Sears Point restoration site recovering after fires

Petaluma’s Point Blue Conservation Science is leading the effort at the Highway 37 site.|

The fires have long been doused. The hillsides around Sears Point, which less than five months ago were charred ink black, are now bursting with emerald stalks of regrowth.

Signs of rebirth and renewal abound in Sonoma County after the October wildfires tore a destructive path, torching thousands of acres and destroying 5,000 homes.

At the site of the closest fire to skirt Petaluma, the 37 fire along Highway 37 at Sears Point, two student watershed restoration projects are growing back after being destroyed in the flames. Multiple plants are making a comeback. Some are growing back from stalks with a few leaves at the bottom. It will take years to repair the damage.

“On the refuge itself, the 37 fire burned 222 acres. The refuge is 20,000 acres. It could’ve been a lot worse,” said Don Brubaker, manager of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

He noted that the fire, which broke out during heavy winds Oct. 8, the same night that sparked the more destructive Tubbs and Nuns fires, singed a total of about 1,600 acres.

“It was burning the Sonoma Land Trust property and affected the Sonoma Raceway,” he said. “An engine crew from Novato lit a backfire around the refuge office and buildings. That single action probably protected many more acres and government assets.”

The projects lie in the Sears Point Ranch Gully, a ravine running down a low rise to the east.

One the projects was the installation of a “willow wall,” woven branches of willows stems up top of the rise, said Leia Giambastiani, restoration projects manager at Petaluma’s Point Blue Conservation Science.

“There were 300 willows along that drainage,” she said, adding that the other project was the planting of more than 100 native riparian species in a 1,000-foot section of the creek.

Josh Nuzzo, restoration technician and nursery manager at the refuge, said the native plants in the ravine include buckeye, coyote bush, coast live oak, California rose, toyon and California walnut. Nuzzo said these plants stabilized a heavily eroded section of a creek near Cougar Mountain. As the plants grow, they hold soil in place. This slows habitat loss for endangered plants and animals.

After the fire, most of the plants were reduced to ashes. The soil was crumbly and more prone to erosion. Irrigation lines and protective tubes for young trees melted into tangles of plastic. Many fence posts that separated the gully from a nearby cattle grazing area were diminished to incomplete stumps.

Since the fire, the area has seen extremely high rodent activity, Nuzzo said.

“(Mice and jackrabbits) love to chew on growing plants. If we don’t build chicken wire cages for willows, they may be more at risk,” he said.

Refuge staff also have to watch for deer and cows breaking through the fence to eat the young plants. John Parodi, restoration manager for the Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed or STRAW program at Point Blue, said the nonprofit is determining what to do next.

“We’d love to see how nature responds. It might surprise us. As far as the rebuilding, we’ll find a way to do it through donations and grants,” Parodi said. He said spring rains may help invigorate surviving plants.

Giambastiani said some of the willows may re-sprout at the base in spring.

“We will also look at what species come up after the fire. Some plants like the heat to open up their seed coats so they’re able to germinate,” she said.

Nuzzo said small successes that are currently occurring will guide future restoration work.

“Iris leaf rushes are one of the native plants that are regenerating like crazy. It’s heartwarming to see them come back so vigorously,” he said. “This landscape is resilient. It’s adapted for fire. This place burned but it’s not the end.”

All plantings took place as part of the STRAW program. The Petaluma schools that participated in the gully project included Valley Vista, La Tercera, and Grant Elementary schools.

“I’ve been working with STRAW for more than 20 years. We have worked out and around the Sears Point area on several occasions. Stream restoration work is one of the most worthwhile things we do all year,” said Lisa Beaudry, a sixth grade teacher at La Tercera Elementary School.

“I feel hands-on learning is invaluable. Kids learn by doing. Having your hands in the dirt, digging holes, and planting native species to help restore an eroded creek bed is authentic, hands-on learning. Kids hear frightening news about our damaged planet every day. When we go out and do something that positively impacts the environment, it’s extremely empowering for the students,” Beaudry said.

Chris Carter, a sixth grade teacher at La Tercera, said for many students, the experience is life-changing.

“It gives them a positive way to change the world around them. For many children, it’s their first chance to make a direct connection with the natural world around them. We also have parents going out there managing groups of four or five students doing the planting. It’s a bonding experience,” Carter said.

Carter said working with projects like the Sears Point Ranch Gully restoration helps the community recover from the fires.

“(Recovery) is brand new territory for us,” Carter said. “It was a devastating thing for the entire county. It’s a natural healing process to see (the recovery) happen in a place we know. We look at it as a learning experience to move forward. The recovery will be a standout, memorable experience in a lot of kids’ lives.”

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