Plan Proposes Changes in Fire Fuel Breaks in Calif. Area

July 17--A vegetation management plan that poses changes in traditional fire fuel break practices to protect natural habitat on 16,000 acres of county open space won praise at its first public airing Tuesday.

The draft biodiversity and vegetation management plan by May & Associates Inc. of San Francisco, which indicates 70 additional miles of fuel breaks as envisioned by the county's 2008 fire management program may be unnecessary for fire safety, was hailed by environmental, plant and park advocates.

Parks officials and a county consulting team appeared at the session, a joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the Parks and Open Space Commission, to outline the wide-ranging program, for which fire safety is but one aspect. The plan summarizes a wealth of information, sets up habitat management zones and provides a best-practices decision-making matrix.

It also puts parks officials in the lead when making decisions about projects, disrupting land or other action on open space lands, although all involved asserted the program is proceeding in close collaboration with county fire officials. "We're the lead agency since we are the landowner," said parks planning chief Elise Holland.

"I want to reassure the public we are in partnership here," Fire Chief Jason Weber said in brief commentary. "By no means is wildland fire protection going to be sacrificed."

Instead of ridgetop fire breaks, the plan emphasizes creation of defensiblespace zones around homes. An existing county firebreak plan would result in a "10-fold increase in direct loss of native vegetation (and) open new areas to invasion by non-native species, whose seeds could disperse from 70 miles along ridgetops to the slopes below," the plan says.

Consultant Loran May, a noted botanist, was paid $389,000 for the report. Along with associated consultant work and environmental review expense, the vegetation plan cost more than $630,000. A companion $500,000 roads and trails plan is in the works as well.

Several supervisors, saying fire safety must be key, indicated that the decision-making process about which projects proceed on district lands should allow for public participation in priority setting.

"How high up the (priority) list is public safety?" Supervisor Susan Adams said. Supervisor Steve Kinsey called for an "opportunity for open space users" to chime in on what happens on the land, and wondered if there was an "emerging consensus" in the fire service on wildland strategies.

Supervisor Kate Sears called the plan "great in theory" but added it needs a "road test" to "fine tune how it's going to work." Parks commissioner Greg Zitney expressed a similar concern, saying a "real example" of how the plan will work is needed, and parks chief Linda Dahl said the staff is working with a committee of fire chiefs to test the plan on two current scenarios.

"The plan is really very impressive," said parks commissioner Charles Higgins. "Great job," said commissioner Grant Olson. The plan also won praise from Nona Dennis of the Marin Conservation League, other environmentalists and a representative of the Native Plant Society.

But the plan aimed at protecting habitat has drawn private criticism from some fire officials, as well as a public blast from former assistant county chief Jim Selfridge. Critics believe that traditional firebreaks protect property and people, including firefighters, and that the plan poses political peril. Dahl dismissed Selfridge's criticism, saying that "public safety predominates" and adding the program has been "portrayed in a way that's misleading ... as a fire plan."

The plan provides an extensive review of science, literature and other studies on open space management, proposes vegetation management zones and outlines best management practices. It calls for an ambitious program involving more data collection, work projects, monitoring, restoration and additional studies.

Construction of fuel breaks should be minimized because they provide "limited effectiveness" against wildland fires, and "primarily serve to facilitate fire management activities by aiding firefighter access," according to the plan.

"The establishment of defensible space zones along the wildland-urban interface is the most effective approach to reducing fire risk, as opposed to the construction of primary or secondary fuel breaks," the plans reports. Thus, Marin "is shifting its fuel reduction strategy away from classic fuel management."

Residents may view and comment on the draft plan on the parks page of the county website at www.marincounty.org. A final document will be developed, fine tuned by officials and eventually undergo environmental review.

Contact Nels Johnson via email at [email protected]. Follow him at twitter.com/nelsjohnsonnews

Copyright 2013 - The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.