Virginia Moran
P O Box 2858
Grass Valley CA 95945
(530) 272-7132

So You Want to "Brush" Your Property....

Here are some things to consider beforehand:

First of all, you have to ask yourself why you want to clear your land. Is it based on a fear of fire? Is it based on fear others may have instilled into you? Is it based on the fact that a government program could reimburse you up to 90% to clear? Would you be clearing if you had to foot the bill yourself? Ask yourself WHY you are clearing. This is the first thing.

Do you really need to clear the acreage being suggested by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF)? Why do you need to clear 10, 20, or more acres? Would clearing 30-100 feet from your home (in compliance with state regulations) be enough? You can also clear this in a reasonable manner such as clearing "tip to tip" on chaparral shrubs, removing ladder fuels on your trees, and raking up dead leaves or other dead and dry natural material. You can effectively fire clear up to 100 feet while keeping esthetics in mind.

Weigh all perspectives: An insurance professional may tend to see native vegetation as a liability for your home and their business. A CDF professional tends to see native vegetation as threatening to life and property and indeed, their job is to protect life and property but it used to be firemen and women fought fires. Now it has graded into where they are literally trying to eliminate or reduce the CAUSE of fire by vigorously killing and destroying habitat and even placing hundreds of gallons of pesticides on the ground afterwards. What is going on?? Is habitat elimination and poisoning our water supplies really the answer to this new fear-based fire clearing mania?

Foxes, towhees, deer, quail, salamanders, as well as hundreds of other species "tend" to see native vegetation as their home.

Ask yourself prior to clearing, have I done everything I can to reduce fire danger?

As a fire victim myself and a witness to other large human-started wildfires, no fire is predictable and no fire is alike. I was able to observe prior to my own home burning down, "fireballs" or flying embers careening through the air and landing anywhere--from a chamise shrub (which then burst into flames) to the roof of a house. Flying debris and embers are a major ignition source. Is clearing 20, 30 or greater acres really effective if your house is made of wood and your roof is flammable? Consider replacing your roof with a steel one or with cement shingles.

Install a sprinkler system on your roof you activate during fire season.

Work cooperatively with your neighbors to install water tanks in strategic areas and take advantage of hilltops and slopes for gravity fed systems.

Consider installation of a sedimentation pond or catchment basin which can not only provide a water source during a fire but provide needed habitat for wildlife.

Are you fire clearing native vegetation then planting fire-prone ornamentals such as Grevillea, Giant Reed Grass, Pampas Grass, Rosemary or other fire-prone shrubs? Doesn't this defeat the purpose? Are you clearing manzanita then another more fire-prone plant grows in the new opening, such as mountain misery?

Can human behavior be modified? Is there someone in your family that throws cigarette butts on the ground? Is a fire extinguisher handy at all times and especially when working with power tools outside in the fire season?

THE BOTTOM LINE? Nothing you will do will stop a fire. Nothing. You can still lose your home. Accepting this is critical. Once you have accepted this, you will have a more realistic perspective about this whole issue.

If you remain afraid of fire, would it make sense to relocate to a less fire prone area?

Even though losing everything in any catastrophe is heart-breaking and extremely stressful, the key is getting out with your life. This has to be the first priority. But houses can be rebuilt. Local biodiversity cannot.

Here are the costs to overclearing your property you must weigh:

Native vegetation keeps the weeds down and slows erosion. Once you remove this, you may have more weeds and increased erosion.

Vegetation and wetlands adjacent to streams has the effect of filtering out sediments and pollutants and insuring cleaner water reaches the watershed. If you tamper with these systems, you can affect water quality on your own property and downstream.

The species that are present now may disappear. Do not assume that if you cut and clear, the same species will return. Where once you had a grove of manzanita, you may end up with a "grove" of nonnative weedy grasses and weeds and what comes up after the property is cleared may prove to be as much of a fire hazard. Dried herbaceous vegetation (such as annual grasses) can be extremely flammable. Scotch broom is a nonnative noxious plant that thrives on the creation of openings and disturbance. Will you be replacing a viable native ecosystem with a nonnative one that does not support native wildlife populations? You may be performing a "type conversion" which is the permanent change of one ecosystem into another and the cost is a permanent loss in our in local biodiversity and a loss in the "services" the ecosystem provides for all life.

