion

Prep for next month meeting

• 35 Million State Wide
• slit amoung the fire districts, almost only 1 per district.
  • let's not reduce our chances here in San Mateo / Santa Cruz district; stick together!
• 5 Million 'forest health grants'
  • Fire Prevention Grants are more for Fire Safe Council to pull off, not local CalFire.
• costs are 650K for 182 acres
• 3-11K/acre is equipment only

current projects

• 84 ares masticated in Kings Mountain.
• also tree removal ( go down Kings Mountain road and see, amazing )
• Coyote Park 50 acres mastication and edge cleanup (?)
• Measure K Chipper Programs ( San Mateo Infrsstructure improvment stuff )
  • Huddart Park about 700 homes (?)
  • possible 2 days full work in Devonsihre Canyon ( san carlos / belmont )
  • finished up project in Palomar Park about 300 homes
  • San Mateo money is spent. However green house gas reduction funds are starting to pipe in
• Regional Joint Powers Agency (JPA)
  • San Mateo / Peninula gruops are forming a sales-tax supported JPA for a regional wildfire protection agency
    • easier to get grants etc
  • modeled on Marin JPA
  • curretntly san mateo county is amazingly disorganized; all cities are doing different things, and their various unincorporated areas are further out of wack.
  • this FireSafe Council is the only county wide clearing house for issues and procedures
• WEbsite
  • website review and clean up coming up.
• something about 'Santa Cruz Mountain Stewards' organization. my notes are unclear