At San Luis Obispo on the central coast of California we met with Dr Chris Dicus who teaches Wildland Fire and Fuels Management at Cal Poly (California Polytechnic State University). Chris arranged to take us on a field inspection with Dan Turner, Executive Director of the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute at Cal Poly, Battalion Captain, Phill Veneris and Unit Forester, Alan Peters of San Luis Obispo County CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who provide fire and emergency services to the state of California). We visited the Irish Hills south of the small town of Los Osos where CAL FIRE are implementing a hazard reduction program on a mountainous land unit of about 60,000 acres (24,000 ha) consisting of private and public lands.
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| Dr Chris Dicus, Alan Peters me & Phill Veneris at the Irish Hills |
A critical landholder in the Irish Hills is the Pacific Gas and Electric Company whose major asset on the spectacular coastline is the Diabolo Canyon Power Plant, a nuclear power plant that has the capacity to provide around 10% of California’s power needs. Controversially the nuclear plant began construction in 1968 on a geological fault line and was ultimately engineered to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
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| Diabolo Power Plant |
The Irish Hills have a rich history of use, including by Native Americans who are believed to have regularly burned the area however regular firing is believed to have all but ceased after the Spaniards and subsequently Americans settled the area.
In more recent times, fire records indicate little or no fire in the area, resulting in the climax of vegetation communities present in the Irish Hills including the serotinous* conifer, Bishop pine. (*A seed case that requires heat from a fire to open and release the seed.)
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| The mountainous terrain of the Irish Hills |
In January 2007, a 300-acre (121 ha) wildfire close to the power plant highlighted the need for a hazard reduction program. A Vegetation Management Program was prepared by CAL FIRE that has resulted in the implementation of a program of prescribed burning in the area. The mountainous terrain has presented a plethora of operational issues related to conducting burning in difficult terrain close to major assets with little or no control lines present.
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| Rx burn implementation (pic provided by Dr Chris Dicus) |
Fuel moisture measurements are collected twice a month by CAL FIRE at a permanent site at the Irish Hills and are contributed to the National Fuel Moisture Database that assist in calculating fire danger ratings. No fuel quantity measurements pre or post Rx fire have been undertaken.
Thanks Dr Chris, Phill, Alan and Dan!
