The burn will advance student learning, forest recovery and regional wildfire resilience

DAVENPORT, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — In collaboration with Cal Poly, the CAL FIRE San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit is planning to conduct the first prescribed burn in the history of Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch, marking an important step in the ranch’s recovery from the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire and advancing its role as a living laboratory for environmental stewardship, restoration and hands-on learning.

The approximately 50-acre burn, anticipated to happen this week, pending weather and site conditions, will be led by CAL FIRE’s CZU Unit in collaboration with Cal Poly and local forestry professionals.

The project includes three grassland and brush treatment units along a ridge-top ranch road that is part of a high-priority regional fuel break. The fuel break is designed to help protect nearby communities, including Davenport and Santa Cruz, while reducing hazardous vegetation on the ranch.

“This is an important first step toward making prescribed fire a more regular stewardship tool at Swanton Pacific Ranch,” said Mark Swisher, director of the ranch. “The CZU Fire was catastrophic for the ranch and profoundly disruptive to the college and the Santa Cruz Mountain communities. If we can reduce the risk of another devastating fire, we are protecting the ranch not only for today’s students, but for those who will learn here 30 or 40 years from now.”

The prescribed burn will take place within the CZU fire footprint, a small portion of the approximately 86,500 acres burned by the 2020 fire. Following the 2009 Lockheed Fire in the area, significant amounts of hazardous fuels accumulated, including Ceanothus, to fuel the 2020 fire, Swisher said. “We are trying to prevent that from happening again by reducing the amount of accumulated hazardous fuels” Swisher said. Through prescribed fire and related vegetation treatments, Cal Poly and its partners aim to reduce that hazardous fuel load while encouraging the return of more desirable native grasses, shrubs and fire-following plant species.

Planning for the project has been underway for several years. CAL FIRE and Cal Poly have worked together to identify the conditions needed for a safe, successful prescribed burn that can support academic programs and inform future stewardship at the ranch. California Reforestation completed preparatory work in August, including vegetation treatment, brush cutting, road clearing, tree trimming and removal of snags near the burn area to support firefighter safety. The work was funded through a federal grant.

Students are central to the effort. Natural Resources and Environmental Management Professor Ashley Grupenhoff and her students have supported pre-burn condition assessments, monitoring and burn preparation. Students recently met with CAL FIRE personnel, forestry professionals and representatives from the local prescribed burn association to learn how specialists assess vegetation, moisture conditions, fire behavior and desired ecological outcomes.

Student involvement on the burn day will be determined by CAL FIRE based on operational conditions and safety considerations. Follow-up monitoring will give students opportunities to study how prescribed fire affects vegetation recovery and forest health over time.

“The project is already a success because it is bringing Cal Poly students and faculty together with the professionals who are planning and carrying out this work,” Swisher said. “We are building the institutional knowledge, familiarity and confidence to use prescribed fire responsibly – and to help others see what is possible.”

The project also reflects a broad network of local partnerships, including Hamey Woods, a forestry consulting firm based in Santa Cruz, as well as CAL FIRE personnel and local community members.

By demonstrating prescribed fire as a practical, science-based stewardship tool, Cal Poly hopes to create a pathway for more regular use of the practice at Swanton Pacific Ranch. The work will help reduce wildfire risk, promote ecological recovery and prepare students to lead in forest management, fire resilience and natural-resource stewardship.