Trinity Community Protection and Landscape Resilience Project

Trinity Community Protection and Landscape Resilience Project

The Wateshed Research and Training Center (WRTC), plans to implement fuels reduction and prescribed burning activities on the Tule Creek Ranch. The Tule Creek Ranch is a 420-acre contiguous-private land ownership, that is an integral part of the Watershed Research and Training Center's (WRTC) landscape strategy aimed at protecting the community ofHayfork from future catastrophic wildfire events. Hazardous fuel reduction and prescribed fire is the primary treatment proposed throughout the project area. Pre-burn fuel treatments that help to minimize fire intensities, especially adjacent to habitable structures and critical infrastructure, will occur where necessary on the property. Pre-fire treatments include handline construction, and fuels reduction in the form of hand thinning (with chainsaws) to remove suppressed trees (less than 10" DBH) and brush/shrubs in strategic locations to reduce fire intensities and protect residual trees. All species will be thinned, and the residual materials will be treated by piling and burning, chipping, and/or lop and scatter. All prescribed burning will be completed under a prescribed fire burn plan approved by the State Fire Management Officer. An approved prescribed fire plan is already in place for the property and burn units are subdivided by natural features on the landscape (roads, watercourses, etc.) to facilitate control efforts and manage smoke impacts based on burn day smoke dispersion. Broadcast burning will be implemented during appropriate environmental conditions that will allow us to meet our resource objectives as per the prescribed fire burn plan. Burns will be conducted using hand ignition and other standard prescribed fire methods. Burn prescriptions would aim to reduce surface fuel loading 25-85% and understory woody vegetative cover by 15-65% from pre-burn levels. Our prescribed fire objectives include; reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, stimulating the growth of woody shrubs, oaks, and conifers, increasing water yields, meadow and oak restoration, encouraging the return of native grasses by reducing non-natives invasive plants, reducing conifer encroachment into the oak woodland and grassland areas.

Hayfork

Trinity