Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) has submitted a permit application to San Mateo County officials for the implementation of a fuels reduction plan on POST’s Wicklow property and on neighboring Quarry Park in El Granada. The project will improve public safety and help protect against the threat of wildfire in the immediate area.
The plan focuses on the western slopes of POST’s 478-acre Wicklow property. Objectives are to provide emergency response access in case of fire on the land, limit the size and behavior of potential fires, and reduce fire intensity near structures. The plan also seeks to minimize the number of fire ignitions, protect and enhance natural resources, and engage the community in fire safety.
“We seek to reduce the potential fire risk and the damage that might result to natural resources, including vegetation, wildlife, soil stability and water quality,” said POST Executive Vice President Walter T. Moore. “By submitting this plan, we want to act as good neighbors and do what we can to address potential fire threats on the land.”
A dense, 265-acre forest of eucalyptus trees—a non-native, invasive species—covers more than 55 percent of the Wicklow property. The land also contains more than 160 acres of northern coastal scrub, as well as small areas of grassland and riparian scrub.
Because the property was logged within the last 20 years, the eucalyptus forest is comprised mostly of overcrowded pole-sized trees that have re-sprouted from stumps left after logging. The forest has a thick debris layer of fallen trees, branches and peeled bark. The combination of the debris, overcrowded trees and shrubs can provide a ladder for fire to climb into the tree canopy and create the potential for fast-moving fires. By removing flammable debris, grasses and understory plants, the risk of igniting the canopy is greatly decreased.
The plan’s 91-acre treatment area fronts private parcels to the west and includes a meadow area and a perimeter road around the entire property. Although an old network of roads and trails is extensive, vehicular access within Wicklow has degraded over time as a result of slides and surface erosion. A key element of POST’s plan is to restore the perimeter fire road. This will be done by thinning and, where necessary, removing eucalyptus along the road.
The plan will also reduce forest fuels downhill of the private parcels and provide fire-fighting access into the valley floor and along the perimeter road. A 100-foot-wide fire buffer will be cleared along the border shared with residences on El Granada Boulevard. The eucalyptus on the remainder of this slope will be thinned. The valley floor will be cleared of eucalyptus as well as other invasive plants, including pampas grass and French broom. Four safety zones for firefighters will be established, including one in the valley floor and three along the perimeter road. Native trees within the forest will be preserved in a way that reduces fire risk and aims to protect the natural resource values of the property.
“Fuels produced by eucalyptus forests can easily ignite,” said Moore. “The results of these treatments will greatly improve safety of the site. Fire intensity in treated areas and any related potential damage will dramatically decline, and firefighters will be able to respond to a fire more safely if one were to occur.”
POST performed extensive research to determine the most appropriate permitting process for the project. After several meetings between POST, consulting forester Buena Vista Services, the county and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, POST sought a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) from the county for this work.
The San Mateo County Planning and Building Department will hold a public meeting about the plan on Thursday, April 17, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of El Granada Elementary School, 400 Santiago Street, in El Granada. County representatives, POST staff and consultants will give a presentation outlining the details of the project and will be available to answer questions.
