FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Ryan McCauley, 650-772-3644, rmccauley@openspace.org
Seth Schalet, sschalet@sccfiresafe.org
Nadine Abousalem, 408-605-1044, nadine.abousalem@prk.sccgov.org
Collaborative Effort Reaches Milestone with Fire Safety and Forest Health Improved Across 1,000 Acres in the South Bay
Santa Clara County, CA— This week, several years of hard work is culminating in the celebration of a major milestone for the Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaboration with the completed treatment of 1,000 acres of park, open space and watershed lands for fire safety and forest health.
The Collaboration formed in 2020 when the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, San Jose Water, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council and Santa Clara County Parks joined forces to take a holistic, landscape-level approach to vegetation management.
CAL FIRE funded the Collaboration’s work plan in 2021 with a $7.5 million forest health grant, allowing 1,000 acres to be treated in strategic, interconnected locations throughout lands managed by the Collaboration partners in the greater Santa Cruz Mountains around Lexington Reservoir and beyond.
The Collaboration’s goals are threefold: restoring healthy forest ecosystems, reducing the severity of potential wildfires while enhancing the safety of the surrounding communities and protecting watersheds that provide regional drinking water. To date, all of this work has been achieved through ecologically sensitive mechanical and handwork.
“It all began with the idea that wildland fire does not recognize property boundaries. Partnerships and grants are critical in catalyzing local efforts to reduce wildland fire risk in our region,” Midpen General Manager Ana María Ruiz said.
According to Seth Schalet, CEO of the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council, "This project, and its Forest Health successors exemplify what public/private partnership collaboration can achieve for wildfire risk reduction and community engagement at scale. Thank you to CAL FIRE for the funding to enable this work."
Stephen Harrington, Senior Forest Health Project Manager for the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council stated, “The successful completion of 1,000 acres of forest health treatments across the watershed is a demonstration of agencies and landowners working to leverage their individual strengths for the benefit of the entire region. I am fortunate to manage this collaboration, and it is truly an honor to work with so many dedicated professionals from Midpen, County Parks, San Jose Water, our contractors and staff here at the FireSafe Council.”
“The Collaboration has been instrumental in moving forward critical forest health and wildfire resilience work in Santa Clara County. The scale of this effort is truly unprecedented in the region and has required significant commitment and investment from all partners. The level of coordination and engagement has been remarkable and highlights that the health and resiliency of our watersheds is a shared priority,” said Jared Lewis, Manager of Environmental Planning and Natural Resources at San Jose Water.
"The Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaboration demonstrates what can be achieved when diverse organizations come together with a shared sense of responsibility,” says Joseph Aguilera, acting director of the Santa Clara County Parks Department. “This milestone reflects Santa Clara County Parks’ legacy of fostering healthy ecosystems, reducing wildfire risks, and ensuring the wellbeing of the lands we all cherish in partnership with other regional agencies.”
Due to the success of the first phase, the Collaboration received an additional forest health grant for $6.9 million from CAL FIRE to nearly double its efforts and treat an additional 840 acres. Projects funded by the second grant are beginning this month, including work in the West Branch, 155 acres in the Montevina Road area, west of Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. New technology and equipment will be used for some of these upcoming projects, including remotely controlled mastication units for precise vegetation management. These machines are lighter on the land and very precise in their operation.
The second phase of work is expected to finish in the fall of 2027 bringing the Collaboration’s total area treated to more than 1,800 acres.
Learn more about the ways the partners in the Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaboration are restoring healthy ecosystems and wildfire resilience in the South Bay Area at sccfiresafe.org.
Before and after photos
