experience

Star Creek Land Stewards (SCLS) has performed a number of contracted grazing and stewardship projects within the recent years. Two of our larger multi-year projects are important to highlight to showcase the progress of proper land management. It is also important to note that while both featured projects are mostly public, we work with a variety of private home owners, HOA’s etc. and are able to assess their individual needs as well.

EAST BAY REGIONAL PARKS DISTRICT

In 2012 Star Creek Land Stewards began a working relationship with the East Bay Regional Parks District in an on-going effort to mitigate fire hazardous vegetation along side the parks that neighbor private properties. By creating grazed fuel breaks, our grazing program assists the EBRPD Fire Department’s dedication and efforts in serving the public’s safety. Our long standing relationship with East Bay Regional Parks Districts (EBRPD) has demonstrated the beneficial effects of grazing seasonally, year after year, now grazing roughly 400 acres annually. These parks show visible improvement in the reduction of dense fire fuels in defensible spaces.

MARIN COUNTY OPEN SPACE/FIRE SAFE MARIN

Our projects in Marin County offer a unique opportunity for us as well as the fire prevention districts. Now entering our 6th year of grazing in Marin, we are able to complete roughly 600 acres of nearly continuous fuel breaks. This project is a collaborative effort between FIRESafe Marin, private land owners, public parks, schools, cities, the County of Marin, HOA’s, and Fire Districts. For us, the highlight of this project is the highly efficient collaborative efforts that have successfully created continuous fuel breaks and a nearly fluid grazing plan. Another aspect of grazing in Marin is the integration of biology and fire science used to develop our grazing plan. We are able to target specific plant species that have thrived due to the lack of land management as well as prioritize high risk burn areas determined by historical wildfires and wind patterns. We do this by carefully managing our grazing plan to target these areas during critical points in their growth period. Due to careful monitoring by trained vegetation professionals, and thoroughly managed grazing, the landscape is slowly returning to a sustainably managed state, allowing for continued open space for the communities to enjoy, and defensible spaces to protect the communities that utilize these spaces. Collaboration has been the key to the success of this project.

“The fire ran out of fuel when it hit the area that was grazed.”— Todd Lando, Battalion Chief/Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Specialist at Central Marin Fire Department 10/12/2021

Now embarking on new projects with the National Forest Service to work to manage fire fuels in National Forests throughout the state of California. This is crucial work that will both be groundbreaking for the industry as well as the state. We hope to help in opening the door for more targeted grazing projects on State and Federal land.

Contracted in the Counties of Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Diego, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, El Dorado, Fresno, Madera, Marin, Merced, Napa, Alameda and Contra Costa, Star Creek Land Stewards has been performing grazing programs in conjunction with agency vegetation stewardship teams to decrease and control populations of undesirable species, such as: poison hemlock, black berry, yellow star thistle, french broom, coyote brush, goat grass and poison oak.