Specialized crews are working to remove dead trees and invasive species in Cambria to reduce wildfire risk while supporting the health of native Monterey pines.
“This is one of five native Monterey pine stands left in the world,” said Karin Argano, Greenspace Executive Director.
The wildfire risk prevention and forest health project started Monday at the 34-acre Strawberry Canyon site. During the work, crews will mostly be chipping away at the dead trees.
“We are also able to develop burn piles out here so that we can burn those off at a safer time of year,” said Spencer Gordon, Upper Salinas Las Tablas Resource Conservation District Forestry Project Manager.
The project is in collaboration with agencies like Greenspace, Upper Salinas Las Tablas Resource Conservation District, and Firestorm Wildfire Suppression.
“This will open up a lot of canopy. Open up a lot of sun. What we’re looking for is to allow the trees to regenerate. Also, for the understory and the wildlife,” Argano said.
“It’s a very good effort. I’m so glad they are doing it,” said Jerry Demorest, Cambria resident.
It’s been 10 years since a project of this magnitude was done at Strawberry Canyon.
“A lot of the downed trees that you see here in the canyon are a result of the big storms in 2022 and 2023, and the drought before that weakened the trees and caused them to be downed by those storms,” Argano said.
Biologists will be doing sweeps of each area to make sure wildlife is not disturbed, and portions of the trails will be closed.
“We use this flagging to identify areas to stay out of,” Argano said.
“That will change over time, depending on where the crews are working,” Gordon added.
The project is one of many areas in town where funds from a $3.4 million CAL FIRE grant will be used for forest management.
“Our end goal on this project is to reduce the intensity of a wildfire,” Argano said.
The project is expected to last four to six weeks.
