HomeMy Public PortalAbout20071106 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 07-24
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
November 6, 2007
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING—SESSION 1
1. ROLL CALL
President K. Nitz called the Special Meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
Members Present: Jed Cyr,Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Pete Siemens, Curt Riffle,
Ken Nitz and Larry Hassett
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, David Sanguinetti, Duncan
Simmons, Mike Williams, Matt Freeman, Andrea Christensen
11. CLOSED SESSION
The Closed Session concluded at 6:12 p.m. K. Nitz stated publicly that there were no
reportable items from the Closed Session regarding Item 1.
K. Nitz adjourned Session I of the Special meeting at 6:12 p.m. said that Session 2 of the
Special Meeting would reconvene at 6:30 p.m. at the Hillview Community Center's
Multipurpose Room, 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos, CA.
SESSION
2—SPECIAL MEETING STUDY SESSION
III. ROLL CALL
K. Nitz called the Special Meeting— Session 2 to order at 6:40 p.m. He gave an
overview of how the meeting would run.
t: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko Mar Davey, Pete Siemens, Curt Riffle,
Members Present: � Y Y Mem Y ,
Ken Nitz and Larry Hassett
I
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Meeting 07-24 Page 2
Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, Gregory Sam, Camille Tavlian, Matt
Freeman, Kirk Lennington, David Sanguinetti, Gordon Baillie, Cindy Roessler, Michael
Newburn
IV. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. I — Study Session to Discuss Development of a Draft Updated
Wildland Fire Management Policy—(Report(Report R-07-1188).
K. Lenington thanked the audience for attending the meeting. He said this was
the kick-off meeting for the process of developing the new Wildland Fire
Management Policy at the District. He said the process would take about six
months to complete.
He said the objectives of this policy include the District's strong collaboration
with the fire management agencies that have responsibility for fire protection
within the District's boundaries. Additional objectives include using the plan for
prescribed fires as a resource management tool; as a prescription for fire
suppression activities; to educate constituents regarding the District's role,the
District's partner agencies' role, and private property owners' role in wildland fire
management.
He reviewed the format for the meeting and some of the background.
K. Lenington said that the Wildland Fire Management Policy would become one
of the policies that comprise the District's Resource Management Policies. The
District has been going through a process of revising Resource Management
Policies. He said they began in 2004 with a workshop with the Board to prioritize
different topics to focus on.
K. Lenington introduced D. Sanguinetti as the first speaker. D. Sanguinetti gave
an overview of what the District is currently doing for fire safe practices. The
District's policy is to recognize primary agencies that handle wildland
suppression activities and that the District complements them. He said that the
District has designed a system to work with other agencies. He said that District
staff respond to fires located on District land or that are threatening District land.
He said the District's role is to establish the incident command and provide initial
attack, which means they try to suppress the fire if it is safe and a difference can
be made. District staff focus on visitor safety by either evacuating or closing the
property; they provide logistics to fire command; and they assist with monitoring
and attacking any spot fires as they occur. The District water tanker can provide
water for the primary agency engines.
D. Sanguinetti reviewed the staffing participation, in which all 17 rangers that are
required by their job description to participate in the fire suppression program.
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There are 4 supervising rangers, 4 maintenance supervisors and 2 area
superintendents and he and they are all mandatory participants. There is also an
optional program offered to the District's maintenance staff, or Open Space
Technicians (OST's), and these include 4 equipment mechanic operators, 4 lead
open space technicians and 11 open space technicians, who all voluntarily
participate in the program. This shows the commitment District staff has for fire
safety at the District. D. Sanguinetti reviewed the equipment that the staff uses
for fire suppression. He also reviewed staff training with primary fire agencies.
He said the District practices accepted fire safe practices, including fire I 00-feet
firebreaks around all District structures, which include rentals, office structures,
housing, etc. The roads are maintained to fire engine widths or greater.
The District has reintroduced grazing to appropriate grasslands and have proposed
future areas for grazing to reduce the fuel. He said we use prescribed fire for
vegetation management in the area of restoration of native plants. as well as for
fuel reduction. Staff consults with primary fire agencies for any special
requirements they may have. Staff works with neighbors to consult with
firebreaks around their homes, especially for homes adjacent to District property.
D. Sanguinetti said that the District is a member of the Santa Clara County and
San Mateo County Fire Safe, which are organizations that have been created by
all of the counties throughout the state and are overseen by the local fire chiefs.
They meet and discuss proper fire safe and educational processes that can be done
in each of the counties. The District's Area Superintendents attend each of these
monthly meetings. The District currently has an agreement with Santa Clara
County Fire for disaster response and recovery organization. The District has an
operating plan with San Mateo County Fire to consult on fire management of new
properties and provide water tank assistance when requested within District
boundaries.
D. Sanguinetti reviewed the District's plan on Sudden Oak Death. Currently, he
said there is no data that fire risk is increased above the base-line conditions
caused by tree die-off from Sudden Oak Death. However, he said a 100-acre test
bum in Marin County showed a slight increase in crown fires as a result of
Sudden Oak Death infested trees. He said District staff is currently talking with
University researches and are trying to develop funding and processes to expand
the information further to determine what can be done.
K. Lennington introduced Darrell Wolf, Battalion Chief with Cal Fire (Alma
Unit), who spoke about Cal Fire. Mr. Wolf gave some background information
about himself. He described the Cal Fire unit and the equipment they use.
Mr. Wolf said he would talk about SRA lands and state responsibility lands. He
said that state responsibility lands are areas that are responsible for wildland fire
protection. They are areas outside the normal boundaries of city limits, and any
areas not federally owned. They enforce the 100-feet defensible space. He said
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they are mandated this year to do inspections and had performed 500 inspections
in this area for homes with the I 00-feet defensible space. Mr. Wolf said they
have several projects that include a 23-mile fuel break on Loma Prieta that has
been in effect, and he said his father started it in 1973. He said they work with the
Santa Clara Valley Water District and use mostly inmate labor.
Mr. Wolf described recent fire experiences he has had in southern California. He
described the difficulty of working in an urban environment in a fire situation.
K. Lennington introduced Chris Spore, a resource ecologist with State Parks. He
said that Mr. Spore has worked there for 10 years and is in the Santa Cruz unit.
Mr. Spore said that one component of the program he runs is the fire program. He
said the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks is about 65,000 acres, and he
described the area.
Mr. Spore discussed their prescribed burning program. He said that, in the past,
the Department of State Parks had decided not to use grazing or mechanical
means for fuel reduction. State Parks deemed that grazing was incompatible with
guest recreation. He said that over the years the State program has evolved into a
regional approach. He said that he is in charge of his district's region. He said
that State Parks is not a suppression agency, unlike Cal Fire. They do have fire
engines and fire-trained staff who are primarily available for prescribed burns.
He reviewed a slide that showed the elements required for a prescribed fire
program. He said that they work with surrounding districts and can borrow extra
equipment if it is needed. He said they get their funding from Sacramento.
Mr. Spore said the most important part of his program is the ability to do bums
every year. He said it important to have trust with cooperating agencies. He said
they work with Cal Fire as much as they can throughout the year; they work with
other regional agencies, including the District and the Air Resources Board. He
said that their most important agency relationship is with Cal Fire.
Mr. Spore reviewed a slide showing the averages of land they bum in a year and
described the areas and types of land burned. He said that they have returned
most of the grasslands they have to native plants. He showed some slides of what
they are achieving with their fire program. He said that another part of their
program is pile burning, and this is a significant part of the program. He said that
it is something to be considered by other agencies. Pile burning is a very
controlled burning and can be done almost anywhere on the lands.
Mr. Spore spoke about their wildfire planning policy that describes where their
resources are, where the water features are and local natural resources. He said he
brought a draft of this policy for the audience to review. He said it is an
agreement between his department and Cal Fire about how they will handle
wildfire on their property. He said that this planning policy is essential.
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Mr. Spore said there are many hurdles to overcome and that it takes a sustained
effort to surmount the obstacles. He said that smoke issues are difficult to
surmount and limited bum dates are also an issue. Other issues include increasing
urban interface, and liability issues for doing a burn.
K. Lennington introduced Carol Rice, a District consultant, who has been doing
consulting for 30 years. She has worked throughout California and lives in the
Bay Area. He said she would speak on fire planning and policies.
Ms. Rice has worked with many different landowners and she has had the
opportunity to review several national policies. She defined a policy as a
guidance to help make decisions. She said that fire management policy revolves
around two different modes: (1) fire response; and (2) preparation for response
and resource management. She said that federal government has its own fire-
fighting force to respond to fires, but most other agencies or landowners must rely
on outside help. She said that local landowners depend on the state for wildland
fire protection for everything but the smallest fires, and she said the District
supports the state and local fire departments.
