Protecting ResourcesPreparation . Response . Recovery

Christy Wyckoff

Senior Wildlife Ecologist, Santa Lucia Conservancy

Santa Lucia Conservancy• Manage lands of the Santa Lucia

Preserve

• 20,000 acre Conservation Development

• 90% Permanently Protected• 10,000 acres in fee

• 8,000 acres of easements

• ≤ 2,000 acres developed footprint• 296 home sites, social club and golf club

• Historical cattle ranch

• High biodiversity

The Unique Role of a Land Trust

• It is our job to protect the resources

• We are landowners and partners

• Have agency relationships

• Think in landscapes

• Know our sensitive resources

• Recognize fire is a natural process

• Able to inform fire suppression activities

Fire Suppression Response

• Fire response depends on:• Who owns the land

• Size of incident

• Cooperative agreements

• Local Fire Departments

• Regional Fire Districts

• Cal Fire (local, regional, state)

• Get to know them before the fire

Incident Command

• The Incident Command System (ICS) • Standardized approach

• Common hierarchy

• Works across multiple

agencies

Soberanes Fire

• Ignition July 22, 2016

• Preserve became primary defense of Carmel Valley WUI

• First two weeks of fire response

Fire Suppression Impacts

• 1700 acres burned (~10%)

• 38 miles of bull dozer lines• 12 miles of trails and roads

• Cal Fire records 24 miles

• 2 weeks of fire fighting

• 6 weeks of Fire Suppression Repair

Lesson 1: Proactively Engage

Lesson 2: Everyone gets lost

Lesson 3: Identify Needs

Lesson 4: Add Value to Problem Solve

Lesson 4: Add Value to Problem Solve

Lesson 5: Know what is worth saving

Lesson 6: Document EverythingJuly 27th, 2016 July 28th, 2016

August 13th, 2016

Lesson 6: Document Everything

Lesson 7: Ask for Help

Lesson 8: Give and Take

Fire Mosaic = Endangered Habitat

A black-backed woodpecker in Stanislaus National Forest

Credit: Noah Berger for The New York Times

Fire Following SpeciesFire Loving Species

Redwood seedlings post fire with root sprouts in background

Credit: Christy Wyckoff/SLC

Conserved Lands and the Firescape

Sequoia National Forest 2016 Lance Cheung/US Department of Agriculture via Flicker

Fuel Management on the PreserveTools: Grazing – Rx Fire – Mowing – Mastication

Thank you