UCSB Sedgwick Reserve survives Lake Fire; researchers study fire’s effects
SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, Calif. - Fire behavior is one of the many things researchers study at the UCSB Sedgwick Reserve, but the recent Lake Fire was more than a scientific experiment.
"Initially, it was pretty scary not knowing what was going to happen," UCSB Sedgwick Reserve Director, Heather Constable said. "I mean, we've been prepared for this. This is on our mind all the time being in this country and all the research we do with fire."
About half of the six thousand acres of the vast Santa Ynez Valley property burned.
You can still see where fire retardant was dropped to slow the fire's spread. Thousands of firefighters worked for weeks to put out the blaze that would burn over 38 thousand acres in total.
"The winds didn't pick up," Constable said. "We were worried about Sundowner winds. Luckily, that didn't happen and the firefighters could start their back burning."
Most of the charred land was caused by backfires set by fire crews to protect the research station, facilities and neighboring Woodstock Ranch homes.
"So they're able to make, slowly burn up towards the fire to hold it and create some black so it wouldn't advance," Constable said. "That combined with the dozer lines that were driven through led us a pretty good buffer."
Twelve miles of dozer containment lines were cut across the property and roads were widened by 17 miles, according to Research Center Director Frank Davis.
"All for the purpose of keeping people and infrastructure safe," Davis said. "But it means we have some work to do to remediate that."
Your News Channel also found that neighbors of the Sedgwick Reserve, through the Woodstock Property Owners Association, have laid some of the blame for the fire prevention efforts at the research area for what they claim is negligent range management at the Reserve.
In response, Constable shared the following message and FAQ webpage with Your News Channel:
"Sedgwick Reserve is extremely grateful to the Santa Barbara County Fire, CalFire, and Los Padres Forest Unified Command for the actions taken during the Lake Fire. We are thankful for the opportunity to support and work with them in their suppression and repair efforts related to the Lake Fire. Sedgwick Reserve is at the forefront of wildfire research and has worked closely with the County and University Fire Marshall for the last decade to develop our comprehensive fire mitigation and vegetation management plans. We look forward to continuing to work with the fire community on our wildfire prevention and prescribed burn research to help protect, not just our neighboring communities, but communities across California and the US."
Constable says researchers studying the animals and plants at Sedgwick Reserve are eager to get out and see what happened to their projects after the fire.
"These are people's theses are being developed," Constable said. "The fire could either be an interesting part of their chapter, or it might ruin their entire experiment and conclusion."
The Lake Fire has provided an opportunity for new research. A group from UCLA is studying how fire affects the acorn crop on oak trees.
"What they wanted to do," Davis said, "Is bag up some branches of these oaks and catch any acorns that are dropped prematurely that wouldn't be viable acorns so they can estimate how much of the crop is lost."
Dozens of research projects are ongoing at any given time at the UCSB Sedgwick Reserve. Public access is limited to a few special events and docent-led hikes.