Contrary to what is being said by CDF, mechanical and/or hand clearing IS NOT the same as "what natures does during a fire." This is a total falsehood. Chaparral shrubs and trees have evolved with fire as a major selective pressure and they have many adaptations to fire1.. Seeds of many chaparral shrubs must be scarified before germination and fire performs this critical step. Charate from the burned shrubs even stimulates certain seeds to germinate. Stump sprouting and rhizomatous growth can be stimulated after a fire from below-ground buds. Native "fire-following" annual flowers appear after a fire and many do not appear again until the next fire. The response between fire and native ecosystems is very finely tuned and "brushing" DOES NOT replace these mechanisms. "Brushing" is in fact very destructive to the environment. It can permanently change the species composition of the area, increases erosion, encourage the development of weeds where they did not exist before, destroy native wildlife habitat and plants, and even kill breeding wildlife such as bird nests and birds. It is a DESTRUCTIVE practice with dubious returns. Make sure you understand this before doing it. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT APPLY PESTICIDES AFTERWARDS. IF YOU WANT TO AGGRESSIVELY CLEAR THEN APPLY PESTICIDES, YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CONSIDER NAPALM OR HAVE THE AREA COMPLETELY PAVED. THIS IS ALMOST THE SAME DIFFERENCE AS FAR AS THE ECOLOGY IS CONCERNED.

Prior to any brushing, you should insure you meet compliance with various environmental laws and my recommendation is check with the Nevada County Planning Department before doing any clearing. Nevada County has restrictions related to clearing on or near creeks, streams, or waterways. Various laws protect wildlife including breeding bird populations. There are laws related to damaging wetlands and water quality. EVEN IF CDF TELLS YOU YOU DO NOT NEED ANY KIND OF PERMIT TO PERFORM THE CLEARING YOU SHOULD CHECK WITH THE COUNTY AND OTHER RESOURCE AGENCIES PRIOR TO CLEARING.

The behavior related to CDF giving residents the impression they can "clear" without compliance with other environmental regulations and laws needs to cease. They need to communicate accurate information to the public. ASK QUESTIONS. BE SKEPTICAL.

As a side note, I personally find it baffling that the state of California is supposedly broke and the U.S. Government is incurring the largest deficit in the history of the country. Is this really what we want our tax dollars spent on?

Finally, something disturbing is going on when we begin to demonize our natural environment by viewing it strictly through human fear-based value systems. Try as we can, we cannot sanitize ourselves out of any risk in life. We are trying to sanitize our natural lands and at what cost? We are now spraying hundreds of gallons of pesticides on the ground which run into our streams in the name of "reducing fire danger". This is ridiculous. We are polluting waterways, killing wildlife, and destroying habitat. We must bring reality back to this whole issue.

--NOTHING YOU DO WILL PREVENT A FIRE FROM BURNING DOWN YOUR HOME FROM A HUMAN-STARTED OR OTHERWISE NATURAL "WILDFIRE." YOU MUST ACCEPT THIS RISK TO LIVE HERE AND YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT AFTER CLEARING MANY MANY ACRES YOU MAY LOSE WILDLIFE POPULATIONS, YOU WILL AFFECT THE ECOLOGY OF YOUR LAND AND A WHOLE NEW SET OF PROBLEMS MAY ARISE WITHOUT ANY SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN FIRE DANGER. AND BECAUSE EVERYTHING YOU DO IS CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU WILL ALSO AFFECT THE ECOLOGY OF A WIDER AREA.

--HOUSES CAN BE REPLACED, LOCAL BIODIVERSITY CANNOT. OUR LOCAL BIODIVERSITY IS DECREASING IN QUALITY AND INTEGRITY DUE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF NON-NATIVE PLANTS, DEVELOPMENT, FRAGMENTATION OF HABITAT, ROADS, PESTICIDE USE, DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND MORE IMPACTS CAN BE LISTED. THE BIODIVERSITY ON YOUR LAND IS AN ASSET TO OUR COMMUNITY NOT A LIABILITY.

--ASK QUESTIONS. CHECK WITH THE COUNTY. DO NOT TAKE WHAT CDF SAYS AS THE GOSPEL. MAKE YOUR OWN WISE DECISION.

If you still want help, call me. I do charge for consultations but will be happy to walk your property and talk with you.

I thank you but more importantly, the native wildlife and plants of Nevada County thank you.

1. Wildland Fire in Ecosystems. Effects of Fire on Flora. USDA GTR RMRS-GTR-42/Volume 2, Dec. 2000

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE SOLE COPYRIGHT OF ECOLOGICAL OUTREACH SERVICES AND NO PART OF IT MAY BE USED OR DUPLICATED WITHOUT THE PRIOR PERMISSION OF EOS (VIRGINIA MORAN).