Daniel Swain, Jacy Hyde, Joe Tyler, Chris Anthony, Steve Maisonet & Seth Schalet

California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Meeting March 27, 27, 2025

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" is a song by The Byrds, released in 1965. It became an international hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965. The lyrics are adapted from a passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, emphasizing the theme of the passage of time and the cycles of life. The song was originally put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959 before The Byrds popularized it. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” (source: Wikipedia)

To everything there is a season—does this also mean what has historically been called “wildfire season?”

Change is an important metaphor for wildfire resilience. Multiple studies have found that climate change has already led to an increase in wildfire season length (8 weeks earlier and 6 weeks longer than 1970), wildfire frequency, and burned area. The wildfire season has lengthened in many areas due to factors including warmer springs, longer summer dry seasons, and drier soils and vegetation. Similarly, climate change threatens to increase the frequency, extent, and severity of fires through increased temperatures and drought. Earlier spring melting and reduced snowpack result in decreased water availability during hot summer conditions, which in turn contributes to an increased wildfire risk, allowing fires to start more easily and burn hotter and faster.

What else has been changing over the last few decades that contributes to increased fire risk, the rising number of destroyed and damaged homes and unfortunately, wildfire related deaths in California? The number of people and homes in the WUI. The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) in California is the fastest growing area of housing growth. However, this growth also leads to wildfire frequency and risk, as human-caused wildfires are responsible for most of the wildfires in the WUI, 90% to 95% according to most studies.

Why the lead-up about this. Because we must change as well if we want to reduce our risk. A good place to start includes the Santa Clara County Fire Department’s website and their updated Local Responsibility Area (LRA) Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps, or the City of San Jose’s updated FHSZ Maps or the City of Morgan Hill’s updated FHSZ Maps. 

Then, review this presentation, the CAL FIRE Zone Zero Regulation Advisory Committee Workshop March 4, 2025. Starting with these steps, you can be the change needed to take responsibility for your defensible space, protecting your home and those of your neighbors. We can’t just expect the fire service agencies to solve this for us, we must take responsibility into our owns hands and homes!

Major Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health Achievement for Santa Clara County. This March 31st milestone marks the completion of our first CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant, treating over 1,000 acres across multiple key areas. These efforts have played a crucial role in improving forest health, enhancing fire resilience, and reducing the risks of wildfire in our region by using a range of techniques, including manual thinning, chipping, and mechanical mastication.

This achievement would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions from all of our partners, contractors, and the local community. We are grateful for the support from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Santa Clara County Parks, San Jose Water, Ascent, Auten Resource Consulting, Nomad Ecology, Nestldown Ranch, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and many others who played a role in making this project a success.

I want to thank the Santa Clara County Fire Chiefs Association for inviting both Amanda Brenner Cannon and me to present on our countywide programs, projects, technology and consulting offerings on April 2nd. We welcome the opportunity to expand our services to all towns, cities, and municipalities throughout Santa Clara County and statewide with our technology portfolio.

On the LA wildfires! 4 great articles by friends Jeff Shelton, Mojtaba Sadegh, Michele Steinberg, David Shew and others provide initial insights into what we can learn. Wildfires in urban areas test our collective capacity not just for responsible land use & management, but also our social & political fabric for how we discuss & respond to these repeated disasters. The latest editorial discusses this event and links to four correspondences from researchers and firefighters about what happened and the critical lessons to be learned. You can read these articles here in the current issue of Nature Sustainability.

On March 26 and March 27, I had the pleasure of attending the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Meeting in San Rafael. It was good to spend time with friends and partners and most importantly, listen to the various speakers share their knowledge and experiences. Thank you to CALFIRE, the Marini Wildfire Prevention Authority and Fire Safe Marin for hosting this event. I highly recommend you take time to review the videos the SPRING 2025 REGIONAL MEETING RECAP.

I am thrilled to announce that with more than three decades of experience in fire service and public safety, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell has joined FireDome’s Advisory Board. Here is a copy of the press release: Former U.S. Fire Administrator Joins the FireDome Advisory Board to Drive Wildfire Defense Innovation. Santa Clara County FireSafe Council will serve as their California reseller and deployment partner. More to come, stay tuned.

Looking forward to the fall, I am pleased to share I have added two new board meeting guest presenters.

Wildfire and power grid nexus in a changing climate lead author, Junbo Zhao, Director, DOE Northeast University Cybersecurity Center for Advanced and Resilient Energy Delivery will be my guest presenter, for one of our board meetings.

Redefining expectations for urban water supply systems to fight wildfires lead author, Greg Pierce, Co-Director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) and Senior Researcher, leading LCI’s Water, Environmental Equity and Transportation programs will be a guest speaker at another board meeting.

Forest Health Grant Drone Tour Teaser: 

Earlier this year, with funding support from the California Fire Safe Council, we were able to spend two full days in the field documenting our work on the Forest Health Grant—the first one. In the next few months, we will release drone video and photos taken by Alex Roa, Founder, TOPO COLLECTIVE and his team. For now, here is a sneak peek at some stills.

Ok, that’s a wrap for this month. Thanks for reading and now, let’s hear from the team.

Yours truly,



Seth Schalet

CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council

Forest Health Grant First Collaboration - Successfully Concluded:



We are extremely proud to announce the successful conclusion of the Forest Health Grant First Collaboration on March 31, 2025. This milestone marks the completion of an extensive effort that saw over 1,000 acres treated across multiple key areas. These efforts have played a crucial role in improving forest health, enhancing fire resilience, and reducing the risks of wildfires in our region by using a range of techniques, including manual thinning, chipping, and mechanical mastication.

This achievement would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions from all of our partners, contractors, and the local community. We are grateful for the support from CAL FIRE, Santa Clara County Parks, San Jose Water Company, Ascent Environmental, Auten Resource Consulting, Nomad Ecology, Nestldown Ranch, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and many others who played a role in making this project a success.

We are especially grateful to Bay Area Tree Specialists for their outstanding work and commitment throughout this project. Their efforts were essential in helping us reach this milestone, and we thank them for their hard work and professionalism.