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The border of Point Reyes National
Seashore along the northern half of Inverness Ridge, is densely
vegetated with a young stand of Bishop pine which resprouted
after the 1995 Vision Fire. A fuel break along this ridge
is needed to help protect the subdivision of Paradise Ranch
Estates. In this subdivision of approximately 135 parcels,
45 homes burned during the Vision Fire. Several other subdivisions
running parallel to the fuel break will also benefit from
the role it plays in enhancing fire management strategies.
The Inverness Ridge fuel break is being constructed along
the Bayview Fire Road and the Inverness Ridge Trail. The Bayview
Fire Road connects Paradise Ranch Estates with Limantour Road,
providing critical emergency access for firefighters. Firefighters
may also use this road as an anchor point from which to conduct
burnout operations in order to control a wildfire. Limantour
Road is a two-way paved road which bisects the center of Point
Reyes National Seashore. The Bayview Fire Road, is unpaved,
and is a vital escape route for residents who would otherwise
be trapped on the ridge if alternative routes became unavailable
to the east. The Bayview Fire Road narrows and transitions
into Inverness Ridge Trail when it reaches the edge of the
subdivision at Sunnyside Road.
During the 2003 and 2004 field
seasons, thinning was done along a two mile corridor, 10 feet
on each side of the fire road, and 30 feet on each side of
the trail. Crowded thickets of Bishop pine were thinned to
1 tree every 20 feet. Common vegetation such as ceanothus,
coyote brush, stickey monkey flower, poison oak and blackberry
was removed. However, a survey of the treatment area was done
to prevent imapcts to Marin manzanita, a rare chapparal shrub
which regenerated heavily after the Vision Fire. The plant
survey also identified several occurrences of rare California
bottlebrush grass. The two rare plants were left intact. The
vegetation that was removed, was chipped onsite.
Fuel removal was accomplished by the Point Reyes hazardous
fuels crew, and crews from the Marin Coservation Corps. Firefighters
from Lava Beds National Monument, as well as Sequoia and Kings
Canyon National Parks, also assisted with this project.
The Inverness Ridge fuel break was
recommended in a community fire management plan prepared for
Paradise Ranch Estates in 2002 with Community Assistance funding
from the National Fire Plan. A section of this fuel break
was also recommended in a 1996 report entitled, “After
the Vision Fire”, commissioned for the Inverness Ridge
Communities by the Environmental Action Committee of West
Marin. The Inverness Ridge fuel break on National Park Service
land is strategically related to several other fuel breaks
in the subdivision which are in closer proximity to the structures.
The Inverness Ridge fuel break was planned in cooperation
with Marin County Fire Department.
Work on this project will be continued in the 2005 field season.
Once completed, this fuel break will require ongoing maintenance
every other year, due to the rapid growth rates in the lush
coastal environment of the Point Reyes peninsula.
Contact: Roger P. Wong, Fire Management
Officer
Phone: (415) 464-5243
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