To: Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Department or Agency Name(s): Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Staff Name and Phone Number: Monica Delmartini, 565-7260
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): First
Title:
Title
Cal Fire Cooperative Prescribed Burning Agreement for Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve and Professional Services Agreement with Audubon Canyon Ranch for Prescribed Burn Implementation on District Fee Lands.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize the General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to execute a California Vegetation Management Program cooperative prescribed burning agreement with Cal Fire, in a form approved by County Counsel, for prescribed fire services for fuel reduction and vegetation management at the Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve; and
B) Authorize the General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to execute a professional services agreement with Audubon Canyon Ranch, in a form approved by County Counsel, for prescribed fire services for fuel reduction and vegetation management not to exceed $90,000, effective for three years with an option to extend the agreement for two additional years.
(First District)
end
Executive Summary:
The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District currently owns the 960-acre Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve northeast of Rincon Valley. The Preserve property experienced a long period of exclusion of both fire and active forest management that resulted in heavy fuel buildup, crowded forest understory conditions, and heavy thatch buildup in grasslands. The Preserve burned in the 2020 Glass Fire at varying and patchy intensity, with areas of low and moderate-severity fire effects retaining much of the pre-Glass Fire fuel load. These areas are currently being thinned of dead material through a State Coastal Conservancy Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Program Grant, and would benefit, along with the Preserve’s grasslands, from carefully planned prescribed and/or cultural burning to improve ecosystem health and resilience and further reduce hazard fuels.
The General Manager requests authorization to execute agreements with Cal Fire and Audubon Canyon Ranch to implement prescribed fire activities.
Discussion:
The Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve (“Preserve”) was acquired by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (“Ag + Open Space”) in 2006 to protect its open space and natural resource values, which include habitat for at least nine documented special-status plant species and potential habitat for numerous special-status wildlife species. Like most of our region, the Preserve has experienced significant changes in fuel loads, forest stand structure, and vegetation community composition due to more than 100 years of fire exclusion, cessation of Indigenous burning, and cessation or alteration in grazing and forest stewardship practices. These major alterations to the typical disturbance regime of this property have created widespread, hazardous ladder fuel buildup and threaten the biodiversity of what has historically been a highly diverse mosaic of native vegetation communities and rare species habitat.
While the 2020 Glass Fire provided a “re-set” of conditions across some portions of the Preserve, many areas saw lower-intensity fire that resulted in fire-killed but unburned ladder fuels in the understory of otherwise healthy, unburned forest. Additionally, invasive species remain a concern across portions of the Preserve. Reintroducing carefully planned, intentional burning to appropriate parts of the Preserve would have numerous benefits in terms of maintaining reduced fuel loads, improving ecosystem health, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, improving landscape resilience to extreme events, potentially protecting public and firefighter safety, and creating opportunities to restore Indigenous stewardship of the Wappo Tribe’s and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria’s ancestral homeland.
One mechanism for conducting prescribed burning on the Preserve is through an RM-75, cooperative burning agreement with Cal Fire. This agreement provides no-cost operational support for prescribed fire projects, with Cal Fire taking on responsibility for all burn operations, including follow-up and patrol. Burn units and objectives would be determined by Ag + Open Space staff, who would work with Cal Fire staff to prepare a burn plan and set of prescriptions, firing methods, and other considerations in order to meet identified objectives; Cal Fire would then assume ownership of the burn itself, with fireline-qualified Ag + Open Space staff able to be present to support and observe the burn. The General Manager requests authorization to negotiate and enter into an RM-75 agreement with Cal Fire, in a form approved by County Counsel, for prescribed fire on Saddle Mountain.
While the Cal Fire RM-75 agreement is an excellent option for reintroducing prescribed burning to the Preserve, Cal Fire’s statewide resource allocations and readiness levels mean that the agency frequently has not had resources available to conduct prescribed burns in our region during appropriate burn windows. Additionally, burns conducted under Cal Fire’s ownership may not provide opportunities for Indigenous community members to collaborate on or participate in traditional cultural burning. For these reasons, the Ag + Open Space seeks to execute an open-scope professional services agreement with Audubon Canyon Ranch, a non-profit organization (“ACR”), in addition to the Cal Fire agreement, in order to have the option to make use of ACR’s “Fire Forward” program resources and fireline-qualified volunteer workforce when Cal Fire resources are unavailable or otherwise not the best fit for a project.
