Wildfire Risks in Neighborhoods near Highland Avenue, Santa Cruz

Matt Abernathy, Forest Health and Wildfire Resiliency Program Specialist

Resources Conservation District of Santa Cruz County

Report Summary | June 2021

On June 2, 2021, Matt Abernathy from the Resources Conservation District of Santa Cruz County performed an in-depth examination of the neighborhoods bounded by High Street, UCSC, Pogonip, and the forest/ravine areas next to Harvey West Park. Abernathy’s goal was to look at the area as a whole to identify specific wildfire risks and recommend ways people in our neighborhoods can help reduce those risks.

How Fuel, Weather, and Topography Influence Wildfires

Abernathy described three major factors that influence fire behavior: fuel, weather, and topography.

• Fuel for wildfires is anything that can ignite and burn, including piles of dry leaves and brush, dead tree branches, drought-affected trees and plants, and climbing vines that allow fire to move quickly over landscapes and into tree tops. 

• Weather patterns that are wet and cool or dry and hot also influence fire behavior. Santa Cruz weather used to be more foggy, wet, and cool, which protected us from severe wildfires in the past. Hot, dry days and warmer nights make it easy for a spark from a car or an ember from a campfire to start a wildfire. 

• Topography, or the shape and characteristics of the landscape, can influence fire behavior. For example, fires usually move faster uphill than downhill because of how heat rises, which puts structures at the tops of ravines at high risk.

Three factors of wildfires

The basic idea of wildfire fighting is to reduce or remove one of the three factors. Due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, changes in our climate and weather have made wildfire behavior hard to predict and model. This means that as stewards of our land, we must look at the other two factors to mitigate fires. Abernathy recommends the following ideas:

Manage Fuel on your Property

Managing fuel is one of the best ways to mitigate wildfires because it removes what fires need to ignite and spread. 

• Create a defensible space around your home. Clear dried leaves, dead grass, and other flammable materials out to five (5) feet from your house, and store propane tanks, gas-powered garden tools, and flammable liquids away from this area.

• Eliminate “ladder fuel” - low tree branches, tall brush, ivy, and vines that grow up tree trunks and structures. Ladder fuels change a wildfire’s behavior by allowing a ground fire to burn up into the tree canopy.

• Remove dense groups of small trees and shrubs. Our redwood ecosystem is extremely dynamic, and removing small seedlings and saplings improves the overall health of the forest by allowing more nutrients to reach mature trees.

• Prune large trees and remove small trees. This reduces crowding and creates gaps that can slow or stop fire moving through the canopy. It also allows mature trees access to more sunlight, resulting in happier and healthier trees.

Manage Topography with Strategic Partners

Abernathy supports partnering with City officials and private landowners to work on fire management projects that can help protect the entire area. Highland Firewise is connecting with partners that manage the WUI land surrounding our neighborhood to work on the following projects:

• Using goats to clear ravines and forested land. The goats are scheduled to arrive in the Evergreen Cemetery Ravine in early July 2021!

• Fortifying ridgetops around the canyons where homes are present. Since fires tend to burn uphill, Abernathy suggested a strategic shaded fuel break on City property. The fuel break can be a break in vegetation that keeps the green tree canopy intact, or a line cut down to bare dirt in a strategic area at the top of ridges or flat terrain. 

Highland Firewise is connecting with members of the Santa Cruz City Council, Santa Cruz Parks Department, UCSC, and other relevant stakeholders to identify and prioritize actions based on the RCDSCC report. To get involved in this important WUI work, please contact Anne Takahashi-Kelso at dratakahashi@protonmail.com

Highland Firewise is also working on the following key issues from this report:

• Mowing dried grass along Pogonip/Spring Trail

• Organizing volunteers to work on fuel breaks and determine alternate evacuation routes within UCSC

• Seeking funds for Park Rangers or recruiting volunteer Park Rangers for the WUI.

Help Neighbors Clear Their Fuel

When houses are close to forests and each other, simply taking care of our own property is not enough. Abernathy endorsed partnerships amongst neighbors to help people who may not have the physical strength or financial means to clear fuels on their own. 

Highland Firewise Volunteers will be organizing volunteer opportunities to remove brush and invasive ivy from around our neighborhood. Get Involved! We need more volunteers!

Please email info@highlandfirewise.org to join a clearing team or 

if you need help clearing vegetation/fuels from your yard.

This summary of Matt Abernathy’s report was prepared by Shareen Bell, and Tiffany Zachmeier. The Assessment coordination was spearheaded by Anne Migahm Takahashi and supported by Nicole Wendel and Dagmar Dolatschko