Ms. Rice said that Cal Fire supports the District's mission by responding to fires
and assisting in the vegetation management program. But, she said it is important
to keep in mind the differences in the missions of the agencies while establishing
policy. Policy for fire response differs from policy for resource management.
She gave some historical data from the early 1900's.
Ms. Rice reviewed the options for appropriate management response and she
reviewed some of those options. She described how the policy works. She said
that each unit would have a fire management plan. The plan is developed and
approved by a line officer and it details the types of options. Line officers take
the role of the landowner who is in charge of natural resources and who gives
direction to the Incident Commander. She said that the District would be
considered the line officer that would help develop the plan that would be
implemented during a wildfire.
Ms. Rice spoke about the state and local fire response. She said that they have
total fire suppression as their default. She said that line officers/ landowners do
have a role to advise fire suppression crews of the resource values at risk from fire
suppression activities based on their fire plans. She said that the District has
developed detailed maps of sensitive areas that merit modified suppression in
order to protect key resources at risk from fire damage.
Ms. Rice said that nationwide fuel management might be the biggest reason for
doing any vegetation management. She said it was important to have a
community wildfire preparation plan. The policy should follow the prioritization
as determined by the community. She said that the District, at a local level, has
more flexibility in determining the priorities for a fuel management plan. She
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reviewed the fuel management plan and goals for the La Honda Creek and Sierra
Azul Open Space Preserves. She also reviewed goals from other local parks,
including Huddart Park and Wunderlich Park, which she said were simpler than
the District's.
Ms. Rice reviewed fire behavior and said it is the foundation of decision-making.
She said they do an analysis of what is vulnerable from fire, and the analysis
includes where the fire behavior problems are and the resources at risk. She said
that fire behavior is often used because it integrates the effects of fuel, weather
and topography. It tells where access is easiest or where it is precluded at the
time of a fire. Fire behavior analysis also tells where natural resources may be
unduly harmed by wildfire. She said that they typically use land maps as a way to
identify where fire behavior may present challenges and she showed slides of
examples. Ms. Rice described the many ways to describe fuel. She said they
characterize fuel types as grass or trees, the volumes, tree height and crown
density and crown cover. Ms. Rice said that they also review flame length
because it is related to the amount of damage and limits to fire suppression. They
also look at crown fire potential.
III Ms. Rice showed slides showing risks at other park districts, including the East
Bay Regional Parks. She showed how they applied their information to a
particular area. She also showed some plan maps for Sierra Azul Open Space
Preserve, and she described the potential flame lengths at this preserve. She
showed another slide showing fire behavior outputs for La Honda Creek Open
Space Preserve. She said they used these fire behavior outputs to set up draft set
of projects. She reviewed the risk analysis of the probability of an event and its
potential damage. She said they pay attention to ignition locations, adjacency of
improvements or other sensitive areas.
Ms. Rice said that the District should consider the potential ecological benefits.
She said they might provide restoration to density or species composition by fuel
management planning. She reviewed an example of a project description as
shown on a slide. She concluded that it is a balancing act to preserve the natural
resources, and managing the land before, during and after fire occurrence.
K. Lennington thanked the panel for their presentations and said it was time for
the Board to ask their questions and for discussion.
L. Hassett thanked the panel and said he learned a lot from them. He said he had
not heard of the concept of pile burning and that the District had not been
involved in controlled bums in an urban interface area, but that the District tries to
find safe areas, and that the District should be looking at this concept now. He
noted that the District's priority about fire protection does not always match the
communities, but they should take it into account and look at ways to
accommodate or work with communities to do pile burnings to make the areas
safer. He said that pile bums might eliminate some issues and he gave examples.
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He said he applauded the efforts to create a vulnerability mapping system because
it is important for the District to recognize where the District is most vulnerable
and where to spend the resources, especially since resources are limited.
C. Riffle said he shared L. Hassett's comments and compliments. He asked about
the model Ms. Rice spoke about and asked how accurate it is and if it had been
tested and worth the effort. Ms. Rice replied that the Forest Service tested the
model and found 88% accuracy, which is pretty good. She said accuracy goes up
quite a bit, especially when there is better fuel information.