ACR’s Fire Forward program is a science-based, fully qualified prescribed fire service provider, the only such in our region. By contracting with ACR, Ag + Open Space will have the ability to make use of their support for prescribed fire projects from start to finish, including burn plan development, permitting, coordination of resources and equipment, provision of a fireline-qualified 20-person hand crew plus necessary overhead, and full operational command of the burn through mop-up. ACR has a State of California qualified Burn Boss on staff who is authorized to administer prescribed fire within the state. The Fire Forward program has supported and executed numerous safe, successful prescribed burns across the North Bay region in recent years, and working with this service provider allows for a robust and unique opportunity to support local workforce development and direct Tribal participation in restoring “good fire” to our landscape.
In 2021, Ag + Open Space partnered with Sonoma County Regional Parks to release a Request for Proposals for prescribed burn services, in the hope of being able to execute one or more open-scope professional services agreements with qualified Burn Bosses. No proposals were received; because of this, Ag + Open Space staff reached out directly to ACR to discuss a services agreement given the organization’s unique qualifications for prescribed burn services.
Additionally, Ag + Open Space intends to explore options for contracting for the services of a professional Burn Boss with a “Type 1” certification from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the highest level of Burn Boss qualification in the country. Having such a Burn Boss under contract would give Ag + Open Space additional capability for more complex burns in coordination with ACR.
The General Manager requests authorization to negotiate and execute a three-year agreement with ACR for prescribed burn services on Ag + Open Space-owned property, with an option to extend the agreement for an additional two years at the election of General Manager, in an amount not to exceed $90,000 over the entire term of the agreement. Unlike Cal Fire, ACR and other private burn bosses do not typically assume full liability for burn operations, and therefore Ag + Open Space, as the property owner, would remain responsible for many of the potential risks from the proposed burns, including damages resulting from an escaped fire. Recent state legislation (SB-332) provides a limited immunity to Ag + Open Space for damages caused by negligent prescribed burns - but the legislation only applies to fire suppression, rescue or emergency medical services, fire investigation, and other related costs - and would not extend to property damage or personal injury from escaped fire. Ag + Open Space staff will work with County Counsel and Risk Management to mitigate risk through contract language, safety protocols, liability waivers, and insurance. Despite these measures, using prescribed fire carries certain risks that cannot be mitigated, although the benefits of prescribed fire may outweigh these risks.
Prescribed burning on the Preserve is included in 2019 Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve Management Plan and is covered by the associated Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration, which was approved and adopted by the Board of Directors in 2019. All currently identified potential prescribed fire projects, including ten grassland burn units and twenty timber/woodland burn units, have been analyzed by CEQA consultants to Ag + Open Space and determined to fall within the scope of the existing CEQA document. This CEQA document has been used by Cal Fire to meet environmental review requirements for the RM-75 agreement.
Exact timing for implementation of any of these prescribed burns is yet to be determined, with post-Glass-Fire vegetation response, drought stress, pre-burn site prep and thinning, invasive species considerations, appropriate weather and fuel moisture conditions, and consultation with Tribal representatives to be factored into this determination. Approximately 120 acres of high-priority oak woodland and mixed hardwood forest, most of this acreage being within identified burn units, is currently being thinned of dead, small-diameter ladder fuel material under a grant from the State Coastal Conservancy. Ag + Open Space plans to conduct robust public outreach prior to undertaking any burning on the Preserve, and intends to continue to lead fire ecology-related educational outings on the Preserve in coordination with our contracted outings providers, in order to provide an opportunity for interested members of the public to observe both “before” and “after” conditions within both burn units and wildfire-affected areas and have the opportunity to learn about fire’s role and effects in our local ecosystems.
Prior Board Actions:
August 27, 2021: Reso 21-0317 Delegation of Authority for Grant Assistance Provided by the State Coastal Conservancy Forest Health & Wildfire Resilience Program
September 24, 2019: Reso 19-0406 Adoption of Management Plan, Initial Study & Mitigated Negative Declaration
January 10, 2006: Reso 06-0041 Fee Title Acquisition of the Saddle Mountain Property
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 21-22 Adopted |
FY 22-23 Projected |
FY 23-24 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
30,000 |
30,000 |
30,000 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
30,000 |
30,000 |
30,000 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
30,000 |
30,000 |
30,000 |
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
30,000 |
30,000 |
30,000 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Adequate appropriations are existing in the FY 21-22 budget and will be incorporated into the projected year’s budgets.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
1. Property Map
2. Preliminary Prescribed Fire Burn Units Map
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None