Quarry Park Fuel Reduction Project Underway
Through mid-October 2022, we will be treating up to 100 acres of dense fire fuels in Quarry Park. Some trail closures will occur, Monday through Friday. Learn more
Shaded Fuel Break Along Fire Roads in Quarry Park & Mirada East
In summer 2021, the San Mateo Resource Conservation District (RCD) received a $1 million grant from the State Coastal Conservancy to fund a 100-acre fire mitigation project in Quarry Park with two components: 1) thinning of understory vegetation within 100 feet of select trails to create shaded fuel breaks and 2) removal of hazard trees within 200 feet of select trails. Both project components will enhance first responders’ ability to quickly access the Park to conduct fire suppression and containment activities to slow the spread of fire to nearby residential communities, improving community wildfire resiliency. Because this project involves removal of non-native understory trees and hazard trees while retaining native shrubs and plants, it will also provide ecological benefits. This project was assigned a rank ID of 16 in the San Mateo County Parks Department’s Wildlife Fuel Management Program 2021-2026 Projects document.
In September 2021, the San Mateo County Parks Department and the San Mateo RCD initiated the project by hiring a contractor to create approximately nine acres of shaded fuel break along portions of the Quarry trail, Vista Point Trail, and Mirada East Fire Road. Crews removed eucalyptus, acacia, and cypress trees with a diameter of 10 inches or less, retaining as much native vegetation as possible. We anticipate that the next phase of work—thinning of understory vegetation on 40 additional acres to create shaded fuel breaks and removal of hazard trees on 100 acres—will begin in the spring. Following the completion of initial treatment, Parks Department staff will monitor the treated project areas and prescribe follow-up maintenance treatment, which will occur approximately every five years.
See a map of the project area
Before
After
Before and after photos courtesy of Erica Harris, Conservation Project Manager with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District.
Learn more about San Mateo County Parks' Forest Health & Community Safety Initiative