*The view to the west of Ukiah from the fuel break at the top of Low Gap Road*

The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is working with the largest landowner in the county to extend a CAL FIRE-funded shaded fuel break to the west of Ukiah’s western hills.

In 2022, CAL FIRE awarded a Forest Health Grant of $3.8 million to Mendocino Redwood Company to treat about 1000 acres of high-risk forest above Low Gap Road. The work has largely consisted of thinning understory and selectively harvesting overstory, using a mix of hand crews and mechanical mastication methods.

Standing on the fuel break at the top of the ridge in early July, Ryan Smith, Deputy Chief of Fire Protection for CAL FIRE’s Mendocino Unit, described the project and how he believes it will enhance safety for local residents. The work, he said, aligns with the unit’s fire-prevention goals because “It gives us a place where we can put resources and make a stand against a fire either generated on the coast side, coming towards Ukiah, or vice-versa, coming from the city towards all the timberlands and communities to the west of us here on the coast.”

Hayley Ross, a stewardship manager with MRC, described the project as providing “a toehold for future firefighting.” It extends all the way from MRC property on Low Gap Road to Orr Springs Road, creating access and egress by reducing fuels on either side of the road.

Now Mendocino Redwood Company is sharing $300,000 of its grant with MCFSC.

*MRC Director of Forest Policy John Andersen and MRC forester Cody Easton on July 10 discussing the fuel break*

MCFSC and its partner organizations have already been hard at work securing permissions from smaller landowners for a fuel break that will benefit the entire community. In 2023, MCFSC worked with the California Conservation Corps to treat 38.5 acres along Pine Ridge Road, tying into Low Gap Road. This will ensure a viable escape route for residents, as well as a clear way in for firefighters backing up Ukiah’s western hills. MCFSC plans to extend that work by 30 acres.

The County of Mendocino allocated some monies from another CAL FIRE grant that MCFSC is managing, by hiring a contractor to thin an additional 35.6 acres along Low Gap Road closer to Ukiah. The remainder of the county’s allocation, plus the funds from MRC, will allow MCFSC to treat another 56 acres. Overall, the projects combine to create a coherent north-south and east-west fuel break protecting the northwest approach to Ukiah.

Prescribed burns are also part of the project’s fuel management plan, though CAL FIRE Deputy Chief Smith noted that the window for burning is narrow. “There are a lot of challenges,” he acknowledged, adding, “That’s why there’s a broad-stroke approach” to fuels reduction across the state, including thinning, chipping, and burning. All of this breaks up the continuity of fuels, making it harder for fire to spread if it does start.

*Lop and scatter work on the Low Gap Road Forest Resilience Project*

He urged owners of properties of all sizes to consider a variety of fuels-management strategies on their own lands. “We’re trying to diversify as much as possible,” he reflected, “and encourage people to do clearing and burns on their own property. I know that’s scary for a lot of people. But it’s definitely something that people can reach out to us or to the Fire Safe Council for advice and mentorship on how to do that in a safe way… (We) even welcome people to come out and view some of our burns so they can learn and gain some confidence and do some of it themselves, because the reality is that for the acreage we need to get done, we need people to contribute and do a lot of it on their own properties as well.”

For more information about how you can participate in fire-resilience projects, including shaded fuel breaks and prescribed burns, visit the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council’s website at www.firesafemendocino.org.