Tomales Bay State Park managers plan tree-cutting, burns

Officials say the project is needed to mitigate a decade of fire suppression, but some environmental groups say it will disrupt a healthy forest ecosystem.

In an effort to reverse the effects of nearly a century of fire suppression, Tomales Bay State Park officials are proposing to cut down trees and use prescribed burns to restore forestland and prevent wildfires.

Park officials said that the lack of fire, both from natural events such as lightning strikes and from past prescribed burns by the Coast Miwok, has created unhealthy forests in the parkland bordering Tomales Bay.

Specifically, the park is concerned about the potential loss of bishop pine and hardwood forests that require fires to regenerate and are now threatened by disease, pests and drought that have been exacerbated by climate change.

The resulting buildup of vegetation, downed trees and dead plant materials in the understory has also increased the risks of more severe and destructive fires that could threaten nearby communities and alter the natural landscape, according to park environmental scientist Bree Hardcastle.

“That accumulation does influence fire behavior and can make the risk to the habitat itself from a wildfire higher because it’s no longer in the natural state it would be in based on uninterrupted ecological processes,” Hardcastle said. “Humans have altered those natural processes by influencing disease and suppressing fires. If natural fires were happening or if cultural burning would happen, there would be less ladder fuels and dense understory.”

As part of its project, the park is planning to use a combination of prescribed burns, cutting down both living and dying trees, pile burning and herbicides, among other methods, to mimic conditions that would allow for forests to regenerate.

Early estimates by the park show the project would encompass 2,200 acres of the 2,400-acre park, with different areas receiving different types of treatments based on local plants and wildlife, topography and other factors, Hardcastle said.

Much of the work occur on the western side of the bay, which is mostly forested, though some work will also occur on the eastern side, which is made up of more grasslands. Exact locations where the work will take place have not been released but more information is expected to be posted online next week, Hardcastle said. The information can be found at bit.ly/3I8Rgmg

The park is seeking to begin work in the fall of 2024, with work occurring intermittently during a 10-year period. The management work would likely have to occur every five years if not more often for some areas, depending on the need, Hardcastle said. A project cost estimate has yet to be established.

A group of environmental and advocacy organizations opposes the plan, stating that it is relying on overly broad forest management practices approved by the state and applying them to Tomales Bay forestlands without in-depth environmental studies.

The opponents say the work will disrupt the habitat of sensitive and endangered wildlife and plant species, dry out the forest floor and make the forest more susceptible to wind-driven fires. They also say the park should focus instead on maintaining fuel breaks and clearing defensible space surrounding nearby homes and communities.

“We do not think that basically clear-cutting native bishop pines is in any way mimicking the natural 200-year fire cycle,” said Laura Cunningham, California director of the Western Watersheds Project nonprofit group. “What we want them to do is leave the forest alone. It’s doing just fine the way it is.”

An opposition letter sent to the park last month was also signed by the John Muir Project, the California Chaparral Institute, Forest Unlimited, In Defense of Animals, the Defend Them All Foundation, the TreeSpirit Project, Californians for Energy Choice and Our City. The groups are calling on the park to conduct a full environmental review of the project.

“Forest and shrubland resilience does not include heavy-handed mechanical treatments in native plant communities that are not adapted to frequent disturbance,” the letter states. “Bishop pine forests are adapted to rare stand-replacing high-intensity fires caused by lightning ignitions, not chainsaws.”

In response, Hardcastle said many of the concerns raised by the groups are misrepresentations of the project. She said that the park is not clear-cutting trees, but will be removing dead, diseased and some smaller-diameter living trees as needed to open up the canopy to provide enough space for new trees to grow. Live larger-diameter trees will remain, with the burn piles being placed nearby to create enough heat to open cones in the canopy, Hardcastle said.

The park’s plan relies on the California Vegetation Treatment Program, which was approved in 2019 and allows public agencies to use a variety of treatment methods in state-managed areas to reduce wildfire risk.

Hardcastle said this program underwent an extensive environmental review, but that the Tomales Bay project would still require several approvals from different agencies before it can proceed.

The agencies include the California Coastal Commission, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Marin County government as well as consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Opposition groups also claim a lack of transparency, stating the information about the project was initially not available on the park’s website and that outreach efforts were minimal. The park has since updated its website with more information about the project and how to acquire initial draft documents.

“It was not well advertised and I think a lot of people didn’t even know what was happening,” Cunningham said. “This was a big project in an important state park and not a lot of people knew about it.”

Hardcastle said the park has provided outreach to residents and organizations and held an online information meeting in December. The plan is still in its preliminary stages and there will be opportunities for the public to weigh in, she said.

The first will be a six-week comment period expected to begin in June. Two hearings will be held before the California Coastal Commission and the project will undergo review by the Marin County government for compliance with its local coastal plan.

Additionally, the park is planning to partner with the Marin County Fire Department and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria — the federally recognized tribe representing the Coast Miwok people — during the planning and eventual implementation of the project, Hardcastle said.

Marin County fire Chief Jason Weber said the lack of fire in the landscape has created unnatural conditions that, if left unaddressed, could result in more significant, destructive fires to both the habitats and nearby homes. Through removal the accumulated material from the forest floor, the project reduces the chances of more intense fires that can reach forest canopies and devastate landscapes, he said.

“I think we’re all fearful, especially living in the North Bay after the five to seven years of seeing what those devastating wind-driven fires look like,” Weber said. “We have to remember 99% of our fires are not those. Most fires are 15 to 100 acres and if they get up in the canopy because it’s unhealthy and there isn’t a break, we can have devastating fuel-driven fires.”

More information on the project can be found online at parks.ca.gov/tomalesbay or by emailing Bree Hardcastle at Bree.Hardcastle@parks.ca.gov