Marin Conservation League

Parks and Open Space Committee

3:00 – 5:00 pm
In-person/Zoom hybrid

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pcOmgrD4vG9XtnkUk-dxDuEZFSvAuGyhD

May 14- Ancient fire, modern science: managing Marin’s open spaces

Sometimes the lessons of history are the best guide for actions in the future. That is certainly the case when it comes to the ways humans have used fire to steward

the landscape for thousands of years, and in the process helped shape some of our vegetation communities. The overarching theme of the May 14th meeting reflects exactly this: the blending of ancient indigenous knowledge of fire as a tool with contemporary resources like the Regional Forest Health Strategy to guide vegetation management across Marin County’s 34 Open Space Preserves.

This is not a new subject for MCL’s Parks & Open Space Committee, nor a new practice for Marin County Parks, which has long conducted pile burning and planned burns. But the challenge remains immense: protecting the ecological integrity and biodiversity of the preserves from high-intensity fire while simultaneously reducing wildfire threats to the 3,500 neighbors whose homes lie at the wildland-urban interface.

Three members of County Parks’ vegetation management team will bring different perspectives to this task. Julian Geoghegan will explore the history of indigenous prescribed fire, or “good fire,” and what it tells us about realistic, desirable outcomes for vegetation management. Luke Bishop will focus on defensible space tools at the wildland-urban interface, where human lives and structures face the greatest risk. Sarah Minnick will recount how the County’s natural resource science capabilities have evolved from a single individual into a coordinated team of experts protecting and restoring ecological function and biodiversity across the preserves. Jon Campo will introduce the topic and moderate discussion.

The meeting will also feature an update from Bree Hardcastle, Senior Environmental Scientist with California State Parks, on two significant Marin projects. The Redwood Creek Habitat Enhancement Project in Mount Tamalpais State Park has recently received major funding, advancing habitat restoration along 1.3 miles of Redwood Creek in support of threatened coho salmon, steelhead, and threatened red-legged frog. The Tomales Bay State Park Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project continues to move forward, using vegetation treatments over a ten-year period to reduce fire fuels, restore Bishop Pine forest health, and enhance degraded habitats throughout the park.

Please register above: we hope you will join us!