The Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County is working on a 211-acre wildfire resilience project in the upper Aptos Creek watershed of the Santa Cruz Mountains that will in part set the stage for controlled burns by California State Parks staff.

“This project will allow us to reintroduce fire to the park,” said Hudson Northrop, environmental scientist for State Parks. “The reintroduction of fire will benefit and maintain some of the most diverse portions of the park, which are slowly disappearing in the absence of periodic fire.”

The work, funded by a grant from Cal Fire through the California Climate Investments Fund, began in mid-July along Aptos Creek Fire Road in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, the Soquel Demonstration State Forest and private land owned by Redwood Empire, and will continue through December.

There will be intermittent trail closures until then along Aptos Creek Fire Road from the Buzzard Lagoon Gate to the Sand Point overlook, as well as along the Cusacks trail and other interior single-track trails that intersect with Aptos Creek Fire Road. Hikers and bikers could experience delays and exposure to equipment noise.

Crews are in the process of creating burn piles, lopping and scattering downed woody debris, masticating ladder fuels, felling trees that pose a safety hazard within 100 feet of a road and felling some Douglas fir where they are degrading hardwood habitat. 

That will set the stage for controlled pile and broadcast burns by State Parks staff in an area that hasn’t experienced fire in more than 100 years. According to a release from the Resource Conservation District, ecosystems similar to those found in the project area historically experience fire at intervals of between six and 44 years. These fires helped madrone and other hardwoods compete against Douglas fir, which can grow quickly and shade out shorter tree species. 

“I’m very excited about this project,” said Laurel Bard, forest health program specialist with the RCD. “It’s going to give State Parks the opportunity to safely reintroduce fire to this area, which is really needed to help the unique ecosystems that occur in the upper Aptos Creek watershed.”

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