Information provided by San Benito Agricultural Land Trust
For the first time on California’s Central Coast, fire practitioners from across California, greater North America and international locations (Spain, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador) are joining forces to hold a California Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (Cal-TREX) June 3-10. The training will be hosted by the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association which empowers the public to build a culture of good fire and helps private landowners conduct prescribed burns in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties.
Prescribed burns will be open for the public to observe on various days throughout the training, most likely June 4-9th. Please see the CCPBA webpage for updates on upcoming burns: calpba.org/centralcoastpba
Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX)- first came to Northern California in 2013, and have made a dynamic, positive cultural shift concerning prescribed fire, within both regional fire services and the general public. These “good fire” TREX events have drawn significant attention, especially in the context of more severe wildfire seasons.
After months of cross-organizational cooperative planning, the week-long training will be burning a mix of grassland, oak woodland and shrub vegetation types, and making a lasting, positive change concerning “good fire” on the Central Coast. The TREX will provide experiential training opportunities to advance regional prescribed fire capacity, while also enhancing research to better understand the ecological response of wild plant and animal species following fire.
At this TREX event, participants will learn how to safely conduct prescribed burns in various vegetation types across three counties. Along with multiple prescribed burns, the week-long program will include lectures and seminars on local fire ecology of plant and animal species, tribal burning practices and burn planning, led by multiple Burn Bosses and other experts.
Burn locations include: the Nyland Property (owned by Trust for Public Land and San Benito Agricultural Land Trust) near San Juan Bautista, the Santa Lucia Conservancy near Carmel Valley and the Kechun Village (owned by the Nason family) in Arroyo Seco. Be advised, while the CCTREX works closely with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD) to ensure good smoke dispersal, smoke may be seen and present in these areas during/ after a burn. Please see the CCPBA webpage for updates on upcoming burns: calpba.org/centralcoastpba
BurnBot, a new technology featuring a mobile burn chamber, remote-controlled mastication and fire drone systems, will be used on the 4th. Participants and partners include members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, CALFIRE, local land trusts, scientists, ranchers, students, researchers, land managers and others. The CCPBA is funded via two CAL FIRE wildfire prevention grants.
Observe the Nyland burn on June 4 register here or for more information, contact our Public Information Officer: Jamie Tuitele-Lewis, Fire Fuel Mitigation Program and Forest Health Coordinator, jtlewis@rcdmonterey.org . Barb Satink Wolfson, UCCE Area Fire Advisor, bsatinkwolfson@ucanr.edu