Fire and rain are natural parts of the ecosystem. Fire helps to renew the forest, and rain helps to quench the flames. But when we suppress fire too much, the forest becomes unhealthy and more vulnerable to wildfires. — HHB
The Coast Range of Northern California, a landscape that was shaped over millennia by frequent, low intensity fires, has fallen into disrepair.
A century of government agency fire suppression and regressive land management policies — coupled with extractive forestry practices that remove large, fire resistant trees from the land — have left lasting changes on the composition of the forests in our region.
Today, the forest has far too many trees of the same size and age, growing too close together without big enough gaps between them. This results in a forest in a broken and hazardous condition that is susceptible to high intensity wildfires and tree diseases.
Our Mission
Repair forested land through the intentional use of fire.
We accomplish our mission by working with private landowners and land management agencies to design, implement and monitor ambitious forestry projects. We are interested in working on initiatives that involve fuels management and fire use at the landscape scale.
In a lot of cases, the goal is to make a less dense forest with enough space between the trees to accommodate a living understory of herbaceous grasses and forbs. In turn, these plants provide habitat to wildlife and keep fires low to the ground and easier to manage.
To accomplish this much needed work we use chainsaws, pulaskis, drip torches, hoselays, fire engines, sling psychrometers and hard work. To achieve forest health, we need to change our relationship with fire.
We look forward to working alongside you.
Biswell Forestry
PO Box 6, Cazadero, CA 95421 (707) 632-5331
Also, we are hiring!
