Follow science for fire safety at state park

It is not surprising that Marin residents want to have a say in the tree-cutting and controlburn plans for Tomales Bay State Park.

The park's plan aims toward an important goal, making the park more fire-safe.

Officials say the need for extensive removal and control of overgrown vegetation is clear. The bishop pine and hardwood forests are threatened by disease, pests and drought, making them ripe tinder to fuel a wildland fire.

Downed trees and dead materials that have built up in the understory make the risk even greater.

The scenario does not sound much different than that which fueled the 1995 Vision blaze that spread across more than 12,000 acres and destroyed 45 structures, many of them homes, in the Inverness Park area.

The target area for the state's preventive 10-year initiative is 2,200 acres of the 2,400-acre park and officials hope to begin work in the fall of 2024.

The goal makes sense, but it is the scope of the plan that's drawing criticism, mainly from environmental organizations that want to make sure the potential unintended impacts are thoroughly studied before the state gets the green light from agencies that must also OK the work.

The groups would prefer if the state focused on building strategic fuel breaks and creating defensible spaces to protect neighboring homes and nearby communities.

Officials should rely on science to make sure the plan makes sense.

Approvals required by the California Coastal Commission and the county, as well as consultation with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, should provide ample opportunity to consider the environmental groups' objections and refine the plan, if necessary.

It is important that these agencies, in their deliberations, show they are open to public comment and responsive to questions raised. Decision-makers don't have to agree, but they should have science on their side in responding to portions of the plan that are being questioned or challenged.

Officials say the plan is still in its preliminary stages and there will be opportunities for the public to ask questions and get answers. Given recent criticism, the state has upped its efforts to do more to engage the public.

It is also working with the Marin County Fire Department. Chief Jason Weber, whose department in 2020 fought the 5,000-acre Woodward Fire nearby in the Point Reyes National Seashore, said the plan addresses the problem where the lack of fires has encouraged overgrowth and buildup or understory material. Such conditions are ripe for “fuel-driven fires,” he said.

Taking measures to prevent out-of-control wildland fires, such as those that have caused so much death, destruction and tragedies across Northern California in recent years, is wise. If the state's plan can be refined so it also prevents other unintended environmental damage, now is the time to consider those and to plan for them.