Fuels Management for Wildfire Preparedness & Ecosystem Health

The Yolo County RCD is partnering with regional RCDs, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and USDA Farm Services Agency (FSA) , and CALFIRE to better serve our communities in their fire prevention and preparedness and oak woodland stewardship efforts. 

Some of these services we offer include:

  • Site Visits and Conservation Plans – RCD staff, in partnership with NRCS, can come to your property and advise you on best practices moving forward to ensure healthy soil, habitat restoration and erosion control during post-wildfire recovery.
  • Connecting with the right program – NRCS and other federal and state partners have programs designed to assist rural landowner and agriculture operations with addressing erosion and other issues after natural disasters like wildfire. Some of these programs offer financial assistance or cost-share opportunities in rebuilding infrastructure like fences, irrigation systems and livestock water stations. We can assist by evaluating your needs and connecting you with the right program to fit those needs. 
Yolo County RCD has expertise on and funding for projects that address vegetation management for wildfire resilience and post-fire recovery. If you are interested in seeing how your property could benefit from the following practices, reach out to Tanya Meyer, RCD Program Manager, at meyer@yolorcd.org or (530) 661-1688 x 2. 

Fuels Management Practices

Prescribed Grazing

Prescribed grazing, also known as rotational grazing, was originally developed to improve pasture and rangeland. However, prescribed grazing can also be used to establish fuel breaks or reduce fuel loads. 

Prescribed grazing is the application of livestock at a particular season, duration, and intensity to accomplish conservation goals such as reducing fuel loads, controlling invasive species, and promoting biodiversity and land stewardship. Prescribed grazing also has many co-benefits including carbon sequestration, native plant restoration, and nutrient cycling. 

Livestock used can be cattle or sheep which allows for fuels reduction in difficult to access sloped areas. Prescribed grazing is a great choice for areas where other fuel treatments are considered too costly, dangerous, or inappropriate for the ecosystem.

Prescribed grazing reduces fine fuels and ladder fuels and can be used as site prep other fuels treatments like before prescribed burns. Prescribed grazing can be used for long-term maintenance after fuel treatments. 

Yolo County RCD has funding and expertise to develop grazing management plans and implement grazing projects for wildfire prevention and resilience. 

Prescribed fire is the planned application of beneficial fire to meet management objectives. Prescribed fires can reduce the intensity and likelihood of wildfires by reducing fuels, controlling invasive species, and reducing vegetation overcrowding.

The right fire at the right place at the right time:

  • Reduces hazardous fuels, protecting human communities from extreme fires;
  • Minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease;
  • Removes unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem;
  • Provides forage for game;
  • Improves habitat for threatened and endangered species
  • Recycles nutrients back to the soil; and
  • Promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants

The Yolo County RCD coordinates the Yolo Prescribed Burn Association and has staff that are certified as Wildland Firefighter Type II. To learn more about prescribed fire and its benefits, visit our Yolo PBA webpage or the PBA Resource Library.

To schedule a site visit or connect about prescribed fire, reach out to Bailey Adams, Yolo PBA Coordinator, at adams@yolorcd.org.

Across Yolo County’s western range, oak woodlands, savanna, and grasslands occur along sloping hills dominated by Valley oak (Quercus lobata), Blue oak (Quercus douglasii), and Interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni). Oak woodlands support an immense diversity of plant and wildlife species and play an important role in watershed health.

Historically, fire was a common occurence in oak woodland and grassland ecosystems with a fire return interval of 5 to 45 years with a median of 12 years. In Yolo County, oak woodlands and savanna have been impacted by frequent catastrophic wildfire, climate change, and agriculture. 

Does your property have remnant oak woodlands or oaks that have been or may be impacted by fire? Yolo County RCD can help with restoration, oak woodland stewardship, and forest management planning. Reach out to Tanya Meyer, RCD Program Manager, at meyer@yolorcd.org or call (530) 661-1688 x 2. 

Is your property in need of stewardship for wildfire preparedness and fuels management?

Yolo County RCD has partnered with NRCS to provide technical assistance and cost-share funding to implement projects on private land that will build wildfire resilience in oak woodlands, shrubland, and grassland through Yolo County. Learn more about cost-share NRCS funding by visit the Yolo County Fire Safe Council website, here.

Are you conducting your own defensible space and fuels management on your property, but need a way to dispose of fuels debris? The Yolo County Fire Safe Council offers a Neighborhood Chipper Program. 

The Neighborhood Chipper Program is a hazardous fuels reduction service (available to folks living in the high fire areas of Yolo County) that helps landowners manage vegetation after creating defensible space around their homes. Residents are responsible for cutting down vegetation and stacking their debris piles according to guidelines. On a Chipper Day, crews will load debris into the chipper and leave behind a pile of mulch that can be used in compost or as mulch for trees (where appropriate for defensible space). 

To learn more about the Neighborhood Chipper Program, visit the Yolo County Fire Safe Council website, linked here.

Post Fire Recovery

For information on Post-Fire Recovery Assistance from USDA:

Post-Wildfire Recovery:

Native Plants Post Fire:

Post-Fire Webinars: