BLM to conduct prescribed fire at Dos Palmas Preserve in Riverside County
MORENO VALLEY, Calif. – Fire crews from the Bureau of Land Management and cooperating agencies will conduct a prescribed fire in the Dos Palmas Preserve over the course of one day between Jan. 4 and 15, 2021. The prescribed fire will only be ignited under specific weather conditions which will allow for safe and successful burning and smoke dispersion. Smoke may be visible from the community of North Shore and Highway 111 during ignitions, which will occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“The prescribed fire is part of an ongoing effort to maintain the preserve’s important marshland habitat in a healthy condition,” said Chelsea Collins, Dos Palmas Preserve Manager. “The burn will treat 25 acres of habitat for the Yuma Ridgway’s rail species and is designed to maintain suitable marshland habitat for the endangered bird.”
For years, pairs of grebes would zoom across the water at Lake Hodges in a dazzling mating dance, and then build their nests on mats of dried brush suspended above the waterline.
This year, some of the birds are still pairing up, but their nesting area near Interstate 15 no longer floods with seasonal rains, and can’t sustain them. The eastern finger of the lake, which long alternated between riparian woodland and seasonal ponds, is permanently drained because of state-ordered changes to the water level.
Anyone who has driven that stretch of freeway south of Escondido, or walked the pedestrian bridge over the lake, has likely seen a flooded forest, where tree branches poke up from glassy water. That offered ideal habitat for grebes, which are powerful swimmers but poor fliers, and would build nests just above the waterline in order to access them. If the water level drops too far below the nest, the parents have trouble reaching it, and the clutch may fail.
New Santa Fe Irrigation District board member Dana Friehauf was sworn into her seat at the board’s Dec. 17 meeting. Friehauf represents Division 2, inclusive of a portion of Solana Beach.
A Solana Beach native, Friehauf brings over 30 years of experience in the field of water resources. She served as a water resources manager at the San Diego County Water Authority and oversaw the development of plans and policies to help ensure a reliable water supply for the San Diego region. Since her retirement in 2019, she has been attending Santa Fe Irrigation District board meetings to advocate for fair and equitable water rates for Solana Beach ratepayers.