Fire Management Units: Inverness Ridge

Bolinas Ridge | Estero | Headlands | Highway One | Inverness Ridge
Limantour Road | Minimum Management Unit | Non-NPS Land
Palomarin | Tomales Point | Wilderness North | Wilderness South

 

Northern Spotted Owl

INVERNESS RIDGE (1,250 acres) - This linear FMU runs from the western edge of Tomales Bay State Park south along Inverness Ridge to the Bayview Trail parking area. This ridge is dominated by dense stands of Bishop pine (Pinus muricata) in the north, which grade into Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests further south. The understory vegetation is dense beneath the Bishop pine, and consists of highly flammable species such as manzanita (Arctostaphylos ssp.) and ceanothus (Ceanothus ssp.). The understory of the Douglas-fir forests can be sparse, consisting primarily of grasses and herbs, or more dense, with salal and huckleberry. This FMU supports four federal plant species of management concern, including two federal Species of Concern - Marin manzanita (Arctostaphylos virgata) and Mount Vision ceanothus (Ceanothus gloriosus var. porrectus). Northern Spotted Owls, federally listed as a threatened species, nest within this FMU. The Inverness Ridge FMU is immediately adjacent to numerous residences and several business facilities (e.g., grocery stores, restaurants, delicatessens, galleries, and shops) in the communities of Inverness and Inverness Park. The proximity of dense, flammable vegetation to these communities results in an area where the risk of loss associated with fire is very high. The Vision Fire destroyed 44 homes in this area in 1995.

Vegetation Map of the Inverness Ridge Fire Management Unit (Low-res HTML or High-res 817 KB PDF)

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