C. Riffle asked Mr. Wolf about doing home inspections and how to determine
which homes to inspect, or if it is on a voluntary basis. He also asked about
evacuation plans and said that this subject had not been discussed yet.
Mr. Wolf replied that they try to contact every residence in the state's
responsibility area. He said they look in areas with the potential fire danger and
those areas are done first. He said that staffing limits their ability to do the
inspections. He said that County Fire also does inspections, so they try to work
with them to make sure inspections aren't done twice in certain areas. He said
they look at high fire danger areas first for inspection. He said they have had
discussions with local landowners in their Lexington basin on evacuation, using
models from San Luis Obispo. He said they are still working on evacuation plans
in his areas.
M. Davey thanked the panel for each of their points of view. She said the
encouraging aspect is the emphasis on prevention. She said they were there to
look at the priorities in the prevention and then the preparedness. She asked what
the ignition location is. Ms. Rice described that 80%of all fires in California are
within 10-feet of a road and the next p highest percentage of cause is a mechanical
g
equipment. Mr. Wolf said that roadside car fires are responded to as quickly as
possible because, if the vehicle is near vegetation, there is high fire danger. He
said that lightning is not a common fire-starting source. Mr. Wolf said that the
District is the steward of its land and they work on 24-hour shifts, so they want to
do what is right for the land and achieve the best way to protect it.
N. Hanko thanked the panel and said she thought their presentations were very
informative. She said she was particularly interested in the plans for the
protection of the District's property. She said that Cal Fire has an outstanding
reputation throughout the state with its ability to control fires. She asked about
the prescribed burn the District recently had and wanted to know the District's
plan for the area for encouraging native species there. C. Roessler replied that she
had worked with Cal Fire on planning the prescribed burn. She said the purpose
of the prescribed burn was primarily to control two invasive species: Harding
grass, a non-native perennial grass, and Star Thistle. She said there is a lot of
planning that occurs before a prescribed burn, including when the burn occurs,
how much is burned and where to burn. She said that the prescribed burns at
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Russian Ridge are planned for many years, but they know that a bum may not
occur each year depending on fire hazard conditions in the state. She said the 125
acres burned this year includes the primary follow-up to control the Harding
grass. She said that Harding grass is the first vegetation to respond. The fire does
not kill the Harding grass, and it is the first thing to sprout up, so it is easy to
identify and spray because there is nothing else there. She said that the Harding
grass has been treated twice since the prescribed bum in July. She said that the
plan is to continue to spray the Harding grass and to return in two years with a
bum in that area. She would like to eventually re-seed the area with native
grasses; however,they are not prepared to do this immediately, but they would
wait and see if native grasses return to the area on their own.
K. Nitz said that in 1998 and 2001, the District did a study of Russian Ridge and
came up with some results,but that they have not gone back to look at the area
since then and said it would be good to look at it now. C. Roessler said that they
have not statistically gone to the area to look at it, but staff has been out on the
property quite a bit. K. Nitz asked if they could go now and quantitatively look at
the property. C. Roessler said that they could decide to do that.
J. Cyr asked C. Roessler if there was any follow-up for a non-prescribed bum,
such as the fire that occurred at Steven's Creek Canyon. C. Roessler said that
staff did go out to the Steven's Creek Canyon area with Cal Fire to evaluate the
area. She said there is a lot of resprouting occurring from the chaparral shrubs.
They are not expecting a lot of land erosion or land slides because of the way it
burned and the way Cal Fire used their equipment. She said that Cal Fire
recontoured a couple of fire roads while they were there. She said that staff
would be photo-monitoring the area, but she said they didn't think they would
need to re-seed the area.
J. Cyr thanked the panel. He said it is clear that there is a great deal of
cooperation between agencies, which he said he heartily endorsed. He said it is to
the benefit of all concerned.
L. Hassett said that the District struggles to get prescribed bums going, and that
mostly the bums are under the auspices of a training bum and don't seem to bum
much acreage. He asked D. Sanguinetti if he has received many requests from the
community about clearing the I 00-feet space from a residential area that abuts
District land. D. Sanguinetti said that he could only recollect one time. L.
Hassett asked if this is covered under the Good Neighbor Policy if a neighbor
wanted to take advantage of it in asking the District for assistance. D. Sanguinetti
said he did not believe so. L. Hassett asked how they would publicize it. M.
