East Bay Regional Parks Uses New Tech to Prevent Fires
East Bay Reginal Parks District unveiled a machine that burns organic matter with very little oxygen and at very high temperatures (about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit) in an effort to reduce wildfire risks and combat climate change.
Last week, East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) officials were in the hills above Lake Chabot to demonstrate new technology they say will reduce the chances of a wildfire by disposing of organic materials in a climate-friendly way.
The machine, called a Tigercat 6050 “carbonator,” resembles a trucking container with a box-like metal chamber. The device burns cut-up trees and shrubs using very little oxygen and at very high temperatures (about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit). The result is a blackened material called biochar that can be put back into the soil, which improves its water retention or pH, accelerates the composting of green waste, and filters toxins from water.
Previously, EBRPD would have either needed to burn the dead trees and shrubs in an open pile or use heavy diesel trucks to haul out the remains. By contrast, the carbonator process creates extremely low emissions.
“The carbonator is another tool for our toolbox to reduce wildfire risks and combat climate change. Going forward, up to half of the biomass removed from parks could be converted into biochar,” said Park District Assistant Fire Chief Khari Helae.
Having never been used in a metropolitan area for biomass disposal, EBRPD tested the Tigercat 6050 as part of an 80-acre pilot project at Anthony Chabot Regional Park in 2022. They shared their findings with the state and other partner agencies facing similar challenges. When completed in March 2023, the pilot project was shown as a net positive.
“As a large regional park district with a full-time fire department and biologists and ecologists on staff, we can do work that other agencies can’t,” said Park District Fire Chief Aileen Theile.
The current amount of biochar generated around Lake Chabot is currently being used at the Park District’s Ardenwood Farms in Fremont.
Reducing Wildfire Risks
In the fall of 2020, while conducting ongoing vegetation management work, Park District staff noticed significant tree die-offs in its parks. Staff later identified more than 1,500 acres of dying trees within the Regional Parks, primarily eucalyptus, bay, and pine. While there are many contributing factors, the overarching cause is believed to be drought-stress due to climate change.
The Park District spans Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area and manages 73 parks, 1,330 miles of trails, and over 125,000 acres. EBRPD has its own fire department and fuels management crew.
“As the largest regional park district of its kind in the nation and a local wildfire prevention leader, we knew we needed to lead the way in finding solutions,” said Park District General Manager Sabrina B. Landreth.
Much of the identified tree die-off was within the Park District’s approved Wildfire Hazard Mitigation and Resource Management Plan, which meant environmental approvals for fuels reduction work were already in place. However, significant funding was needed.
In 2021, shortly after the discovery of tree die-off, the EBRPD approached state officials for help addressing the situation, and the state responded with a critical $10 million direct appropriation from the legislature through Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and then-Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont). The total cost estimate for the tree die-off issue is over $30 million.
Based on the success of the pilot project, EBRPD is moving forward with thinning out more of its dead or dying trees and shrubs in the backwoods areas of Anthony Chabot Regional Park. The project uses $7.5 million of the $10 million direct appropriation from the state legislature, plus federal funds of $1.5 million secured by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
The 365-acre project currently underway at Anthony Chabot Regional Park involves heavy equipment, including a felling team removing trees from the top down and a mastication team thinning vegetation and trees from the ground up.
“By doing this work now, we will gain a more sustainable eco-system in the long-term to benefit generations to come. We are working and planning for both now and the future, and we’re committed to playing the long game,” said Landreth