Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association
Harnessing Fire to Manage California’s Forests
by Michael Jones, PhD
On a warm sunny day in February of last year, I joined a small group of property owners and community members that had gathered to help a landowner manage a thicket of Himalayan blackberry. The thorny branches were choking out native oaks and riparian vegetation along a small drainage. We set fire to the thicket using a drip torch and watched as 15-foot flames shot out, listening to the hiss and crackle as the fire spread through the thick vegetation. This was the first prescribed burn of the Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association (PBA).
Fire is an important natural disturbance that has shaped the flora and fauna of California. Periodic fires—naturally ignited or intentionally burned by Native Americans—helped maintain the structure, composition, and health of many of California’s ecosystems for thousands of years. But with European settlement, traditional use of prescribed fire ceased and, with the advent of the fire suppression era, there was even an attempt to control naturally ignited wildfires. But 100 years of fire suppression has increased a build-up of vegetation and reduced the health of our ecosystems.
With seemingly more destructive wildfires occurring in recent years, what fire ecologists and Native Americans had been saying all along was finally recognized: fire is an inevitable and important part of the California ecosystem. And prescribed fire is an incredibly powerful tool that can help us sustainably manage our forests and natural resources and prepare for future wildfires.
Prescribed fire is the use of fire under predetermined conditions to achieve specific objectives. It can be integrated with other management activities to help reduce wildfire hazards around communities, manage fuels, restore ecosystem health after a century of fire suppression, decrease vegetation, enhance wildlife habitat, improve rangeland, and manage forests.
In the 1980s, Cal Fire initiated the Vegetation Management Program, an attempt by the agency to expand the use of prescribed burns on private lands. The program was initially very successful, with thousands of acres burned every year, but changes in funding caused the program to wane. While the program has since been re-worked, there was still a need for other options that could help private landowners and managers use prescribed fire.
In 2018, my colleagues from U.C. Cooperative Extension Humboldt—Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Advisor, and Jeff Stackhouse, Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor—introduced the concept of the Prescribed Burn Association to California, with the formation of the Humboldt County PBA, the first PBA in the west.
A PBA is a loosely organized group of community members working together to pool resources, knowledge, and experience to safely use prescribed fire as a management tool. This model had been successfully used in other parts of the country for many years, but under the West’s culture of fire suppression, it was assumed that only fire professionals should use fire as a tool. The introduction of this collaborative model has started to change that perception and is empowering California landowners and managers to bring fire back to the land.
By 2019, the success of our neighbors in Humboldt was well known in Mendocino County, and the local community was enthusiastic about developing a PBA. Our diverse habitats, ranging from coastal prairie/scrub, bishop pine forests, redwood and Douglas-fir forests, oak woodlands, to chaparral, are all fire adapted. It only seemed appropriate that we should build capacity for using prescribed fire to help manage them. So, following in my colleagues’ footsteps (and essentially copying everything they did), I pulled a group of active and engaged community members together, formed a steering committee, and initiated the Mendocino County PBA.
We have grown to over 100 members including property owners, land managers, Native American communities, ranchers, foresters, non-profit organizations, volunteer and professional fire fighters, retired fire fighters, county government, and other community members. We conducted several burns, including a 100-acre cooperative burn in chaparral and oak woodlands with the Sonoma County PBA, Good Fire Alliance. We also hosted a virtual Prescribed Burning 101 workshop that was attended by more than 100 people from throughout California.
As a new group, we are still growing and finding our footing (the COVID-19 pandemic certainly has not helped in that process). Our goal is to continue expanding our capacity to provide training, equipment, and labor, and to share experiences and knowledge that help the community safely use fire.
The amazing thing about being a part of the PBA community is the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and training with fire. For some in the community, their only prior experience with fire is the images they see of catastrophic wildfire and the sensational stories they hear about fires that destroyed forests, burned down homes, or, in the worst-case scenario, resulted in lives lost. So it is rather awesome to put a drip torch in somebody’s hand for the first time and have them put fire on the ground and realize that it’s different than the fire they have seen in the news. They see how prescribed fire can be used in a way that is safe and, perhaps, even fun.
There are no requirements to join the Mendocino County PBA. We welcome anyone from the community who is interested in using prescribed fire as a management tool or helping others implement prescribed fire. We do not require members to have any prior experience with prescribed fire, nor do we require members to own specialized fire equipment. Most of the time, the minimum required personal protective equipment is good boots, natural fiber long-sleeves and pants or Nomex, leather gloves, eye protection, and headwear. Most importantly, we conclude every burn with food and drink—enjoying the community we work so hard to protect.
To join or learn more about the Mendocino County PBA, e-mail mendopba@gmail.com. To learn more about prescribed burning in Mendocino County check out http://cemendocino.ucanr.edu/FireResources/PrescribedFire. To learn more about PBAs in California and the prescribed fire process, check out www.calpba.org.
Michael Jones is the U.C. Cooperative Extension Forest Advisor for Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties. He is an entomologist by training and specializes in integrated management of forest pests. He also chairs the Mendocino County PBA.
To join or learn more about the Mendocino County PBA, e-mail mendopba@gmail.com. To learn more about prescribed burning in Mendocino County check out http://cemendocino.ucanr.edu/FireResources/PrescribedFire. To learn more about PBAs in California and the prescribed fire process, check out www.calpba.org.
Michael Jones is the U.C. Cooperative Extension Forest Advisor for Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties. He is an entomologist by training and specializes in integrated management of forest pests. He also chairs the Mendocino County PBA.
