A prescribed fire burned 50 acres of Swanton Pacific Ranch in Santa Cruz County last Thursday. The ranch is a 3,200-acre research facility along the Pacific Ocean and is managed by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.
The CAL FIRE San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit collaborated with Cal Poly to control the first-ever prescribed burn on the ranch. They worked together for several years to plan the project, which was funded through a federal grant.
The 2020 San Mateo-Santa Cruz Lightning Complex Fires burned 86,500 acres of the ranch. Hazardous fuels accumulated in a 2009 fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains fueled the 2020 fire. Many of the native trees died and shrubs took over the land, including thickets of California lilacs, according to Ashley Grupenhoff, Cal Poly assistant professor of natural resources and environmental management.
The controlled burn is a part of the ranch’s project in restoring the forest and monitoring its health. It was intended to reduce hazardous vegetation and support the growth of beneficial native plants, according to University Spokesperson Keegan Koberl.
In a Cal Poly press release, Ranch Director Mark Swisher called prescribed fires a stewardship tool for land restoration. The burn is a part of a larger regional fuel break designed to protect nearby communities through grassland and brush treatments.
“If we can reduce the risk of another devastating fire, we are protecting the ranch not only for today’s students, but for those who will learn here 30 or 40 years from now,” he wrote.
Although Swanton Pacific Ranch is hours away from the Cal Poly campus and no students were there for the prescribed burn on Thursday, students in the forest and fire sciences program will return to the ranch this month to conduct post-fire surveys, according to Grupenhoff.
She also took 26 students to speak with event organizers CAL FIRE San Mateo-Santa Cruz and Hamey Woods the weekend before the burn.
These students are a part of Senior Project – Prescribe Fire Management and Lab (NR 4470), which Grupenhoff teaches.
Last October, students in the class conducted Cal Poly’s first prescribed burn 8 miles north of campus at Escuela Ranch.
READ MORE: Cal Poly students conduct prescribed burn with state and federal agencies
The second burn on Escuela Ranch was planned for Oct. 15, according to a College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences press release.
Due to fire weather watch from the Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center, the burn is rescheduled for next Wednesday, Oct. 21.
It is planned to be a 32-acre burn, overseen by NR 4470 students in coordination with CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District.
Grupenhoff said the burn is a big training opportunity for students who are involved directly on the fireline and gives them hands-on experience.
“We have a really large fire program, and I think there’s nothing better than actually seeing fire behave,” she said.
Like the Swanton Pacific Ranch burn, the goal of having occasional, low-intensity fires on Escuela Ranch is to maintain landscape resilience. The burns recycle nutrients and reduce invasive species.
In preparation for next week’s burn, Grupenhoff coordinated with Cal Poly Beef Operations Manager Aaron Lazanoff to avoid harming cattle grazing on Escuela Ranch. The class also takes pollution impact into account.
“It’s a very different experience in terms of smoke impacts,” she said, comparing a prescribed burn to a wildfire. “We can control when we’re burning, where the wind is going, where smoke is going, how much smoke and so we have a lot more control.”
Grupenhoff said she hopes more burns can happen on campus in the future. In order to do so, CAL FIRE must approve projects through its Environmental Protection Program. Grupenhoff said this project is an opportunity for experimental fire replication and research.