An investigation of Santa Clara County's vegetation management practices for wildfire prevention

Read Devin Hagan's study on vegetation management pratices for wildfire prevention. Santa Clara County experienced the worst fire seasion in modertimes in 2020 with over 5,500 acres burned in the single Crews Fire and nearly 400,00 acres burned in the SCU Lightning Complex that affected five Vay Area Counties: Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus. 

Key Takeaways 

• Local agencies are seeking to improve vegetation management practices in response to strict regulations
• Prescribed burning efforts through the CAL-FIRE Vegetation Management Program (VMP) are decreasing in Santa Clara County although wildfires are increasing in number and size
• Permitting and high costs have been shown to be major barriers for two vegatation management practices—prescribed burning and targeted grazing