Freeman said that this could be covered by the wildland protection policy.
K. Nitz asked if the District is required by law, if a residence or structure is within
100-feet or closer,to clear the District's property as well. D. Sanguinetti said the
District is not required by law, but we will cooperate with neighbors and that the
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District's plan is not to take on the cost, but to supervise the work the neighbors
propose to do.
P. Siemens thanked the panel. He said this helped focus his thoughts and ideas.
He said that they should prioritize on the District's interface with its neighbors.
He said he would be concerned if a fire on District land spread to a neighbor's
property, so he said a focus of the policy should be on how the District interacts
with its neighbors. He asked if there is a permit system set up now for neighbors
to set up the I 00-feet break. D. Sanguinetti said that there is on an informal basis;
however, he said that the District is open to cooperation, and he added that the
I 00-feet clearance came into being in the past few years. Insurance requirements
have now made it in everybody's interest to have the 100-feet clearance. P.
Siemens suggested that the District become more proactive with its neighbors in
this regard. K. Lennington added that the District has over 300 miles of edge, and
of that area there is about 30 miles of that edge that are within 150-feet or
adjacent to neighboring structures. J. Cyr said that 30 miles is a major concern.
K. Nitz said he appreciated having the panel. He asked D. Sanguinetti what he
learned from the Stevens Creek fire. D. Sanguinetti stated that the District has a
lot of remote land. He said the most difficult part of that fire was the logistics of
getting the fire equipment in to the area. He said what went well was the
cooperation between Cal Fire and the District.
K. Nitz said that the District is starting to develop its agricultural land and he
asked what fire concerns the District may have to worry about there and also
about cattle on the land if there is a fire. Both D. Sanguinetti and Mr. Wolf
replied the ranchers will typically get the cattle out of the way and generally there
is not a problem.
K. Nitz asked about succession and if it is better grassland and forest and not
shrubs. Mr. Spore replied that the goal is to keep the grasslands in grass and
prevent them from succeeding into coastal scrub. He said from a fire suppression
view, it is easier to fight fire in grass than in shrubbery.
K. Nitz asked if they re-seed in Santa Cruz after a fire. Mr. Spore said they do
not. K. Nitz asked if native plants return. Mr. Spore said that some of their
objectives are the same as the District with Harding grass. They are doing bums
and then treating the areas of Harding grass.
K. Nitz asked about strategic fires and whether once a fire is burning they would
let it bum in certain areas for resource management reasons. Mr. Spore replied
that they did not have a policy to allow them to do that officially. He did add that
they do have agreements with local fire departments that if roads surround an
area,they will consider modified suppression within an area that is surrounded by
roads.
Meeting 07-24 Page 10
K. Nitz asked if the District has the flame map or if they are planning to get it. K.
Lennington said that this is part of what Ms. Rice is doing for the District on the
master plans for La Honda and Sierra Azul and Bear Creek. K.Nitz asked if the
District will have this information directly. K. Lennington said they do not have
the program, but will have the outputs of the analysis from the program. K. Nitz
asked if the District needs the program, and K. Lennington replied that what they
are interested in are the recommendations that they can make based on the data
from that program. Ms. Rice said that if they are interested, the program is public
domain and they can download it.
N. Hanko asked Mr. Spore about his agencies restriction to fire for resource
management, and their inability to use grazing or mechanical means to control
invasive species. Mr. Spore said they are doing burnings every two years or so,
and that the native grasses are coming back. He said they do use herbicide on the
non-native plants. He said, on a landscape basis,that repeated burnings would
keep the invasive plants from spreading more and hopefully reducing them that
way.
K. Lennington asked Mr. Spore what pre-treatments they do before a bum. Mr.
Spore gave an example regarding Baccarus. He said that, at Afio Nuevo, in order
to open up some areas and enhance the habitat, they cut down some of the
Baccarus, piled it up, and let it cure before they ran a fire through the area. He
gave another example of cutting out young Douglas Fir trees that are moving in
from the edges of their mixed evergreens. He said they would pile up those cut
trees and burn them in a broadcast bum.
K. Lennington asked about the second growth redwood areas and if Mr. Spore's
team would go and thin out those forests. Mr. Spore said they have not done that.
