History

Thirtieth Anniversary of the Firestorm

This fall marked the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Tunnel Fire, also known as the Oakland Hills Firestorm. This devastating wildfire began on October 19, 1991 as a small brush fire that was quickly put out, only to revive again the next morning with a surge of strong Diablo wind. Embers still hot from the previous day flared into flames that whipped through dry brush into pines and other dry vegetation and then to homes surrounded by eucalyptus groves at the wildland-urban edge, completely overwhelming fire personnel tending the scene.

,

Evacuation on my mind, by Sue Piper, Chair Oakland Firesafe Council

,

Now, 30 years after the 1991 Firestorm and three years after the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people on the one road out of Paradise, evacuation is on many people’s minds. The problem, as I learned in 1991, is that in a crisis, you think with your gut. Oh, if we only had opportunities to practice evacuation many times over so that when the real threat appears, our minds know exactly what to do.

,

Making a difference, Conservancy President Tim Wallace

,

Tim Wallace considers himself a “Yes man”—not a person that caves into other people's demands, but the kind that says, “Yes” to life.

Tim just celebrated 15 years (on and off—mostly on) as president of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, "Working with volunteers we have helped make the canyon more fire-safe, more natural, and more accessible by trails.”

Tim has been involved with natural resources all his life: first as rancher and logger, then later in academics. He has been at UC Berkeley since 1963. "I've worked at the White House on agricultural matters and was Director of California's Department of Food and Agriculture. I've done consulting abroad in Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Far East, and New Zealand and Australia."

Report of the Grizzly Peak Fire from Glen Schneider

We had some big excitement last week. Because of the Grizzly Peak Fire on Wednesday afternoon, we had to cancel our workday. We did get back to Skyine on Sunday and almost finished with Scattergrass in the Bay Grove.  Perhaps one more good session will finish that off  .  .  . 

Botanists tend to love a fire, because the aftermath is so fascinating. Seeds not seen in decades may sprout.  In the early days of California botany, when Jepson was at Cal in the early 1900's, he and others found scores of interesting natives on the slopes of Grizzly Peak. Will they return?  How will UC manage the burn area (let's hope they do nothing besides remove the Eucs and Pines)?

,

An Invitation to burn, by Tamia Marg

,
An Invitation to burn, by Tamia Marg

The Claremont Canyon landscape and its uses have changed dramatically over the last century. From the 1800's through the first few decades of the 20th century, the East Bay hills were primarily grasslands with trees and brush growing only in canyon draws. Much of Gwin Canyon, a tributary on the south side of Claremont Canyon, was planted with Monterey Pines (Pinus radiata), a widely established practice in the hills to beautify the land for housing developments in the early Twentieth Century. That these trees were fast-growing tinder in the landscape became evident after every subsequent hill wildfire.

,

Taking out the eucs, by Marilyn Goldhaber

,

Over 9,000 eucalyptus trees have been removed from Claremont Canyon since 2001 with thousands more due to come down in the next 2-4 years. Careful monitoring and follow-up of the logged areas this time around should assure that resprouts and new seedlings will not overwhelm the land, force out the native flora and fauna, and present an unacceptable wildfire hazard to the canyon and nearby homes.

Some people undoubtedly will miss the tall trees which have held their place in the canyon for nearly a century. Were they less flammable by nature and less aggressive in their growth, wildland managers might be able to deal with them differently.  But such was not the case for Eucalyptus globulus, or blue gum, a species imported from Australia for commercial reasons over a hundred years ago.

,

Redwoods of Claremont Canyon, by Joe Engbeck

,

In December 1972, a prolonged cold snap hit the San Francisco Bay Area killing thousands of eucalyptus trees in upper Claremont Canyon. The eucs were still standing, but they looked terrible–stark and dry and colorless like so much kindling waiting for a spark. With the wildfire of 1970 still painfully fresh in everyone’s memory, UC Chancellor Albert Bowker decided to take bold action. He had all the eucalyptus trees cut down and hauled away. Logging crews used chainsaws, trucks, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment to do the job.

Afterward, the upper canyon looked like a war zone. To minimize erosion, the area was seeded from the air. But it still looked terrible, so the Piedmont Rotary Club came forward with a reforestation plan. They persuaded UC planners to let them plant some 550 Monterey pines and coast redwood seedlings. The actual planting was done on a Sunday morning in April 1975. The seedlings were small, about 12 inches high in one-gallon containers, but most of them survived.

On the other hand, the root systems of the eucalyptus trees were not dead. Soon almost all of the stumps began to sprout, sending up four or five or six new stems to replace those that had been frozen and cut down. As a result, the upper canyon turned back into a forest of fast-growing, fire-hazardous, eucalyptus trees, some of them now 12 to 18 inches in diameter (dbh) and as much as 80 feet tall.

Recently, with support and encouragement from the Conservancy, UC began to cut down the re-sprouted eucalyptus trees in the upper canyon. Mature oaks, laurels, elderberrys and other trees and shrubs are being left alone. Like the pines and redwoods that were planted in 1975 they are now enjoying the sunlight and moisture that were being monopolized by the eucs. So far, about 3,000 eucalyptus stems have been cut down and the program is scheduled to continue.

The Monterey pines, perhaps 100 of them, have reached middle age and look a bit dry; they’re not in their favorite near-ocean environment. On the other hand, more than 200 redwoods have also survived. In fact, most of them are healthy and full of youthful enthusiasm, just beginning to prosper and grow rapidly. Many are 10 to 20 feet tall with main stems that are 10 or 12 inches in diameter. Quite a few are as much as 60 feet tall and growing taller by four to six feet per year. A few have trunks that are over seven feet in circumference (28 or 29 inches dbh).

The Conservancy’s plan is to continue what the Rotary Club started 30 years ago–replacing the old, very dangerous eucalyptus forest with a cool, moist, relatively fire-safe and beautiful forest of redwoods, oaks, laurels, and other native trees and shrubs. The Conservancy has a supply of seeds gleaned from redwoods native to the East Bay Hills that will be used to continue and extend the reforestation program that was started in 1975. It looks to be a lovely and enduring accomplishment that we will all be able to enjoy and be proud of, and proudly leave to future generations. 

Claremont banner logo 254 KB.jpg