Maintaining Your Defensible Space

After the site has been evaluated, your plan prepared, and any permits obtained, it is time to implement your plan. Depending on the amount of work involved in creating your defensible space, and your capabilities, you may opt to perform the work or elect to hire a contractor. (Refer to Appendix D for more information on hiring a vegetation management contractor)

Vegetation removed while creating defensible space or following timber harvesting should be disposed of as quickly as possible. Large vegetation piles present a considerable fire hazard. Slash can be disposed of in the following manners:

1. Save suitable wood and use for firewood.
2. Utilize a chipper to chip woody slash material, and use the chips as compost or mulch in the home landscape.
3. Transport material to the transfer station (often very expensive).
4. Burn slash, if allowed:
   1. Small 4'x4' piles can be burned with a permit during the burning permit season.
   2. Larger piles are best burned in winter. Contact your district, CDF, and the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District (See the Resource List) for a special permit during the burning permit season.

While awaiting disposal, there are activities that you can perform to reduce the slash pile fire hazard. Vegetative material should be stored in several widely separated piles, as opposed to one large pile. If possible, the piles should be wetted down daily with a lawn sprinkler unless they will be burned in the near future.

Creating a defensible space should not be viewed as a one-time project. Maintaining the defensible space is a continual process. You should implement a yearly maintenance routine. At the beginning of each fire season, the four questions presented in Step Two should be reviewed and answered accordingly.