Healing with the Land Welcome, Vision, Agenda
Vision Our wildlands are managed to: ● Limit catastrophic fire and flood ● Absorb water and release it slowly ● Maximize biodiversity ● Support the local economy ● Provide jobs ● Be beautiful ● Provide contact with nature Welcome, Vision, Agenda
Agenda ● What happened ● Fire History and Ecology ● What we are doing now, and what we can do together going forward ● Q & A 2017 North Bay Fires Why? Why Are Fires Here?
• Mediterranean Climate: Sonoma (Wet winters/Dry hot summers) Creek Landscape has history of fire Watershed • Diverse, steep topography
– Varied Slopes, Aspects, Soils Napa
– Diverse Vegetation Sonoma – East/West trending canyons
Petaluma
Vallejo Katabatic Winds occur in our region when air moving out from a high pressure system in the interior descends to lower areas near the coasts.
The air heats up (and loses moisture) as it descends, and speeds up through canyons, reaching speeds over 70 MPH Cultural Fire vs. Fire Suppression Hanley
Nuns
Historic Large North Bay Fires Historic Large Fires + 2017 Fires
2017 North Bay Fires
Why? Geography: Topography, Vegetation, Climate/Weather Culture: Fire suppression, Development patterns What Happened? 2017 North Bay LNU Complex Fires
October 8th, 9:45 pm, ignition October 31st, final containment
> 40 ignition points in first few hours, NE winds up to 80 mph
Over 190,000 acres burned
Approximately 9,000 structures burned, most in first 48 hours
80-90 percent of structures burned from embers, not flames
October 8 to 31, 2017 North Bay Fires — LNU COMPLEX 2017 Nuns Fire
• 6 Fires merged into “Nuns Fire” (Nuns, Adobe, Norbom, Pressley, Partrick, Oakmont)
• Fire increased in size for 11 days: Oct 8th to 18th, Contained Oct 31st
• 30,327 Acres in Sonoma Valley (56,556 acres total)
• Sonoma Valley structures: – 1,026 destroyed structures – 495 residences, 520 outbuildings, 28 commercial
October 8 to 31, 2017 North Bay Fires — LNU COMPLEX Sunday Oct 8
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 8, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Monday Oct 9
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 9, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Tuesday Oct 10
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 10, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Wednesday Oct 11
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 11, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Thursday Oct 12
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 12, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Friday Oct 13
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 13, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Saturday Oct 14
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 14, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Sunday Oct 15
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 15, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Monday Oct 16
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 16, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Tuesday Oct 17
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 17, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Wednesday Oct 18
Kenwood
Glen Ellen
Sonoma
ESRI, NOAA, NASA, USGS, SF Chronicle
Oct 18, 2017 NUNS / ADOBE / NORRBOM/ PRESSLEY / PARTRICK / OAKMONT FIRES (CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX) Sonoma Valley Fires 2017
Sonoma Valley Acres burned: 30,327
Percent of Valley: 28.5%
(37 Fire data not included) 2017 Nuns Fire WERT Final Report
● Unburned/Very Low Soil Burn Severity 19,738 acres (35.0%) ● Low Soil Burn Severity 25,846 acres (46%) ● Moderate Soil Burn Severity 10,124 acres (18%) ● High Soil Burn Severity 848 acres (1%)
Potential w 10 yr rain event for increased runoff: Pythian Creek (Hood Mtn canyon): 73% Adobe Canyon: 46% Yulupa Creek (at Son Cr.): 26% Stewart Creek (at Calabasas Cr.) 17% Asbury Creek: 21% Hooker Creek 21% Agua Caliente Creek: 19% Nathanson Creek: 9% Arroyo Seco: 15% Haraszthy Creek: 34% Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Fire Impacts, What to Expect 2017 Sonoma Valley Fires Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Estimated Fire Area: 3,328 Acres
Estimated Percent of Park: 74%
Fire History and Ecology Fire History
California before 1800
Stephens, S.L., R.E. Martin, and N.E. Clinton. 2007. Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands and grasslands. Forest Ecology and Management 251:205-216. Unpublished research, Stephens, S.L., et al. Fire History
Sonoma Valley California after 1908 before 1800 2017
1923 1942? 1955? 1964 1925 1966
2016 Sonoma County Hazard Mitigation Plan. Newspaper articles. Stephens, S.L., R.E. Martin, and N.E. Clinton. 2007. Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands and grasslands. Forest Ecology and Management 251:205- 216. Unpublished research, Stephens, S.L., et al. Fire History
Stephens, S.L., R.E. Martin, and N.E. Clinton. 2007. Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands and grasslands. Forest Ecology and Management 251:205-216. Unpublished research, Stephens, S.L., et al. Suppressed Fire Planned Fire + Thinning
● Predictable timing of fires ● Controllable fires that don’t Pros ● No fire most years burn structures ● Big trees, well spaced ● Higher biodiversity ● Better infiltration of rain water
● Unexpected fires ● Potential for large ● Skies smoky more often uncontrollable fires ● Requires lots of planning Cons ● More small trees ● Requires permission of ● Lower biodiversity landowners ● Economic disruption ● Pollution from burned structures
? ● More Douglas fir, California ● More oaks, woodland, bay, chaparral savannah, grassland Grassland: fire fast and cool, removes Black ash = low or moderate severity burn. White ash = thatch so more high severity, appropriate for seeds can chaparral or knobcone pine. germinate. Perennial Isolated trees: canopy grasses resprout consumed. Oaks may take Forest: leaves insulate from roots. 3-6 years to resprout from against heat, so core of Hot steep slopes with leaves and/or roots. canopy is unburned, fire chaparral: hotter burn, stays on the ground. root resprouting, fire- following wildflowers SDC, November 24, 2017 Slime mold?
