If you have been out to Canyon View Preserve lately, you may have noticed some tree and brush work happening. This work is part of the Auburn Shaded Fuel Break project, a fuels reduction effort managed by the Placer County Resource Conservation District (RCD) in cooperation with the Auburn Fire Department, CA State Parks, US Bureau of Reclamation, and private landowners like Placer Land Trust. The project strategically reduces fuels along 353 acres of the American River canyon rim, bordering the City of Auburn, and aims to protect it in the event of a wildfire. The Fuel Break includes a 34-acre swath of Canyon View Preserve, running from the steep southeast corner of the Preserve across to the north side.
To form a shaded fuel break, crews clear out understory vegetation — also known as “ladder fuels” — which can raise a fire into the upper tree canopy. This modifies the behavior of the fire by keeping it slow-moving and low to the ground, reducing severity and providing crews an opportunity to suppress the fire before it can cause further damage.
“Canyon View Preserve is a special place to both Placer Land Trust and to the local community,” says Land and Recreation Manager Christy Claes. “It has remained accessible and relatively quiet even through the pandemic, as people are seeking natural respites with added urgency. Canyon View Preserve has a high diversity of micro-ecosystems, ephemeral streams, steep shady canyons, open meadows, and oak woodlands. It was important to us to work closely with RCD to best meet the conservation goals of the preserve, while maximizing the benefits of the fuel break.”
Placer Land Trust would like to thank the staff at Placer County RCD for their close management and professionalism in carrying out this project in accordance with the added goals and concerns of our beloved preserve. We are excited about this project and the opportunity it provides to build upon our other management goals, such as reaching more invasive species for removal and opening the canopy for greater diversity of species in the understory, as well as the overall community benefits of preventing catastrophic wildfire and assisting in fighting wildfire.
