Experts at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources have released two groundbreaking whitepapers that explain the current state of fire and land-use issues vital to California's oak woodlands and to those who live and work there.
The whitepapers, developed by the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program (IHRMP) at the University of California, continue the University's leadership role in providing timely, science-based information about oak woodlands to the people of California.
"We know people are interested in and concerned about the future of California's oak resources," said Rick Standiford, associate dean of the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley. "Since its inception in 1986, the IHRMP has developed and extended innovative, cutting-edge solutions to oak woodland conservation issues. As California's human population continues to grow, fire management and land-use topics will increase in importance."
New perspectives in fire management
The release of the whitepaper on fire management follows the worst fire season in California's history. The fires that devastated southern California in 2003 raged across nearly 750,000 acres and destroyed more than 4,000 structures. Though many types of plants were burned, oak woodland was most prominently involved.
According to Doug McCreary, IHRMP director, UC Cooperative Extension natural resources specialist and primary author of the paper, people are now realizing that living with fire in California is as normal as living with earthquakes. "Science tells us that fire is a natural part of the oak woodland ecology," McCreary says. "We know that fire in the natural landscape is part of the new reality of living in California. More and more people are beginning to recognize that total fire exclusion in the oak forest type may not be the best strategy to minimize the negative impacts of a wildfire. We have to work to develop strategies that allow for ecologically productive fires, while minimizing the catastrophic impacts of fire on people and property."
Development, agriculture threaten woodlands
The second whitepaper deals with an equally sensitive and controversial issue, land use among the oaks, whose range covers nearly two-thirds of the state. The two main processes influencing oak woodlands today are land clearing for subdivisions and intensive agriculture, and the continued parcelization of large, continuous woodland ownerships for development. Coastal counties from Mendocino to Santa Barbara and the Sierra foothill communities from Placer to Mariposa have all been wrestling with oak issues revolving around housing development and an ever-expanding wine-grape industry.
According to the paper's chief architect, Greg Giusti, a UC Cooperative Extension forest and wildland ecology advisor with the IHRMP, "Land-use topics in oak woodlands are every bit as heated as the spotted owl debates of the 1990s. With the recent passage of SB 1334 (D-Kuehl, Santa Monica) we're witnessing the first steps taken by the state to address the issues of oak woodland conversion by certain types of land use." He added, "As more and more people move into what has historically been ranching lands, the demand for open space amenities will intensify."
The state will continue to wrestle with oak woodland issues well into the future, and the University of California will continue to be involved in the types of discussions that can help Californians and their leaders decide the best course of action in the coming decades. "We're all in this together," says Standiford. "It makes sense that we work together to ensure that people can keep those natural parts of California that we consider part of our home."
Both whitepapers are available online at http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/.