Wildfires can burn vast areas and cause extensive damage to the landscape by destroying large tracts of wildlife habitat and depleting and/or displacing many plant and animal populations as shown above in photos from the Pearl Hill Fire. Although fire is needed and beneficial in the shrub steppe, the frequent high-intensity burns experienced in recent years pose a major threat to the flora and fauna of the region. The shrub steppe ecosystem has evolved the ability to adapt and recover from low-intensity burns over longer intervals, but is not equipped to handle the unprecedented conditions of multiple large-scale fires at shorter intervals.

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FCCD partners with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support invasive weed management and native plant restoration in burned areas. If your land was affected by the Grass Valley or Pearl Hill fires, we may have cost share opportunites for you.