From monitoring to tactics & procedures, to finances & training we're taking actions to rehab dozer lines thanks to ongoing fundraising efforts. This is a followup story to: The Lahaina Banyan Tree and the Fallen Pitch Pine.
Dozer Line at Calverton Ponds Preserve
Written by Mindy Block, Quality Parks Founder & President
Pictured above is what a dozer line looks like. It has been scraped to mineral soil, compacted, and its topsoil plowed into piles. The dozer line encourages illegal dumping and invasive species. How can we best undo the damage and rehab these fire breaks?
I used to think: give me a shovel and a rake, and a few volunteers. Instead, it's about who access to decision making process, funding, staffing, and equipment. That's why Quality Parks qualifies our actions to be actionable, which has led me to rethink the shovel and rake approach, as follows:
- Monitoring: It's nearly time to revisit the Calverton Ponds Preserve and record observations. But before we go, Quality Parks has to organize what we will be looking for with respect to differences between natural fire recovery and dozer impacts. This will requires local experience coupled with researching online.
- Tactics: Brushing over trails (a tactic developed by trail maintainers), may not be suitable for dozer lines. Quality Parks will benchmark who is doing what, and how effective has their approach been. Will hand tools be sufficient? This will involve Internet searching and followup conversations.
- Procedures: How does emergency response and recovery differ? Is dozer line rehab part of the emergency response or the emergency recovery? How are dozer fire line impacts reported? Does this vary depending upon property ownership? This will involve Internet searching and followup conversations.
- Finances: Who pays for recovery or response, at the federal, state, county, etc. levels? Does funds target such suppression impacts as dozer lines? How does funding compare across varying environmental conditions? This will involve Internet searching and followup conversations.
- Training: Who is doing what if any training at the federal, state, and/or local levels with regard to suppression impacts? Is dozer line repair part of dozer or chainsaw training class? Who can we work with us to prepare a local lessons with field training. This will involve benchmarking and feasibility conversations.
Please consider a donation to fund these actionable actions. Your donations are very much appreciated. It's only through your support that will we have the means to move forward on this ongoing wildfire, conservation challenge.
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