The recent fires in Lake County have resulted in an unprecedented need to address forest resource recovery and protection. There are a number of important topics currently being discussed among a wide array of resource professionals addressing hazard tree removal, water quality, reseeding and reforestation, salvage logging, and soil protection. Many of these topics will take months, if not years, to address as the scale and scope of the burned acreage is taxing local, state and Federal resources.
The immediate need for land and home owners to consider is soil protection as the loosened soil and ash can move quickly under proper storm conditions. Though seeding has often been used in the past it is generally consider ineffective as the seed simply moves and erodes with the soil and ash following an initial rain event. An effective soil erosion prevention method is to leave any tree limbs, logs, trunks, rocks or other solid structures on the soil surface to trap any moving soil. Though many people may want to “clean” their property, allowing woody debris to sit through the winter will serve as an effective way to arrest soil movement. If people are having to harvest hazard trees, positioning them strategically on slopes or near streams and gullies, for the first winter, will provide similar soil protection.
Lastly there are commercially available materials designed specifically to minimize soil erosion and may need to be considered. However, people addressing soil erosion potential on their properties should take a few minutes to assess what resources they have on hand to protect soils and keep costs low.
Greg Giusti is the Forest Advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension
