July is here and fuels are curing; grass is brown and dry, and forest duff including pine needles, oak leaves, and heavier fuels like branches and down trees are continuing to dry out. Most people are aware that CalFire (NEU) recently issued a residential burn suspension on June 23rd. You may have noticed, if you read the fine print, that the language of this burn suspension was distinctly different from years past. In previous years a blanket “burn ban” was issued. A burn ban meant that no permits would be issued for any burning until the ban was lifted, while the current burn suspension states that “The department may issue restricted temporary burning permits if there is an essential reason due to public health and safety. Agriculture, land management, fire training, and other industrial type burning may proceed if a CAL FIRE official inspects the burn site and issues a special permit.” This change in language, and indeed, internal unit policy, reflects the growing recognition that increasing the capacity and ability to use fire as a land management tool must be allowed and encouraged when suitable prescriptions are met, and as long as resources are available.

Many people might think that burning into the summer months is ludicrous, however, an experienced fire practitioner would know that summer conditions can be ideal to achieve various goals including fuel consumption and induced vegetation mortality. A burn prescription is a group of measurements and considerations that takes into account the conditions on the specific piece of land where the burning is happening. These include temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, fuel moisture, fuel type, canopy shading, slope, and aspect. We all know that on a hot day we like to find a cool spot under the canopy of a large tree. The shading of this tree is having a localized impact on the conditions beneath it. The temperature is lower, relative humidity is likely higher than in the full sun, and the fine fuels on the ground below it are likely to have a higher fuel moisture than those in full sun. These factors alone, mean that the fire intensity under this tree would be moderated compared to the same fuel in full sun.

In prescribed fire, we are synthesizing the conditions of the site on a specific day and determining whether or not fire can be used safely and effectively to achieve our goals and objectives. We may see that the high temperature for the day is 95 degrees, at 4pm, however, at 10am the temperature is only 80 degrees and the relative humidity is 40% compared to 20% later in the day. This will help us determine when we start our burn, depending on the intensity of fire behaviour we are looking for and the parameters of our burn prescription, as approved by CalFire.

If California is going to bring prescribed fire to the forefront of “fighting wildfire” we need to see a lot more burning, in all months of the year when prescriptions are met. This means that there may be prescribed burns happening in July, August, or September. There will be more burning at night, or early in the morning, to meet prescriptions. There may be wildfires happening at the same time as well, and ultimately, CalFire and resource availability will dictate whether a planned prescribed burn goes forward or not.

I would like to thank CalFire for recognizing the importance of prescription-based burning and working to expand its use on the landscape to protect our communities. I want to invite you, the public, to consider the nuance of prescriptive parameters and localized site conditions. We need your support to get more fire back on the landscape. And yes, there will be short-duration smoke, and there will be people who are alarmed but please remember to utilize the informational resources we have available to find out more about what’s happening before immediately calling 911. Take a quick look at the WatchDuty app or Happening Now on YubaNet to see if there is a planned prescribed burn today. Talk to your neighbors or friends and if it’s a prescribed burn, try and help your concerned neighbor or friend understand why today might be a perfectly good day to burn, and why it’s a good thing.

Sincerely,

Tim Van Wagner

First Rain Land Stewardship Services

Tim Van Wagner is the owner of First Rain Farm and First Rain Land Stewardship Services (www.firstrainfarm.com). For over 15 years, First Rain Farm has provided quality organic produce and berries to the local community by selling at the Nevada City Farmer’s Market, Briarpatch food COOP, local restaurants, and through a Collaborative CSA with several local farms in the area. The 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, CA was a galvanizing event for Tim after being struck by the stark similarities in terrain, vegetation, and elevation between Nevada City and Paradise. Driven by the desire to have a positive impact in his community, and perhaps even make a difference in a wildfire event, Van Wagner started First Rain Land Stewardship Services; a company that provides prescribed burning, forest thinning and pile burning, and targeted grazing with livestock as a means to reduce fuels accumulation while supporting the overall ecosystem diversity and health. Tim Van Wagner is a California State Certified Burn Boss for Prescribed Fire and his team of land stewards skillfully apply these various treatments to properties throughout the county and beyond.