Wildfire Resilience

Wildfire Preparedness Activities

California State Parks is committed to working together with local fire agencies and other partners to regularly conduct the following ongoing fire prevention activities at Mount Tamalpais State Park: 

• Defensible space maintenance is routinely conducted by the California State Parks around park facilities and high use areas to protect this infrastructure
    
• Fire rings and BBQs in campgrounds and day use areas are regularly maintained, with nearby vegetation managed to limit receptive fuels in these areas  

• Roadside vegetation maintenance regularly occurs to provide access for emergency responders along Pantoll Road, Ridgecrest Boulevard and fire roads within the park.

• Vegetation clearance around electrical infrastructure and associated maintenance work is conducted by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company and its contractors in close coordination with California State Parks   
  
  
• Neighboring Properties can work with State Parks to obtain a right of entry permit to conduct defensible space work on California State Parks land when their structures are within 130 feet of the park boundary. For more information contact: BayAreaNaturalResources@parks.ca.gov

Wildland Vegetation Stewardship Work

California State Parks has a long history of conducting vegetation stewardship work at Mount Tamalpais State Park, including work that is focused on enhancing the resilience of the park’s vegetation communities to fires. This work includes the following:   

Invasive Species Management to protect biodiversity and reduce fire severity.   

•  Removal of eucalyptus, broom and other invasive plant species that outcompete and replace native plant communities and can increase fuel loading and fire behavior  

Targeted Fuel Reduction work occurs in specific wildland areas when conditions warrant. This work may support preservation of sensitive habitats and plant communities, the management of invasive plant species and the preservation of historic or culturally significant landscapes. This work includes: 

• Extensive vegetation management in the park's grasslands along Panoramic Highway between Muir Woods Road and parking lot adjacent to the Mountain Home Inn in partnership with the Marin County Fire Department and the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.
  
  
• Expanded vegetation management within and around the Historic Mountain Theater (Cushing Memorial Theatre) in partnership with Marin Water and the Marin County Fire Department. 
  
  
• Vegetation management within and around portions of Muir Woods National Monument in partnership with the National Park Service and the Marin County Fire Department. 
  
  
• Vegetation management along strategic portions of the Park boundary adjacent to the Stinson Beach community in partnership with the Stinson Beach Fire District and the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.

Prescribed Burning is a tool used that is used in support of the efforts mentioned above.

• Prescribed burns have taken place accross multiple portions of the park, intermittently since the 1990s to reduce fuel loading and support stewardship of grasslands, oak woodlands and redwood forests in multiple parts of the Mount Tamalpais State Park 
  
  
• Prescribed burns along the boundary between Mount Tamalpais State Park and Muir Woods National Monument are coordinated with the National Park Service
  
  
• Prescribed Burns have most recently taken place along the Deer Park Fire Road in 2024
  
  
• Pile burning has taken place in multiple areas of the park since the 1990s, with over 600 piles burned between 2022-2026 in support of broadcast burn preparation and fuel reduction efforts