K. Nitz asked if the CO2 output will be a concern or problem for future prescribed
bums. Mr. Spore replied he had not received any concerns about that. He said
that their burns are on a much smaller scale than the wildfires occurring in
southern California. Ms. Rice added that she had seen studies on a National level
that fires are getting pushed back; however, she said she saw studies to show that
if you do more prescribed bums, especially in forest ecosystems, there is a
reduction in CO2 over time.
P. Siemens referred to the southern California fires and asked if the reason more
homes burned was that there was no defensible space, or if that didn't matter due
to the high winds. Mr. Wolf replied that, with 70 mph winds, it didn't matter and
he gave an example of 57 homes in a row that were lost. He said he would look
for structures he can save and others he cannot save. Homes with the I 00-feet
clearance are looked at more often as being salvageable.
Betty Kerns, 11888 Fremont, Los Altos Hills, thanked the Board and District for
inviting its neighbors and she thanked the panel. She asked the panel how often
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chaparral should be burned. Mr. Spore replied that chaparral does not bum
coolly, and it is explosive. He said that if they have 75-year-old chaparral, it
could be explosive. Ms. Kerns said that, as a neighbor to the District, she would
like to find a way to work with the District to deal with the chaparral. She said
that the District owns part of the canyon and she owns the other part, and she
would like to work together with the District to resolve the problem. She said that
she has seen cigarette butts on the trails and is very concerned about a fire in the
area. She said that the Town Council of Los Altos Hills enforced her to plant oak
trees within 20-feet of her house, even with a letter from Cal Fire stating that it
was not a good thing to do. She asked for the District's help to go before the
Town Council and tell them they should be able to cut those trees down now as
they are about 20-feet tall.
Rick Parfitt, 23243 Summit Road, Los Gatos, thanked P. Siemens and L. Hassett
for talking about reaching out into the community. He said there are about 4,000
homes in his area. He said they are very concerned about fire. He said he is on
the Fire Safe council and they appreciate M. Newbum's participation. He said
they are working on a community wildfire preparation plan because they expect
fire to come and they want to be sure they are prepared for it. He said he is
familiar with Mr. Wolf s stack and bum method, but said it scares residents. He
asked what the District plans to do with its fuel management. He said he hoped
that the District would participate in their plan too, as it is a multi-stakeholder
program where all of the stakeholders should help finance. He said that the
community wildfire program is a federally defined program that allows them to
receive federal grants. They have received a $50,000 federal grant this yearii
which they will use to treat hazardous fuels around homes. He described the
dangers of chaparral fires and gave an example of the Lexington area fire.
Mr. Parfitt asked Ms. Rice to clarify her statement that Sierra AzuI area does not
have a problem with crown fires; however, he said that he spoke with someone in
Sacramento who said that they automatically treat chaparral fire as crown fire and
that they do bum every 30 to 70 years no matter what is done. Ms. Rice replied
that he is correct that some people consider chaparral not to have crown fires, but
others do say they do burn as crown fire.
Mr. Parfitt said he is very interested in seeing the redwoods preserved.
Dr. Linda Huntimer, 400 Doherty Ridge Road, La Honda, said one of her major
concerns was underbrush growth. She said that she no longer sees fire escapes/
roads. She said when she first moved there the front gate did not work properly,
so the neighbors would take the back routes to go out the fire escapes. She said
she tried that recently and that now there are ruts, boulders and other items in the
way. She said she recently met with Robert Tucker of San Mateo Fire and he
suggested having a shelter in place and said he would not advise going out over
those roads in their present condition if there were a big fire. She asked if it is
Meeting 07-24 Page 12
possible to get the fire roads passable and usable again. She also asked if there is
any remedy for homeowners to help reduce brush near one's home.
Ruth Waldhauer, 22400 Skyline Blvd., #35, La Honda, thanked everyone for the
presentation. She said she is a member of the South Skyline Association and she
said they are looking for a way to have a fire safe corridor along Skyline
Boulevard. She said much of it is through the District's properties and State
Parks. She said there are many dead standing trees along this corridor due to the
Sudden Oak Death. She said, if these trees could be cleared within I 00-feet of the
roadway, it would give them an escape route along a fire safe corridor. She said
that San Mateo County has cleared the roadside of brush from Rapley Ranch
Road to Old La Honda Road.
