WEAVING FIRE INTO THE LAND
The Ventura River and San Antonio Creek outstretch to one another at the confluence; you can see the water reach into the sky through the leaves of cottonwoods and palms of sycamore. In this canyon, the oaks and walnuts walk downstream to meet the river—hand in hand with sagescrub. Between the communion of plant associations lies Ventura River Steelhead Preserve (VRSP). The 80-acre preserve is below Santa Ana Road, and lightly slopes down to the river. Though surrounded by biodiversity, there are about 25 acres of open field filled with a tangle of invasive species, primarily yellow star thistle (Centarea solstitialis and Centarea melitensis), milk thistle (Silybum marianum), and annual grasses. These species not only prickle canvas work pants and wool socks, but they tell us that a disturbance regime was present, which is not conducive to native habitat. This regime has paused in this state. Invasive species often create conditions that inhibit succession of other habitats, unlike native vegetation communities that change and flow with natural disturbance.
As restorationists, we must access the land’s history and current conditions to weave the plan for its future. OVLC is evaluating the VRSP for a variety of reasons. We want to restore it to offer beneficial ecosystem function, as well as shift the vegetative fuels. Remnant sycamores (Platanus racemosa) and sagescub (Eriogonum fasciculatum, Lepidospartum squamatum, Ceanothus spinosus) speckle the 100 year floodplain. Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and California black walnuts (Juglans californica) zipper old cattle fences. A perfect window into what can be.
Broadcast prescribed fire was chosen to explore an interaction between native succession and invasive weed management. This kind of planned, careful fire—what we call ‘good fire’—mimics natural processes that once shaped these landscapes. We targeted prescribed fire when the star thistle was bolting—to reduce seed production. We followed the burns with seeding native fire-fellowing annuals—red maids (Calandrinia menzesii), small fescue (Festuca microstachys), and arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus). This was a three year burn in collaboration with Ventura County Prescribed Burn Association, University Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR), Ventura County Fire Department, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, and Cal Fire. Without these partners, we would not have been able to weave good fire into the landscape.
The first year was a successful burn, followed by native seeding in research plots. On blackened soil we seeded in the rain, flinging handfuls across the plots with 5-gallon buckets. The rain drove the seed into earth, where we saw them germinate the following spring. As we monitored across the field, curiously, the red maids (Calandrinia menzesii) sprawled outside of the plots. Was this a mistake? Did we seed outside designated areas? No, it was the seed bank, awakened by the broadcast fire. The magenta flowers colored the sandy soil.
On June 6 and July 14 of this year, partners applied good fire to 20 acres of disturbed habitat. The landscape had strips of unburned research plots—paired with seeded and unseeded plots. When the marine layer peeled back, showing morning rays to the north, fire was applied as a backing fire. It crept and consumed annual grasses as the fuel and girdled the thistle. Thistle seed pods cracked, fell off, without viable seed within them.
This third year of the project was supported by over 200 volunteer hours. The community helped scrape, weed whack, and prepare the control lines around each research plot. Even after the burn, volunteers aided in mop up. With a heat-sensing drone overhead, we targeted embers across the site to ensure a safe finish to the prescribed burn. We thank our community volunteers, who stood side by side with researchers and fire professionals, proving that stewardship is something we do together.
Seeding will occur in fall 2025 and spring entails more vegetation monitoring. Once data collection is completed by UCANR and OVLC, data analysis will begin. Soil samples, fire intensity, and vegetation data will be analyzed. This data can be used at OVLC to inform future broadcast burns, and research results can outline the future management plans for VRSP. This project doesn’t just help OVLC, it provides answers for land managers across Ventura County who are asking how to safely and effectively bring good fire back.
Sophie McLean, Native Plant Specialist & Nursery Manager