Numerous options for fuels management

So you¹ve decided you need to reduce the fuels on your property—how should you go about it?

A good place to start is to talk to the experts: your local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office, Resource Conservation District (RCD), University of California Cooperative Extension forestry specialist, or CDF Forestry Assistance Specialist. These people can help you make decisions about the best treatment(s) for your property. In addition, they are knowledgeable about cost-share programs that may be available to help finance your work.

In many cases, you will want to come up with a larger strategy for the work you are doing—a conservation or management plan. That can help determine the best approach to reach your personal objectives for your land.

Reducing the fuel load on your property can be accomplished in numerous ways. Each of these has financial costs and environmental consequences associated with it.

Your management decisions should be site-specific. Characteristics such as slope, vegetation type, fuel load, and fuel configuration all need to be factored into the decisionmaking. Some fuel reduction methods are more appropriate for properties of a certain size. You will want to consider all the alternatives and choose those that are best for your needs.

Prescribed burning. The use of prescribed, or control, burns can be effective in clearing brush, removing exotic species, enhancing wildlife habitat, and restoring the many functions that fire brings to the environment. Control burns can also be relatively economical.
On the other hand, fire has to be used with great caution. Prescribed burning can only be done safely when all the conditions are right—weather, fuel load, topography, etc. There is always the danger of a fire burning out of control and the liability involved is more than any small landowner would want to contemplate.

CDF has a Vegetation Management Program (VMP) in which they implement prescribed burns and cover the liability for landowners. Call your local CDF Unit for information.

Pile burning. This is a labor-intensive approach in which material is cleared by hand or mechanical method, then the cut material is placed in piles and burned. While burning can return nutrients to the soil be aware that a very hot fire can create a condition in which the soil becomes impenetrable to water (hydrophobic) for many years.

Grazing. This may be a ³natural² way to keep fuels down but even grazing can have its down sides. Grazing animals—usually goats, horses, or cows—can be indiscriminate eaters. They will eat the plants you want to retain as well as those you¹re happy to get rid of. Goats can graze steep slopes but if left to their own devices may denude the site and cause erosion. Horses do not eat shrubby material but can keep the grass down. Cattle need to be managed as they will eat or trample just about any plant.

Herbicides. These are chemicals that kill plants or inhibit their germination. These need to be used with great caution and in accordance with the label. Plants respond differently; in some cases herbicides can favor native plants, in others exotic weeds.

Heavy Equipment. Mechanical treatments include a great variety of activities such as mowing, disking, grading, use of an anchor chain, mastication, and similar types of clearing. Some of these techniques can be very damaging to the environment so use with care.

Disking is quick and economical, however it can disturb the topsoil and encourage weeds to grow. Mowing works best on flat areas. Masticators grind the fuel into mulch rather than removing it from the site (see page 7). Bulldozers and other types of machines can fell trees to be chipped or crush chaparral.

Recycling and Utilization. These methods use the material removed rather than disposing of it.

Multi-cutting is a recycling method in which shrubby material is chopped into smaller pieces by hand and left on site to act as a mulch. This method works well on steep hillsides. It also provides improved wildlife habitat.

Chipping is often used along roadsides where the chips are used as a cover. A tub grinder is another method of grinding material to a particular size.