K. Nitz asked about whether it is better to keep Sudden Oak Death trees standing
or to cut them down and let them lie on the ground. Mr. Wolf replied that there
are two schools of thought about this. If you leave the tree up, then it is habitat
for other species, but he said they find that Sudden Oak Death trees are "widow
makers". He said that hearing a tree fall is the scariest event because you can't
see it coming and you don't know the direction the tree is falling. He said that
they generally like having the trees on the ground and that one of the good things
about having the trees on the ground is that eventually, over time, it will get
moisture and rot away, so it won't be susceptible to fire.
Drew Shell, Conservation Sheriff of San Mateo County with the California Native
Plant Society, said he is pleased that the District is taking on this important issue
and that he is encouraged by the questions being asked. He asked if there is any
data collected on resulting trends in plant diversity, trends in native or non-native
plants, or benefits or negative impacts on rare plants. He said he also wondered if
the presence of, or potential impacts on, native and rare plants are taken into
consideration when selecting bum areas. Mr. Spore replied that they do what they
can with monitoring, but they have gotten away from intense monitoring because
it is very expensive, and they don't produce results that are as meaningful. He
said they have seen positive results and they do adjust their prescription and the
plots that they bum based on that. They do take into consideration sensitive
species when they are designing their plots. He said most of their prescribed
burnings are based on ecological goals.
Mr. Shell commented that very high fire intensity can be detrimental and he said
he hoped this would be taken into account when planning bums or setting fire
suppression priorities. He said that defensible space is a very controversial, but
there is also confusion about what constitutes defensible space which can often
lead to drastic fuel management. He said that he hoped the District's plan would
help property owners understand how to establish a defensible space without
causing undue harm.
Meeting 07-24 Page 13
L. Hassett replied to Mr. Shell's concerns and said that this is the second
workshop the District has had on fire. He said that the previous workshop
addressed most of Mr. Shell's concerns. The subject was fire as a resource
management tool, and he said that he wished he had attended that workshop, as it
would have addressed his issues directly.
Lennie Roberts, Committee for Green Foothills, said that she attended the
workshop on forest management planning and policies. She said she was very
glad to hear the Board discussing the issues of neighboring properties and fire
management in conjunction with neighbors. She said she was glad that Ms.
Waldhauer was here too, as she had heard her concerns before about the many
dead trees along Skyline Blvd. She said that Tan Oaks are the type of trees that
when they die they do not drop their leaves, so they are a standing torch. She said
it is a good idea to look at how to deal with these standing torches. She said she
also agreed to the comments made by Mr. Shell. She said she commended the
Board and the panel for addressing this issue because it is an issue that they are all
acutely aware of in this area.
L. Hassett commented on the Oakland Hills fire and said that the District should
look at the effects of Sudden Oak Death trees on its land especially along Skyline
Boulevard. He said his commute is along Skyline Boulevard and he has noted
that there are not a lot of ways off the mountain, so he said he would like this
addressed in the policy.
Chris Carstens, a new resident to the area, said he is curious about the budget for
fire suppression or land management. A Freeman replied that the budget for
resource management is shared between two departments at the District,the
Planning Department and the Operations Department. He said that, within the
Planning Department, they had a wide range of resource management projects and
the main emphasis was on watershed protection efforts. He said the total budget
was about $1.6 million for resource management. C. Britton said that all new
land acquisition is handled by borrowing, and there is currently $30 million in the
bank for land acquisition. He said the District's annual budget is about$22
million and about $12 million is for Operations and about $6 million is for debt
service. He said the entire Operations budget is the largest budget.
A Freeman gave a recap of the major themes discussed tonight. He said he
thought the plan would come before the Board in February 2008. He said the
major themes were: (1)the policy would encourage preserve specific fire
management plans and fire response plans; (2) working with District neighbors on
collaborative fire management projects of the urban interface; (3) an educational
and outreach component; and (4)the importance of developing science-based
prescriptions to deal with Sudden Oak Death. He thanked all who participated in
this workshop with a special acknowledgement to K. Lennington.
Meeting 07-24 Page 14
K. Nitz said that they came here to learn about resource fire management and they
learned a great deal from the panel and from staff. He thanked each member of
the panel. He thanked staff, especially K. Lennington, and he thanked the Board,
and the public for their
participation.
He invited everyone to the small 35 h District anniversary celebration immediately
following the meeting.
V. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:38 p.m., the Special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District was
adjourned.
�I
Lisa Zadek
Recording Secretary