Chris Weske likes to start wildland fires. You might think that
Chris’s parents did not nurture his self-esteem as a youth, so now
he is
”
acting-out
”
through destructive, anti-social behavior.
”
Not so.
Chris Weske likes to start wildland fires. You might think that Chris’s parents did not nurture his self-esteem as a youth, so now he is “acting-out” through destructive, anti-social behavior.” Not so.
When Chris is not working for the City of Gilroy, he spends some of his free time as a volunteer at Henry Coe State Park. When I first met him, Chris was newly involved with the prescribed burns in the park. With the knowledge and experience he has acquired since then, Chris is now a paid Senior Park Aide in the Coe
Park Burn Program, working on all aspects of fire management there and at other nearby parks such as Big Basin and Mt. Diablo.
When Smokey the Bear was calling the shots, there was no such thing as a good fire. Now, land managers have come to realize that fire is part of the natural cycle and necessary for a healthy environment. “Fire suppression didn’t reduce fire danger, which was its main purpose, and has created unwanted habitat and species changes,” Weske told me. Periodic natural fires reduced fuel buildup, thinned out weak material and created a mosaic of habitats necessary for a healthy environment. We’re trying to imitate those natural fires.
As periodic natural fires used to do, prescribed burns reduce the amount of dead and fallen plant growth so that a fire burns cool underneath large trees rather than erupting into a conflagration that could devastate a forest. In addition, without occasional fires an area will mature into a uniform and monotonous landscape with a similar reduction in the variety of animal inhabitants. Fires create spaces in that landscape for native grasses and wildflowers that would have otherwise been shaded out.
Another purpose that fires serve has to do with three pines that grow in our area called the fire pines (Monterey, Knobcone and Bishop). “They do not open their cones and disburse their seeds unless heated by a fire.” The fire also opens the forest canopy and adds nutrients to the soil creating a receptive seedbed for those pinenuts.” In Yosemite National Park, Giant Sequoia seedlings had virtually disappeared until managed fires were introduced to those forests.” Fires are also used to control exotic weeds such as the yellow star thistle that is such a problem in our area.
“The timing of a fire depends on a number of things,” Chris told me. “Goals of the fire, weather, type of habitat and the level of moisture in the environment are all important considerations. You can do a burn in a redwood forest in August, but not in the chaparral in Coe Park.”
Chris is preparing for two burns in Coe Park. The first will be a small 3-acre burn at Hunting Hollow (on Gilroy Hot Springs Road). “The sole purpose of this small burn is to clear an area that was choked with yellow star thistle and then reintroduce native grasses. We burn after the majority of the flowers open, but before the seeds drop which could be anytime from late May into early July. Three consecutive years of burning an exotic weed like this will eradicate it from the site.
Chris is also planning a larger burn deeper in the park. “This 100-acre area of Pacheco Canyon above Pacheco Camp has not been burned since 1966 when lightening ignited a 22,000 acre fire in the area. We have several purposes here; to re-introduce fire as a part of the natural cycle, thin the chaparral and create a mosaic of habitats.
Chris rolls his eyes when you talk about the application and approval process for a burn such as this. He sets an inch-thick stack of application documents on the table to confirm the extent of the approval process. He must address smoke management, rare species, cultural sites, erosion considerations, safety and many more issues that involve several different agencies.
But eventually, when approvals are in hand and the weather is right, it is time to start the blaze. Talk of that moment brings a sparkle to Chris’s eye and a remotely devilish smile to his face. So, the next time you are traveling through South Valley and see a plume of smoke rising over the hill, picture an unassuming man with that strange grin doing good work for the land and enjoying it.
