Draft Tomales Bay burn plan stirs controversy

A draft 10-year effort to restore forestland and prevent wildfires in Tomales Bay State Park is drawing criticism of plans officials say are vital to keeping the park healthy.

Park officials say the use of prescribed burns, tree cutting and herbicides will help offset the negative effects of decades of fire suppression and climate change. Environmental activists, however, argue that the work will disrupt the habitat for sensitive and endangered wildlife.

A public hearing is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Buck Hall, at the Lodge at Marconi at 18500 Highway 1 in Marshall. The session will not be livestreamed, but a recording will be posted online.

Park officials said that the lack of fire, both from natural events such as lightning strikes and from past prescribed burns by the Coast Miwok, has created unhealthy forests in the parkland bordering Tomales Bay.

Specifically, park officials said they are concerned about the potential loss of bishop pine and hardwood forests that require fires to regenerate and are now threatened by disease, pests and drought that have been exacerbated by climate change.

“The habitat in the park and the sensitive species, they will continue to degrade and really be at greater risk of wildfire if we don’t take thoughtful, ecologically focused action,” said Bree Hardcastle, an environmental scientist with state park.

The program area encompasses over 2,400 acres, with different areas receiving different types of treatments based on local plants and wildlife, topography and other factors. Much of the work will occur on the western side of the bay, which is mostly forested, though some work will take place on the eastern side, which is made up of more grasslands.

Prescribed burning would help reduce ground fuels and remove intolerant species and control spread of sudden oak death in hardwood forests, according to the plan. Pile burning in the area of bishop pines will “open the serotinous cones stored in the tree canopy, promoting seed release, and mimicking conditions that create even aged early-seral stage stands,” the document says.

The plan describes using masticators, mowing shrubs and small trees and using hand tools such as chainsaws, hand saws and brush cutters to remove vegetation.

The plan also calls for deploying livestock such as goats or sheep in target areas to graze grassland habitats.

Herbicide application would target invasive species “when other methods are not feasible due to their costs, effectiveness, or potential environmental impacts,” the report notes.

The program was developed in coordination with the California Coastal Commission and the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Planners consulted with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

A group of environmental and advocacy organizations opposes the plan, stating that it is relying on overly broad forest management practices approved by the state and applying them to Tomales Bay forestlands without in-depth environmental studies.

San Rafael resident Jack Gescheidt of the TreeSpirit Project, and the Cotati-based Animal Legal Defense Fund nonprofit organization, is among the activists who are crying foul.

“Nearby residents are understandably worried about wildfire danger, but this project will not only not decrease fire danger, but may actually increase fire danger,” Gescheidt said.

“Chainsawing down trees, including dead trees and ‘opening up the canopy,’ as they say they will to promote bishop pines growth, allows more sun, more heat and dries out the forest floor, which here is dense, and damp and healthy,” he said.

Gescheidt said “thinning” the forest does not promote fire safety but “it is an effective way to frighten residents into acquiescence,” and to help the parks qualify for state funding.

Activists have called on the park to conduct a full environmental review of the project.

The park’s plan relies on the California Vegetation Treatment Program, which was approved in 2019 and allows public agencies to use a variety of treatment methods in state-managed areas to reduce wildfire risk. That program underwent an environmental review process.

Additionally, a “project-specific analysis” and California Environmental Quality Act addendum is being prepared for the Tomales Bay project. The analysis will be submitted to the California Coastal Commission after the state parks staff finalizes its plan.

The park is also partnering with the Marin County Fire Department in the design and implementation.

“We have a significant fire problem in this county,” said Jason Weber, the county fire chief.

“The folks at state parks have developed a project trying to bring the forest back to a more healthy ecological state,” Weber said. “Mechanical removal of vegetation and prescribed burns are really good tools, and we could use a lot more of it in Marin.”

Parks officials are accepting comments on the draft plan through 5 p.m. Jan. 29. Comments can be emailed to Bree Hardcastle, environmental scientist with the state park, at Bree.Hardcastle@parks.ca.gov

Hardcastle said she expects the agency to submit its plan to the California Coastal Commission for consideration in time for a March public hearing.

“There is still lots of opportunity for public review and comment,” Hardcastle said.

The plan is available at bit.ly/3TVda46.