Fuel Reduction

The recent fires across California have many landowners in Sonoma county concerned about what they can do to prepare for a wildfire.  The first step is easy.  Call Sandborn Tree Service. Since 1975 we’ve been Sonoma counties first call to deal with all manor of tree care.  Of course we’re your first call to help manage the trees across your whole property for fire preparedness.  We have the tools and experience to thin and prune the trees near your driveway, around your house, along your lane and even deep into the back corners of your lot.

Fire resiliency works best when neighbors work together.  We are happy to work with your neighborhood to develop and implement a plan for road side clearance, a Shaded Fuel Break or to negotiate access for appropriate scale equipment to do this necessary work within the Suburban Wildland Interface.

What is fuels reduction and how do we implement it in the suburban wild land interface? Fuels reduction is a process that seeks to modify the structure and density of vegetation and surface fuels in our forests and wood lands to reduce the intensity of wildfire. This often is done by pruning away lower limbs, removing small or crowded trees and shrubs and appropriately disposing of the generated material.   Goats, cattle, burn piles and even broadcast burns can be integrated into reducing fuel loads or maintaining lower fuel loads.

A shaded fuel break is just what it sounds like.  It is a contiguous area of forest or woodland that has been pruned and thinned to remove ladder fuels and the tree canopies spaced to lower the risk of canopy fire, while maintaining as much shade as possible.  Shade prevents the rapid regeneration of seedlings and weeds and helps maintain humidity.

The Suburban Wildland Interface (SWI), is the description of the poorly defined boundary between forest and homes. There are approximately 1300 communities within California that fall into this category. We are continually learning how to manage the relationship between wild spaces and suburban neighborhoods.  Recent large fires have shown us that we need to manage the forests close to our homes to reduce fire intensity.

Many of Sonoma Counties communities area in the SWI- it’s a new term, but Sandborn Tree Service has been actively addressing these neighborhoods for the last 50 years.