Warm smoke curls slowly into the sky and bright orange flames crackle as they creep through the grass. A firefighter with a drip torch draws a line of fire across the meadow, coaxing the grassland to burn. As the flames move across the meadow, the landscape experiences an instant transformation: the vegetation dissolves quickly into ash, revealing a vast, open landscape. The firefighters at the Fernandez Ranch meadows are leading a prescribed burn – intentionally setting fire to the ranch to manage fuel loading and promote biodiversity. This prescribed burn at Fernandez Ranch marks not only a return of beneficial fire to the property, but incredible cooperation across organizational and community boundaries.

The ranch, owned by the John Muir Land Trust (JMLT), supports grazing operations and public recreation, and boasts 1,180 acres of grasslands, oak woodlands, and freshwater wetlands. The 22-acre prescribed burn this past October worked to help preserve grassland habitat quality and reduce fire hazards at the ranch. The burn helped mitigate catastrophic wildfire by reducing flashy fuels. Less fuel means it is less likely for ignitions to occur. Even if a wildfire were to happen, there would be a slower rate of spread because of the reduced fuel load. The burn also benefited the ecology of the grasslands: the ash cycles nutrients back to the soil, and the removal of flashy fuels allows more sunlight, water, and space for new plants to grow. Combined with the rains this winter, the prescribed burn will stimulate an emergence of new growth at the ranch, and burning over several years will help flush out invasive species and promote native, fire-resilient species.

Beyond the fire-resilience benefits of the burn, the Fernandez Ranch prescribed burn is a symbol of community cooperation. The work to conserve the ranch’s ecosystem health and protect the broader community from catastrophic wildfire was possible with the support of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, the East Bay Regional Park District Fire Department, and dedicated community volunteers. The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District looks forward to continuing to foster partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries to expand the use of prescribed fire as a land management tool. Ecosystems do not stop at the city, county, or state lines we draw on maps – and our stewardship must not either.