Fire mimicry results from Mill Valley and Los Altos, CA

The first two photo sets above are of an oak in Mill Valley, CA that I began treating 5 years ago using fire mimicry. This oak has made significant improvement, as was already documented two years ago here.

The photo sets below are of three coast live oaks, and two coast redwood trees first treated with fire mimicry last year (2017). The first of the series shows a young coast live oak that has lost some leaf density in its canopy. This is an atypical result which may be corrected with further treatments. The other photos sets show an ancient, Native American-era coast live oak that is showing significant improvement in canopy density in just one year. Another mature coast live oak, despite having a major limb removed, is showing slight improvement. And two coast redwood trees are also showing slight improvement in just one year.

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Portola Valley oaks respond quickly to fire mimicry

Culturally-modified, Native American-era oak showing rapid improvement after fire mimicry.

Last February (2017) I treated and photographed 25 coast live oaks in Portola Valley using fire mimicry practices. A couple days ago I revisited the site and re-photographed the oaks to assess their response. The results show noticeable improvements in the density and greenness of the canopies of most of the treated oaks in just one year. This is becoming a common finding in many of the case studies – that the positive response of the oaks to fire mimicry appears to be rapid.

These results are part of a significant body of evidence showing that oaks and other trees can be brought back to health using fairly simple methods that mimic the effects of fire. If you care to learn more about these methods, please enroll in my upcoming course, “Sudden Oak Life: The Science and Practice of Forest Restoration”.

Surgical procedure for Sudden Oak Death

Yesterday I worked on several coast live oak trees on a property here in Big Sur, where  some of the oaks have been infected with a stem canker infection, probably Sudden Oak Death. The incidence of Sudden Oak Death had increased dramatically here in Big Sur, likely a result of the previous (2017) winter’s extreme wetness. In fact, five severely infected oaks were removed from this same property the previous day. The owner has decide on a new course of action and has employed my services, which involve fire mimicry treatments to his oaks. In addition to these treatments, I performed several surgical procedures to remove the stem canker infections. Here are a series of photos from one such procedure.

Infection prior to surgery, with disinfected tools and tarps to collect infected tissue.

Removing stem canker infection with axe.

Sudden Oak Life workshop hosted by UCSC Arboretum on March 3, 2018

I’ll be presenting a Sudden Oak Life workshop at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum on Saturday, March 3, 10 am – 4 pm. Come learn the practice of healing oaks. It’s a hands-on workshop! Details are here: https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/news-events/events/sudden-oak-life.html

Oaks in Atherton, CA respond nicely to fire mimicry

I’ll let these photos tell the story of how coast live oaks respond to fire mimicry treatments.

I should note that the last oak in this series is infected with a stem canker disease, probably Sudden Oak Death, yet it still seems to be improving slightly.

Ancient Indian-era oaks respond to fire mimicry

Three years ago I treated several ancient, Indian-era oaks with fire mimicry. These oak have classic lapsed-pollard shapes, indicating they were culturally modified by the native people several hundred years ago. Every oak shown here (above an below) is over 200 years old, and possibly much older. The lapsed-pollard shape is evident by the multiple large boles branching from one location near the base of the trunk. Younger oaks of the same species growing nearby typically exhibit a dichotomous branching pattern, so the anomalous shapes of these older oaks is most likely an indication that they were culturally modified (pollarded) at a younger age by California native people. The present day forms of these trees show that the pollards have lapsed, that is, the trees are no longer being tended. Pollarding is a widely used modern tending practice in orchard trees, creating broad spreading canopies that maximize fruit or nut production.

In my mind, the ancient oaks shown here are Native Americans artifacts. These oaks provided the primary sustenance of the local tribes, acorn. Oak orchards were grown, tended, and shaped by the native people in ways that helped to sustain both themselves and the bountiful wildlife.

It’s nice to have a proven model for oak forest restoration. It is the model I and others are following. Please enjoy these results!

Long-term response of oaks to fire mimicry

Another milestone! For 13 years these coast live oaks have been regularly tended with fire mimicry. These oaks are longest continuous case studies of fire mimicry in my records. Most of the work has been done by Leith Carstarphen following my recommended treatment plan.

Apart from one oak that was lost this past year due to slope failure, the photos (above and below) show significant improvement in the canopy density and vitality of the oaks. The healthy growth of the smaller trees in the foreground now partially obstructs the view of the canopies of two oaks. Still, the oaks continue to grow and thrive, despite the presence of disease (probably Sudden Oak Death) in some of them.

Previous years’ results for these oaks can be found here for 2016, here for 2015, and here for 2014.