Camino Del Canyon Fuel Reduction COMMUNITIES: Camino Del Canyon INTERFACE: Muir Woods National Monument, Golden Gate National Recreation Area FIRE DISTRICT: Marin County Fire Department FUNDING PROVIDED: $60,000 (FY 2002) OBJECTIVE: Create defensible space around island of homes surrounded by a sea of dense vegetation. DESCRIPTION: Ten structures sit in the middle of 24 hectares (60 acres) of thick vegetation. They have been threatened by wildland fire several times over the past 20 years and were directly impacted by wildland fire approximately 25 years ago. Lack of vegetation management, in conjunction with poor access both in and out, create a dangerous situation in the case of a wildland fire. The project removes eucalyptus and shrub to create a 30-meter (100-foot) radius of defensible space. The project also thins eucalyptus another 30 meters (100 feet) beyond that and removes all dead vegetation within 60 meters (200 feet) of the homes. Camino Del Canyon has 5 occupied and 5 unoccupied homes in the midst of high-density growth eucalyptus trees, living brush, as well as both downed and standing dead vegetation. NPS/FSM TASK AGREEMENT NO. 34 & NPS-GGNRA/FSM TASK AGREEMENT NO. 516 List of Projects | Top of Page 
Gravity Car Road Fuel Break COMMUNITIES: Mill Valley INTERFACE: Muir Woods National Monument, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Marin Municipal Water District FIRE DISTRICT: Marin County Fire Department / Throckmorton Ridge FUNDING PROVIDED: $30,000 (FY 2003) OBJECTIVE: Improve safety and readiness in Mill Valley area communities by constructing a fuels management zone. DESCRIPTION: The project would fund fuelbreak construction and fuelbreak maintenance work along a key section of the wildland-urban interface along Gravity Car Road and Marin Municipal Water District Mount Tamalpais Watershed. The work, performed on about 4 hectares (10 acres) of roadside fuel breaks, will clear principal access routes, thin overstocked stands of trees, prune low tree branches, collect, pile and burn accumulated downed woody material, treat chaparral to reduce fuel loading, and remove flammable exotic plant material. Mill Valley is a suburban neighborhood in southeastern Marin County of nearly 850 homes and about 13,600 inhabitants. It is along these slopes where narrow winding roads lead to million-dollar homes that are surrounded by highly-flammable, overgrown vegetation. NPS/FSM TASK AGREEMENT NO. 47 List of Projects | Top of Page 
Marinview Hazardous Fuel Reduction COMMUNITIES: Marinview INTERFACE: Golden Gate National Recreation Area FIRE DISTRICT: Marin County Fire District FUNDING PROVIDED: $30,000 (FY 2002) OBJECTIVE: Encourage homeowners to create defensible space around their property. Reduce fuel loads on land surrounding the community and help native habitat recover from exotic species invasion. DESCRIPTION: Dense, overgrown vegetation and steep terrain leave this community, along with Tamalpais Valley Elementary School, susceptible to wildland fire. Furthermore, exotic plant species have slowly choked out the native habitat over the years. This project removes much of these invaders and gives native vegetation a chance to flourish. In so doing, the reduced fuel load slows the rate at which a fire would spread. Firefighters then have more time to get in and set up their attack and have a greater chance of saving homes. Homeowner's can create defensible space around their homes by reducing fuels adjacent to the house. Doing so dramatically increases the chances that the home will survive a wildland fire. Marinview is a community of approximately 750 people. It is situated mid-slope along the wildland-urban interface of southern Marin County. 252 homes and an elementary school benefit from the project. NPS/FSM TASK AGREEMENT NO. 31 List of Projects | Top of Page Ralston White Fuel Reduction COMMUNITIES: Mill Valley INTERFACE: Golden Gate National Recreation Area FIRE DISTRICT: Marin County Fire Department FUNDING PROVIDED: $112,875 (FY 2003) OBJECTIVE: Implement a fuel reduction program throughout Ralston White neighborhoods to help create defensible spaces around homes, community easements, and to provide for preventative maintenance by fuel reduction, and to stop the spread of fire between the community, state and federal lands. DESCRIPTION: This project would create a fuels management zone along a key section of the wildland-urban interface. The work would be performed on a 17-hectare (42-acre) property managed by a private trust for educational and spiritual work. A fuels management zone would be created by: clearing along principal access routes; thinning overstocked stands of trees; pruning low tree branches; collecting, piling, and burning accumulated down, woody material; treating chaparral to reduce fuel loading; cutting and burning trees and shrubs affected by sudden oak death; and purchasing a chipper for long term maintenance. Mill Valley is a suburban neighborhood in southeastern Marin County that stretches from Richardson Bay to the lower slopes of Mount Tamalpais. Nearly 13,600 people inhabit this community. It is along these slopes where narrow winding roads lead to homes surrounded by highly flammable, overgrown vegetation. A mix of evergreen forest and chaparral define the plant communites in this area. It has been more than 70 years since the last major fire touched this area. If this same fire were to burn within a similar footprint, nearly 850 homes and inhabitants would be affected. NPS-GGNRA/FSM TASK AGREEMENT NO. 512 |
Last updated: May 28, 2023