Maintain
Prescribed Herbivory
Also known as managed livestock grazing, prescribed herbivory is one tool home owners, land managers, communities and public agencies can utilize to reduce fire fuel loads that can lead to catastrophic fires. The goal of managed grazing is to reduce "fine fuels" that can carry a fire.
Prescribed Fire
Prescribed fire, also known as controlled burning, involves setting planned fires to maintain the health of a forest. These burns are scheduled for a time when the fire will not pose a threat to the public or to fire managers. In addition, forest conditions should call for a controlled burn and weather conditions should be right to allow burning but not enable a fire to spread out of control. Materials burned in a planned fire include dead grass, fallen tree branches, dead trees, and thick undergrowth.
Vegetation Management
Vegetation management is a broad term, that includes managing and maintaining near-home plants and vegetation, known as "defensible space." It can also refer to the large-scale management of wildland area natural ecosystems. Wildfire Services Group addresses defensible space, the area from buildings out to a radius of 100 feet (or the property line), as well as the management of large-scale wildland areas.
Fire Smart Landscaping
A fire smart landscape isn’t necessarily the same thing as a well-maintained yard. This type of landscape uses fire-resistant plants that are strategically placed to resist the spread of fire to your home. Fire resistant plants are perfect for California gardens because they are often drought tolerant, too.
Trim and Prune Trees and Shrubs
Regular tree trimming and pruning are essential to maintaining a wildfire defensible space. Tree branches should not overhang your roof and should be at least 10 feet from other trees and any chimneys or stovepipe outlets.
Clear Roof and Gutters
Your roof may be the target of embers in a wildfire. Make sure that they don’t find any fuel by keeping your roof and gutters clear of debris. Gutter guards are more officiant way to keep your gutters clean. Click here to learn more about Structure Hardening.
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Prescribed Herbivory
With their mobile upper lip, goats can select individual leaves and strip bark off of woody plants. Their unique lip allows them to eat the parts of a plant that are highly nutritious. They can also be trained to eat poisonous plants, such as poison oak or poison Ivy. Grazing sheep can thin smothering overgrowth, eat noxious weeds dangerous to other livestock. Sheep or goats are a safe, natural and effective alternative to chemicals or manual work.