Tree stencils Ghost trees
Plants have fire adaptations and dependencies
Thick bark insulates the living cambium
Thick evergreen leaves with waxy coat resist burning
Root crowns resprout
Trees can drop leaves and grow new ones
Some seeds require heat or ash chemistry to open or germinate. Can wait 100 years. “Fire followers” like golden ear drops.
Many species need sunlight on the ground to sprout: oaks, wildflowers
Exceptions: Douglas fir, California bay www.sonomaecologycenter.org/fire-recovery Monitoring Water Quality
SEC with Water Board: metals, PAHs, alkalinity, nitrate, sulfate, ammonia, organic carbon, during storms
SEC: continuous turbidity
SFEI: untargeted analysis during storms
Confluence of Sonoma and Calabazas Creeks, downtown Glen Ellen “Roads, roads, roads” Citizen Science --CalFire on erosion problems after fires Document nature’s recovery from photopoints 3 years Nerds for Nature, iNaturalist, CalAcademy, 9Mile Productions
Assess culverts and ditches to avoid erosion, sediment pollution, and blow-outs
Sonoma County Transportation & Public Works WATERSHED COLLABORATIVE
>30 agencies and nonprofits working on natural resources in Sonoma County First Council meeting 2 Make recommendations to weeks post-fire Sonoma County Board of >20 interest groups Supervisors (planned burning and thinning, financial and policy Shared post-fire priorities incentives, education, from each sector preparedness)
Common issues: housing, General plans coming up communications, jobs, fire- Relevant for earthquake, flood adapted community Contact Susan Gorin Emergency Watershed Protection Program Emergency Watershed Protection Program Sonoma Valley structure damage assessment. Within the Sonoma Creek watershed there are: · 1,026 destroyed structures Emergency · 492 residences · 506 outbuildings Watershed · 28 commercial Within 300ft of a waterway: Protection · 428 destroyed structures · 202 residences Program · 213 outbuildings · 13 commercial
Within 200 ft of a waterway: · 275 destroyed structures · 119 residences · 147 outbuildings · 9 commercial
Within 100 ft of a waterway: · 101 destroyed structures · 38 residences · 58 outbuildings · 5 commercial
141 County maintained culverts are within the burned area. 53 of those are within 500 ft of destroyed structures Emergency Watershed Protection Program Emergency Watershed Protection Program Emergency Watershed Protection Program
NeWTS: Neighborhood Water Teams
The Issues •Groundwater depletion •Drought symptoms (fire risk) •Flooding •Water quality (pollution) •Need for resilient communities
A Solution •Based on behavior-change research and successful programs •Reach people where they are, directly engage •Actions promoted address water pollution & water conservation, while also building community
Image: Kent Porter/PD NeWTS: Neighborhood Water Teams
What does NeWTs look like in action? ● Four meetings: 1. Introduction, 2. Water Quality, 3. Water Conservation, and 4. Digging Deeper ● At meetings facilitators share demos/information, and participants share action plans, tips, questions ● Between meetings, participants do their chosen actions ● Local Resource Guide & other freebies ● Track impacts in action logs, pre-post surveys NeWTS: Neighborhood Water Teams Currently: SEC running teams •Series at Sonoma Garden Park •Series at a Springs neighborhood location •Recruit participants, run meetings •Provide expertise, guest speakers, learning opportunities, resources Goal for future: •Community leaders emerge from momentum of SEC-led teams •SEC supports these leaders in running their own teams! How you can support NeWTs: Join us as a participant •Help form or lead a team among your neighbors, co-workers, church, etc.
Thank you! www.sonomaecologycenter.org Our Contact Info:
Phone: 707-996-0712 Website: www.sonomaecologycenter.org General Inquiries: [email protected] Volunteering: [email protected]
[email protected], 707-996-0712 x106 [email protected], 707-833-5712 (Sugarloaf) [email protected], 707-322-1400 [email protected], 707-996-0712 x103 [email protected], 707-996-0712 x108
Our thanks to the Earth Care Committee, Permit Sonoma, and EPA Region 9 for their support of this event! Special thanks to Sasha Berleman of ACR for her guidance with fire ecology.