1. Four Corners Pines

Four Corners Pines Removal
Funded by: Sacramento Regional Foundation, Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grants Program
Project Manager - Kent Julin, Ph.D. , Marin County Fire Department & FIRESafe Marin.

The Four Corners Pines Project was funded by the US Department of the Interior under its Wildland-Urban Interface Program ($30,000). Craven Logging Company (South Lake Tahoe) cleared approximately 2 acres of Monterey Pines and black acacia. Pine logs were transported to the Agwood Mill in Sebastopol and cut into sticker boards—used to separate drying lumber. Branches and gnarled logs were chipped onsite and transported to Santa Rosa for composting. This work was coordinated by FireSafe Marin and is part of State Park’s ongoing effort to control non-native-invasive plants and maintain a fuel break between its lands and Mill Valley.

2. Kent Woodlands/Indian Fire Road

Indian Fire Road Fuel Break
Task Agreement #513
Cooperative Agreement between Golden Gate National Recreation Area and FIRESafe Marin, Inc
Project Manager - Kent Julin, PhD, Marin County Fire Department.

The purpose of this project is to implement a fuel reduction program to help create defensible spaces around homes, community easements, and to provide for preventative maintenance by fuel reduction, and to stop the spread of fire between the community, state and federal lands.

Community Description

Kent Woodlands is in a residential development of nearly 800 homes bordering publicly managed open space in south central Marin County. Numerous narrow winding roadways provide access to the neighborhood, making access difficult for fire apparatus and evacuating residents. Topography ranges from relatively flat to very steep along the upper roads and ridges.

Hazard Description

Twenty acres of dense, decadent chamise averaging 8 feet in height.

Project Summary

A fuel break will be created by cutting, piling and burning a 20-acre field of chamise.

A fuel break in this area will slow the advance of a wildfire and enable suppression crews to stop the fire before it reaches the developed area in Kent Woodlands.

3. Muir Meadows Fuel Breaks/Fire Road

Muir Meadows
Task Agreement #505
Cooperative Agreement between Golden Gate National Recreation Area and FIRESafe Marin, Inc
Project Manager - Mike Stone, Southern Marin Fire Protection District

The purpose of this project is to implement a fuel reduction program to help create defensible spaces around homes, community easements, and to provide for preventative maintenance by fuel reduction, and to stop the spread of fire between the community, state and federal lands.

Community Description

Muir Meadows is an unincorporated area located between the western most border of Tamalpais Valley in Mill Valley and the Golden Gate National recreation area. Muir Meadows is a bedroom community with approximately 400 homes and covers an area of approximately one and half-square miles.

Hazard Description

The area has an extreme vegetation overgrowth problem of French and Scotch broom and areas of tall grass and a large number of eucalyptus trees.

Project Description

Create a defensible space between residents and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Brush and grass removal on the entire border between Muir Meadows and the Golden Gate national Recreation Area. Tree thinning and removal from Erica Road and Trillium Lane.

4. Ralston White Fuel Management Zone

Ralston White Fuel Management Zone
Task Agreement #512
Cooperative Agreement Between Golden Gate National Recreation Area and FIRESafe Marin, Inc.
Project Manager - Kent Julin, Ph.D. Marin County Fire Department

The purpose of this project is to implement a fuel reduction program to help create defensible spaces around homes, community easements, and to provide for preventative maintenance by fuel reduction, and to stop the spread of fire between the community, state and federal lands.

Community Description

Mill Valley is a suburban neighborhood in southeastern Marin County that stretches from Richardson Bay to the lower slopes of Mount Tamalpais. Nearly 13,600 people inhabit this community. It is along these slopes where narrow winding roads lead to homes surrounded by highly flammable, overgrown vegetation.

Hazard Description

A mix of evergreen forest and chaparral define the plant communites in this area. It has been more than 70 years since the last major fire touched this area. If this same fire were to burn within a similar footprint, nearly 850 homes and inhabitants would be affected.

Scope of the project

This project would createa fuels management zone along a key section of the wildland-urban interface. The work would be performed on a 42 acre property managed by a private trust for educational and spiritual work.

Project Description

A fuel management zone would be created by:

• Clearing along principal access routes
• Thinning overstocked stands of trees
• Pruning low tree branches
• Collecting, piling, and burning accumulated down, woody material
• Treating chaparral to reduce fuel loading
• Cutting and burning trees and shrubs affected by sudden oak death
• Purchase a chipper for long term maintenance
  

For more information on fire fuel reduction projects in your city, click to : Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area.