Beyond fear and fire cameras  

A ridgeline deep in the coastal mountains of northwest Sonoma County glitters in the night. The subtle glow appears on ALERT California camera system amongst miles of dense redwood and mixed evergreen forest. What isn’t detected by AI is the scent of toasted oak and fir and organic remnants, released after years of weathered accumulation. On the fire-line, a prescribed burn crew takes a moment to catch their breath as they marvel at the mellow fire effects that creep across a tangle of detritus. 

Embracing the burning mountain with engaged locals  

“We had two bomb cyclones in the last three years, with atmospheric rivers and 80 mph winds that snapped 70 percent of the tan oaks on the north side of the mountain. The forest was just walls of biomass with no way through. It’s been very intense out here. We call it the School for Inclement Weather for a reason,” reflected Jiordi Rosales about the ‘disaster companionship’ school he co-stewards.

Navigating complex problems requires a diverse strategy. For Audubon Canyon Ranch, that means investing in people who collaboratively engage with challenges from different angles to reach beyond existing systems for deeper solutions. In addition to training prescribed fire apprentices and volunteers in the Good Fire Alliance, we launched the Fire Forward Fellowship program in 2021 as an investment in the professional development of land stewards as regional prescribed fire leaders. The program supports the fellows in becoming California state-certified “Burn Bosses” (CA-Rx), enabling them and their organizations to plan and coordinate prescribed burns to boost the overall capacity of the North Bay community. 

Mutual aid in the form of good fire 

In the prescribed fire world, a cooperative burn is conducted collaboratively with multiple stakeholders – landowners, local community members, government agencies, environmental organizations, and fire management professionals. These operations utilize a shared cache of resources like hoses, tools, equipment, and safety equipment. They also benefit from humans with a range of experiences, certifications, and ability to staff the operation.  

Nightfall provides important burn window  

Planning a safe and effective burn within narrow windows of opportunity amidst a growing backlog of fuels is a complex challenge. By June, even in the cooler coastal belt of northern Sonoma County, daytime temperatures had already sweltered into the 80s.  

The burn on the School for Inclement Weather’s property, originally planned during the day, was nearly cancelled when a spot weather forecast from the National Weather Service signaled the burn could run too hot for the prescription. Fortuitously, a nighttime weather window opened and with it, the offer of help from experienced prescribed fire practitioners from California State Parks and Sonoma Land Trust. Working alongside our 12-person prescribed fire module and burn boss Brian Peterson, the group was able to take advantage of the cool night air that dipped down to 53°F, burning a mellow mosaic pattern on the landscape that allowed for a diversity of fire effects and reduced surface fuels by over 89 percent.  

The relational effect of recovering fire 

The 6-acre burn at the school built on a previous 52-acre burn just a month prior led by Rosales in his final CA-Rx training assignment that drew students of fire from all over Northern California, including land protectors and cultural changemakers from Shelterwood Collective. A Fire Forward Fellow since 2022, Rosales was sponsored to become CA-Rx certified by the Kashia cultural department as a nontribal partner to support the recovery of fire in the territory. 

“Fire is such a dynamic teacher. I have yet to attend a burn that isn’t a learning experience,” Rosales offered. “Working with fire is a relational practice. We’ve all lost something to fire. Our work is being in practice with paying attention to the elements – how they’re responding, how we’re responding to this work, and how we respond to each other.”  

Using prescribed fire as a restorative practice 

A cooperative burn in late October illustrated the use of good fire in a recent burn scar at Monan’s Rill. Resident and Fire Forward Fellow Thea Maria Carlson has dedicated the last four years since the 2020 Glass Fire to tending a different relationship with burning in a fire corridor. 

Monan’s Rill is an intergenerational, intentional community on the traditional territory and homelands of the Wappo people in northeast Santa Rosa. Residents there reintroduced prescribed fire to a small, forested area of the property after many years of hand work to clear brush within a stand of tan oak.  “After the wildfire, it was dramatic: the prescribed burn area was healthy and green while everything around it was intensely burned. I realized that putting fire on the land is what protected it from the wildfire—that is what solidified my commitment to good fire,” Carlson said in a Made Local Magazine interview.  

Organizers forge new milestone for bilingual burners 

Monan’s Rill Rx was Carlson’s final assignment in earning a CA-Rx certification. Along with residents, the 7-acre burn was co-organized by Fire Forward and North Bay Jobs with Justice as the first bilingual broadcast burn in North Bay. Most of the 70 people who staffed the burn were volunteers from the Good Fire Alliance (Sonoma County’s prescribed burn association) and Resilience Works, a climate readiness workforce employed through North Bay Jobs with Justice to address disasters in Sonoma County. 

Drawing contrast between wildfire and prescribed fire 

“It was the first time I saw a burn done around structures. That was a new concept for me,” remarked neighbor Lynn Garric, chair of Upper Mark West Fire Safe Council who lost her home of 30 years in the Tubbs Fire. “It was reassuring to see how well organized it was. I was really impressed by the number of people who came together around safety consciousness.” 

Fortifying collaborations in Marin 

“Fire can be a marvelous tool when it’s planned and crews are there to guide it along,” said landowner Jane Anderson following a fall prescribed burn on her property bordering the Nicasio Reservoir led by Paul Sokoloski. The prescribed fire module lead saw the opportunity to fortify relationships with landowners and fire agencies looking to work with good fire in Marin County. The 14.5-acre burn rallied support from Nicasio Volunteer Fire Service, Marin Water, and Marin County Fire, who provided engines, fire-line staff, and outreach reinforcement. 

Landowners listen and respond to the land 

Anderson and her wife Tess Ayers have been regularly walking the burn site. “We’ve been sowing acorns and native grass and wildflower seeds in spots where the fire ran extra hot and left a beautiful layer of rich ash in the soil. As the seeds continue to sprout and the grasses mature into spring and early summer, we’ll get to see a whole rich range of plants that have been liberated from the thatch,” Anderson reflected. “This is what good fire can do. It can restore.” 

Support training to empower more cooperative stewardship 

In 2024, Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward program cooperatively burned nearly 1,000 acres with partners across the North Bay, a number that doubled since 2020.  A 12-person prescribed fire module launched in early 2024 has also contributed to the increased capacity, resulting in a 30 percent increase in prescribed burns either led or supported by our team.  

“When facing a complex problem, we need to reach deeper to find solutions and question the way we have been doing things,” Peterson remarked. “We’re grateful to be working alongside so many others in the region who are dedicated to increasing the use of beneficial fire to steward private and public lands.”

Support the expansion of prescribed fire training to empower more collaborative burns at egret.org/donate/