Earth Day Volunteers Reduce Wildfire Risk

A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in removing flammable vegetation for our Earth Day Broom Pull!  We especially appreciated the amazing support from our partners: Friends of China Camp and the San Rafael Fire Department.  This year we returned to the open space bordering Peacock Gap and China Camp State Park, an area that we partially cleared two years ago. It is important to revisit sites every 2-3 years to remove any new broom that has sprouted because seeds from prior years are viable for up to 20 years. Building on several weed pull events over the past few months, the “After” photo below shows the dramatic difference in wildfire risk.

Scotch and French broom significantly increase wildfire risk by introducing highly flammable oils and creating dense structural “fuel ladders.” These invasive shrubs outcompete fire-resistant native vegetation and replace it with thickets that burn more intensely and allow fires to spread more rapidly into the forest canopy. Because broom often infests open spaces and hillsides, it creates continuous pathways for fire to travel quickly toward homes and infrastructure. By forming monocultures and outcompeting native plants, broom reduces the overall biodiversity and natural fire-resilience of the landscape.

Here are more photos from the event in slideshow format:

The volunteers also removed Eucalyptus duff, the thick layer of decomposing leaves, bark, and twigs on the forest floor, which also increases wildfire risk primarily by creating an exceptionally high fuel load that burns with extreme heat once it catches. Duff is a compact layer that supports both flaming and smoldering wildfires. Because it is so dense, it can burn slowly for long periods, potentially leading to the re-ignition of surface fires after they seem to have been contained.

And finally, a very brief video of neighbor Richard Vasquez helping to move heavy vegetation and dead branches with his tractor!