News & Events

Upcoming Event: Trex 2026 Fall burn and VMP burn

Fall is just around the corner, which means preparations are underway for another exciting prescribed fire season!

This year, we will once again be hosting a TREX (Training Exchange) prescribed burn in open grasslands, bringing together firefighters, land managers, and partners to gain hands-on experience using prescribed fire as a land management tool.

In addition, a Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) prescribed burn is planned for Lisque Canyon, covering approximately 123 acres of oak woodland and coastal sage scrub. These burns provide valuable opportunities to improve ecosystem health, reduce wildfire risk, and advance our understanding of fire’s role in California’s landscapes.

Both burns offer excellent opportunities for scientific research. We welcome researchers interested in studying topics such as fire behavior, vegetation response, wildlife, soils, hydrology, ecology, or other fire-related disciplines.

If you are interested in conducting research during either burn or would like additional information to help plan a project, we encourage you to reach out to our team. We are happy to discuss research opportunities and collaborate with new and returning partners.

The 2025 VMP Burn was a Success!

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department recently completed a prescribed burn covering approximately 110 acres of coastal sage scrub and oak woodland in the southwest corner of UC Santa Barbara’s Sedgwick Reserve, adjacent to Woodstock Ranch. The burn marks an important milestone in the Reserve’s 10-year Vegetation Management Program (VMP), which aims to reduce wildfire risk, advance research into prescribed fire behavior and effects, and provide valuable training opportunities for fire professionals. Overall, the prescribed fire was moderate in severity, though conditions varied widely between habitats. In the coastal sage scrub, most shrub patches burned completely, while areas of oak woodland showed a mosaic of effects.

Researchers collected detailed pre- and post-burn data to examine how vegetation structure and fire behavior influence ecosystem recovery. Pre-burn fuel characteristics were quantified on the ground and paired with LiDAR data to characterize three-dimensional fuel structure and vegetation composition. During the burn, thermocouples, data loggers, and pyrometers recorded fire temperatures and heat flux, while cameras documented flame height and rate of spread. Post-burn monitoring now focuses on assessing how differences in fuel structure and fire intensity translate into variation in plant community recovery. Ultimately, the research aims to determine whether specific combinations of fuels and fire behavior promote greater post-fire plant diversity across foothill ecosystems.