Prescribed Burns at Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve

Van Hoosear is a stunning 163-acre wildflower preserve in the foothills of Sonoma Mountain. The property — a gently sloping grassland with more than 250 species of common and rare wildflowers and native grasses — is permanently protected under a conservation easement made possible by the voter-approved Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space) and the California Wildlife Conservation Board.

Sonoma Ecology Center manages Van Hoosear through a partnership with the landowner, and every spring our naturalists lead the public on guided tours through its spectacular wildflower displays. (To be first to learn about our wildly popular wildflower walks, subscribe to our newsletter or become a member.)

The 2022 Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve prescribed burn is organized by Sonoma Ecology Center and Sonoma Valley Fire District, with support from ACR’s Fire Forward team and the volunteer members of the Good Fire Alliance, led by burn boss Phil Dye of Prometheus Fire Consulting.

La quema prescrita del 2022 en la Reserva de flores silvestres Van Hoosear es organizada por Sonoma Ecology Center y Sonoma Valley Fire District, con apoyo del equipo Fire Forward de  Audubon Canyon Ranch y miembros voluntarios con Good Fire Alliance, dirigido por “jefe de quemas prescritas” Phil Dye de Prometheus Fire Consulting.

Want to read more about the process of prescribed burns at Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve and hear about our past successful burns? Read more below:

Past Prescribed Burns at Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve

Video of 2021 prescribed burn by Steven Lee

Pictures from the 2021 prescribed fire by Kristen Russell

Unplanned wildfires can be devastating, but planned burns can effectively remove excess flammable vegetation, manage invasive plants, and revitalize native plant communities such as the Preserve’s wildflower meadows. 

Since 2004, we have worked with the owners of the Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve to co-manage the wildflower meadows and grasslands, oak woodlands, and riparian habitats of the Preserve. This 162-acre property is protected forever against future development, to preserve its beauty and its rich and rare mix of native plants and animals. 

Several non-native, invasive plant species grow in the Preserve. Some of them are not edible by cattle, so despite careful summer grazing, their populations continue to expand. Medusahead, for example, is an invasive grass that creates a thick layer of persistent, flammable thatch that smothers native grasses and wildflowers and has a prickly seed head that cattle avoid. A prescribed burn in 2020 at the Preserve made a good start at reducing Medusahead and other invasives. You may have also heard about controlled burns in 2018 at the Bouverie Preserve near Glen Ellen, and in 2016 and 2017 at Pepperwood Preserve, northeast of Santa Rosa, that successfully reduced Medusahead and reduced the burn intensity during the Nuns fire.

The Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve prescribed burn was organized and prepared by Sonoma Ecology Center with support from ACR’s Fire Forward team and conducted by volunteer community members of the Good Fire Alliance with leadership from Phil Dye of Prometheus Fire Consulting. Thank you to the Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Department, Sonoma Valley Fire District, Santa Clara County Parks Department, and Cazadero Fire Department for sending people and engines in support of this effort.

We held a prescribed burn on June 4, 2021, that covered some 11 acres. We expect this area to display wildflower recovery much as the area did that was burned in 2020.

The Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve prescribed burn is organized and prepared by Sonoma Ecology Center with support from ACR’s Fire Forward team and conducted by volunteer community members of the Good Fire Alliance with leadership from Phil Dye of Prometheus Fire Consulting. Thank you to the Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Department, Sonoma Valley Fire District, Santa Clara County Parks Department, and Cazadero Fire Department for sending people and engines in support of this effort.

Good Fire Alliance

Learn more about our 2020 prescribed burn on the property.

The prescribed burn in 2020 allowed for wildflower recovery.