Ranchers help prevent wildfires

A recent report on damage to local agriculture from the Thomas fire highlighted a crucial industry in our county that helps reduce the risk of large wildfires like the Thomas fire: cattle ranchers.

Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzalez’s presentation to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 23 showed dramatically the stark difference between the blackened, burnt land in the county where brush had grown unchecked and the managed, cleared grazing land that had gone relatively unscathed.

At the presentation, multiple speakers, from local ranchers to researchers with the University of California Cooperative Extension, spoke about how brush clearance and land management operations by cattle ranchers enhance public safety by reducing the amount of fuel available to wildfires.

Ranchers regularly clear brush in the undeveloped portions of the county in order to provide more grazing land for their cattle. This reduces the amount and density of the fuel available to the next wildfire, reducing its heat and destructive power.

Back in 2009, Ventura County developed a wildfire prevention plan which was intended to create a comprehensive plan for wildfire management. It included controlled burns and prescribed grazing as methods to control brush growth in the undeveloped areas of the county.

Unfortunately, only 2 percent of that fire prevention plan was ever completed. Had even half of that plan been accomplished, the damage from the Thomas fire would likely have been significantly mitigated.

Going forward, we need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to help our local cattle industry recover from the Thomas fire as well as give them the tools they need to manage the land and help prevent future wildfires.

Sean Paroski

Paroski is director of policy and advocacy for the Ventura County Coalition of Labor Agriculture and Business

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