In May 2020 UCCE San Benito County, in partnership with the Resources Conservation District of Monterey County, was awarded a $379,000 CAL FIRE Fire Prevention Grant to develop a prescribed burn association covering San Benito, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties. Since then, we hired Jared Childress as our half-time prescribed burn coordinator. Jared has been busy conducting firelighter trainings, pile burn workshops, and home hardening and defensible space workshops. All of our workshops are open to anyone who is interested.

During 2021, we also conducted our first two prescribed burns and came up with a name for ourselves, the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association (CCPBA). Our email list consists of nearly 500 people who are interested in learning about and conducting prescribed burns in the tri-county area.

For more information about the CCPBA, click here.

In November 2021, the CCPBA was awarded a second grant from CAL FIRE in the amount of $705,000 to increase the capacity of the PBA. Both grants run through March 15, 2024. Through this second grant, we will

• Increase Jared's hours to full time
• Do more outreach and ranch site visits
• Hire a part-time assistant to help with outreach, including in Spanish
• Develop apprenticeship program for tribal members
• Conduct 4 more prescribed burns
• Coordinate a CalTREX (a two-week intensive prescribed fire training)
• Write 10 burn plans for private ranchers (5 burn plans have already been spoken for, but 5 remain available)
• Purchase a 525 gallon water trailer and some personal protective equipment (PPE)

If you are a rancher who is interested in doing a prescribed burn on your ranch, we can get you set up with a free burn plan, which is the first step toward doing burn. Please click here to see a flyer with details about how to get a burn plan for your ranch.

For questions about the CCPBA or to get involved, contact Jared Childress at childress.ember@gmail.com or 510-499-1496.