Live Oaks Ranch Forest Thinning
A newly thinned area of hardwood (Madrone and Oak) forest. A typical burn pile is shown stacked in the right section of the image.
Overview
Spye General Engineering was hired by Sonoma Land Trust to aid in thinning efforts at their Live Oaks Ranch property in northern Sonoma County. Steve Pye and his crew spent 2 weeks thinning 7 acres of forest that burned in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. In many areas, dead standing Douglas fir and Madrone trees with numerous basal sprouts remained in the forest understory. The Spye crew removed all small fir trees and felled the dead madrone, leaving behind an open understory with young Madrone and Oak sprouts left behind to fill the gaps in the canopy over time. All the material that was cut was stacked in standard burn piles for later burning. In all, the Spye crew generated over 300 burn piles from downed and cut material. Once the piles are burned, Sonoma Land Trust will continue to manage the thinned forest through selective thinning and the use of healthy, prescribed fire.
A small area within an oak woodland treatment area prior to thinning of dead standing fir.
The same oak woodland area after thinning efforts with burn piles stacked.