Fire Management
Fire is a dynamic and powerful force within both the natural and human worlds. Land stewardship requires active fire management to yield the benefits of “good fire” and to reduce the chance of uncontrolled damaging fires.
Santa Clara County Parks supports the safe and ecologically appropriate use of prescribed (or controlled) fire to maintain diversity of plant and animal life. Some of the benefits that fire provides to people and nature include:
- Controlling brushy vegetation and invasive species like yellow star thistle, medusahead and hemlock.
- Keeping forests healthy by reducing dead vegetation, killing forest pests, controlling invasive species, and stimulating the regeneration of native plants.
- Reducing the intensity of a wildfire. Without fire, fire fuels such as dead branches, leaf litter and other fuels build up over time. When wildfires occur in areas loaded with fuel it more intensely, is more destructive and difficult to contain.
- Stimulating fire-dependent native plants and wildflowers.
Prescribed burn at Calero County Park.
Prescribed Fire in Parks
Santa Clara County Parks partners with local fire agencies like CalFire, Santa Clara County Fire, and San Jose Fire to conduct prescribed fires. On average we burn 200 to 400 acres of park land each year and will increase that amount to adapt to changing climate conditions. In addition to the ecological benefits of fire, these burns provide live-fire training for local firefighters, and County Park staff trained as wildland firefighters.
Prescribed fire is conducted by a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals. Strict safety procedures provide for the safety of the firefighters, nearby residents, and private property. Conditions such as weather, wind, and humidity must be right before a fire is lit.
Our work with prescribed fire also includes burning piles of larger wood (pile burning). Pile burning aids in building shaded fuel breaks.
Land previously burned by a prescribed fire will not burn as intensely if an unplanned fire spreads into it. In 2020, the SCU Lighting Complex Fire spread into Joseph D. Grant County Park. The fire burned much less intensely and stopped spreading in areas of the park previously burned during prescribed fires.
Burn scar at Joseph D. Grant County Park