Wildfire Resiliency Project

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Wildfires pose a significant threat to Santa Barbara year-round. The Parks and Recreation Department and Fire Department have partnered to improve the community’s fire resilience and reduce the risk and severity of wildfires. The collaboration balances the expertise of both teams to manage vegetation while protecting the natural ecosystems within the city’s open space parks.

This work is a critical component of Santa Barbara’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

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Our collaborative efforts aim to reduce wildfire risk and improve fire resilience with five priorities in mind:

Defensible Space: Creating and maintaining defensible space around homes located near open spaces to act as a protective barrier against wildfires.
Fire Access Roads and Fuel Breaks: Ensuring efficient access to high fire hazard areas for rapid response.
Vegetation Management: Targeting high-fire-risk invasive species to allow native, fire-resilient species to thrive.
Fuel Load Reduction: Reducing fuel loads in high-risk areas to minimize the intensity and spread of wildfires.
Community Outreach and Education: Raising awareness about the importance of fire safety and fostering a fire-resilient community.

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Honda Valley Park

Project Dates: October 2023 through December 2023

About the Park
Honda Valley Park is a 48-acre open space park located within the coastal interior zone of the high fire hazard area. The park has diverse, dense vegetation along steep slopes and within canyons, as well as a heavy understory of invasive plants and thatch.

Planned Work
Crews will be targeting deadwood and invasive species to reduce fuel loads in the park through weed whipping, hand cutting, hand pulling, chainsaw work, chipping, flattening, raking, shoveling, and bucking existing woody debris. Targeted invasive species include mustards, non-native annual grasses, pampas grass, eucalyptus, bigleaf periwinkle, Peruvian pepper, onionweed, nasturtium, English ivy, cape ivy, tree tobacco, French broom, thoroughwort, bullthistle, African asparagus fern, and Victorian box.

Crews will also focus on removing vegetation from trails, also known as trail brushing, to maintain clear site access for emergency crews and vehicles in the event of a fire.

Sensitive Resources
A biological resource assessment was performed and identified a variety of sensitive resources within the park.

Four special status plant species were identified: Plummer’s baccharis, Southern California black walnut, Santa Barbara honeysuckle, and bitter gooseberry. A biologist will be onsite to monitor when work is occurring within 50 feet of the mapped special status plants.

Six special status wildlife species are considered likely to be found within the park: Cooper’s hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, California legless lizard, overwintering monarch butterfly, American peregrine falcon, and western red bat. A pre-activity biological survey will occur within 10 days of the start of work for all special status species. Exclusion zones and a biological monitor will be utilized as needed if special status wildlife are observed. Work is performed outside of nesting bird season.

Two sensitive natural communities are present within the park: lemonade berry scrub shrublands and California sycamore – coast live oak riparian woodlands. No adverse impacts will be made to these communities. Invasive vegetation that threatens these sensitive communities will be targeted.

All crew members will receive environmental awareness training before work begins to review present sensitive resources and how to protect them.

Funding
This project is funded by a Coastal Conservancy Grant.

Honda Valley Park Biological Resource Assessment (September 2023)

Parma Park

Historically, City Fire crews and Parks and Recreation staff have not had the resources for a comprehensive approach to fire safety across open space parks. Through ongoing collaboration, the Departments have secured nearly $3 million in grant funding to support wildfire prevention efforts.

In February 2023, the Coastal Conservancy awarded the City of Santa Barbara a $525,000 grant to support wildfire prevention and resilience efforts. This grant, in addition to $87,800 match funding from the Fire Department, will cover comprehensive biological resource reports in seven open space parks to inform future work plans, and the execution of work plans in three of seven of the parks.

In October 2023, the City of Santa Barbara was awarded an approximately $2.9 million CAL FIRE grant to support hazardous fuels management in the remaining parks, plus additional open space areas. The grant will allow for biological resource reports to be conducted in 11 additional locations and work plans to be executed in 15 open space areas.

This funding will be used in open spaces across the City including Arroyo Burro Open Space, Barger Canyon Preserve, Cold Spring Trail and Gould Park, Douglas Family Preserve, Equestrian Circle, Franceschi Park, Hale Park, Hidden Valley Park, Honda Valley Park, Jesusita Trail Corridor, La Mesa Park, Laurel Canyon Park, Parma Park, Rattlesnake Canyon Trail Corridor, Sheffield Reservoir, Skofield Park, and Stevens Park.

Wildfire Resiliency Project

Contacts

Priorities

Upcoming Projects

Community Meetings

Funding

Contact Us

Wildfire Resiliency Project

Contacts

Priorities

Upcoming Projects

Community Meetings

Funding

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