California Fish and Wildlife SPECIAL ISSUE of Fire on California’s Natural Reso Effects urces Journal for the Conservation and Management of California’s Species and Ecosystems STATE OF CALIFORNIA Gavin Newsom, Governor CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY Wade Crowfoot, Secretary for Natural Resources FISH AND GAME COMMISSION Eric Sklar, President Jacque Hostler-Carmesin, Vice President Russell Burns, Member Peter S. Silva, Member Samantha Murray, Member Melissa Miller-Henson, Executive Director DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE Charlton “Chuck” Bonham, Director CALIFORNIA FISH AND WILDLIFE EDITORIAL STAFF Ange Darnell Baker .....................................................................................Editor-in-Chief Lorna Bernard .....................................Office of Communication, Education and Outreach Neil Clipperton, Scott Osborn, Laura Patterson, Dan Skalos, Karen Converse, Kristin Denryter, and Katherine Miller ...........................Wildlife Branch Felipe La Luz and Ken Kundargi ................................................................... Water Branch Jeff Rodzen and Jeff Weaver ..................................................................... Fisheries Branch Cherilyn Burton ..................................................... Habitat Conservation Planning Branch Kevin Fleming .........................................................Watershed Restoration Grants Branch Jeff Villepique and Steve Parmenter .................................................Inland Deserts Region Paul Reilly and James Ray ........................................................................... Marine Region David Wright, Jennifer Nguyen, and Mario Klip ..............................North Central Region Ken Lindke and Robert Sullivan ............................................................... Northern Region Lauren Damon .........................................................................................Bay Delta Region Randy Lovell ......................................................................................Aquaculture Program California Fish and Wildlife FIRE SPECIAL ISSUE 2020 Published Quarterly by STATE OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ISSN: 2689-419X (print) ISSN: 2689-4203 (online) --LDA-- California Fish and Wildlife Journal The California Fish and Wildlife Journal is published quarterly by the Califor- nia Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is a journal devoted to the conservation and understanding of the flora and fauna of California and surrounding areas. If its contents are reproduced elsewhere, the authors and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would appreciate being acknowledged. Please direct correspondence to: Ange Darnell Baker Editor-in-Chief California Fish and Wildlife [email protected] Inquiries regarding the reprinting of articles and publishing in future issues can be directed to the Subscription Manager via email at [email protected]. Alternate communication format is available upon request. If reasonable accommodation is needed, call 916-322-8911 or the California Relay (Telephone) Service for the deaf or hearing-impaired from TDD phones at 800-735-2929. Contents Editors for this issue ........................................................................................................ 6 Introduction KEVIN SHAFFER.............................................................................................................. 9 SUSAN BRITTING .......................................................................................................... 11 Section 1. Vegetation Treatment and Policy: Sonoma County Complex Fires of 2017: Remote sensing data and modeling to support ecosystem and community resiliency KASS GREEN, MARK TUKMAN, DYLAN LOUDON, ALLISON SCHICHTEL, KAREN GAFFNEY, AND MATTHEW CLARK ............................................................ 14 The California Vegetation Treatment Program: integrating biological resource protection into wildfire risk reduction ALLISON FULLER, LARA RACHOWICZ, AND HEATHER BLAIR ......................... 46 Caltrans’ efforts to reduce the frequency and severity of wildfires while protecting California’s valuable resources ................................................................... 52 KEVIN CHURCH, ALEX ARÉVAL, AND LORNA McFARLANE Section 2. Fire Impacts on Plants: Effects of a firebreak on plants and wildlife at Pine Hill, a biodiversity hotspot, El Dorado County, California J. MARIO, K. KLIP, MOLLY R. CALDWELL, DEBRA R. AYRES, AND VIRGINIA MEYER ........................................................................................................ 58 Survival of the rare Packera layneae (Asteraceae), under chaparral and after fire DEBRA R. AYRES, VIRGINIA MEYER, MELANIE GOGOL-PROKURAT, AND LAUREN FETY .................................................................................................... 82 Post-wildfire response of Shasta snow-wreath LEN LINDSTRAND III, JULIE KIERSTEAD, AND DEAN W. TAYLOR ................... 92 Section 3. Fire Impacts on Wildlife and Water: Elk forage response to prescribed fire in Boyes meadow, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California LEE H. WILLIAMSON AND FLOYD W. WECKERLY ............................................ 99 Post-fire species composition and abundance of a lentic-breeding amphibian assemblage: case study of Ledson Marsh DAVID G. COOK AND MARC P. HAYES ................................................................ 110 Analysis of the impacts of the Soberanes Wildfire on stream ecosystems JESSIE M. DOYLE, MIKAELA BOGDAN, AND JOHN R. OLSON .................... 129 Information for authors................................................................................................ 148 California Fish and Wildlife, Fire Special Issue; 6-8; 2020 Editors for this issue This issue would not have been possible without the amazing team of guest editors from our Timberland Conservation and Wildfire Resiliency Program who volunteered their time and expertise for this issue. CRISTIN WALTERS is an Environmental Scientist for CDFW’s Timberland Con-servation and Wildfire Resiliency Program at headquarters. Her work at CDFW focuses on statewide coordination and policy and legislative analysis for forest management and wildfire related issues. Prior to joining CDFW, Cristin worked as the herbarium collections manager for the University of Georgia and as a plant ecologist in the Rocky Mountains and throughout the Sierra Nevada. Much of her work in the Sierra Nevada was focused on understanding the effects of wildfire, post-fire logging, and restoration treatments on forest ecosystems. Cristin has a MS in plant biology from Wake Forest University and a BS in Biology from Towson University. JULIE COOMBES is an Environmental Scientist with the Timberland Conservation and Fire Resiliency Program out of the Bay Delta Region 3 Santa Rosa office. Originally hail- ing from Massachusetts, Julie moved across the country to attend Humboldt State University where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management and Conservation in 2008. While earning her degree, she worked as a research assistant for a Western Pond Turtle seasonal migration and habitat study using radio telemetry, and assisted in researching the foraging distance and pollen requirements of a solitary native bee species of northern California. Upon graduation, Julie spent two years working as a fisheries technician for the Fortuna and Fort Bragg CDFW offices as part of the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project program after which she worked as a Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission fisheries technician for the Central Valley Salmon Aging Program at the CDFW Marine Region 7 Santa Rosa office. In 2012, she was promoted to Environmental Scientist with the Ocean Salmon Project in which she managed the commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries in the San Francisco Bay Area. Julie joined the Timberland Conservation and Fire Resiliency Program in 2013, and she works in Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Napa and Sonoma counties conducting complex analyses of the effects of timber harvest activities on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, project impact assessments, and sensitive species and listed species consultations. JEANETTE GRIFFIN is the Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) for the Timberland Conservation and Fire Resiliency Program at headquarters. Jeanette joined the Timber team as their Fire Resiliency specialist in March 2020 after spending 5 years with the Bay Delta Region’s HabCon program Delta Unit where she was responsible for issuing Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements, CESA Incidental Take Permits, and conduct-ing CEQA review for many projects throughout the Delta. However, Jeanette’s tenure with CDFW goes back to 1999, when she first served as a Scientific Aide for the Game Bird Heritage program. Jeanette graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in EDITORS FOR THIS ISSUE 7 Wildlife Management with a Conservation Biology concentration, and a minor in Botany. After college she moved to central Oregon for an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/ Oregon Department of Transportation study on mule deer migration corridors. While in Oregon, she also worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducting Northern spot- ted owl surveys, protecting aspen groves, and mapping illegal ATV use on public lands. Jeanette has also worked on projects dealing with California spotted owl, Sudden Oak