The following is a press release issued by the CAL FIRE Mendocino:
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in cooperation with the Hopland Research Extension Center, will be conducting a prescribed burn on Hopland Research Center property, located on University Road in Hopland, CA. The prescribed burn will take place on Friday, October 20, 2023. Burning will begin at approximately 9:00 a.m. and will conclude at approximately 6:00 p.m. Smoke may be visible in the Hopland area, East of Highway 101, and North of Highway 175.
The prescribed burning, being done during this Vegetation Management Program (VMP) project, will be conducted under specific climate conditions to ensure control and minimize air quality and other impacts. The primary goal of this prescribed burn is to reintroduce fire as a natural element of the ecosystem. A second goal is to improve wildlife habitat by inducing new shoots from sprouting species to increase forage production, with islands of unburned fuel left within the burned area to provide shelter for small mammals. A third goal is to reduce overall vegetation to decrease the chance of catastrophic wildfires in the future.
This project adds to significant work underway throughout the state and brings California one step closer towards meeting state fuels reduction goals directed by the California Fire Plan and the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. To track the progress being made, both in your community and throughout California, visit the CAL FIRE fuels reduction dashboard at https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/fuels-reduction.
For prescribed burning notifications, residents are encouraged to follow the CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CALFIRE MEU on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/calfiremeu and/or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CALFIREMEU/.
