RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Registered professional forester Phyllis Banducci delivered an upbeat progress report Dec. 2, telling the Rancho Murieta Regional Fire Safe Council that on-the-ground work for the $4.4 million Cosumnes Ladder Fuel Reduction Project is nearly complete and that Sacramento County has authorized additional acres for treatment before the grant ends at the end of March.

(See “Fuel Reduction Project Underway to Protect RM Area”) 

“I’m pleased to say that we have completed everything in the original contracts, except for two acres,” Banducci said during the online meeting. Crews finished the remaining units on the Pilliken Ranch earlier that day and then moved into Deer Creek Hills to clean up blowdown from last winter’s storms.

As the CAL Fire-funded project drew to a close, the county uncovered some remaining funds during budget reconciliation and asked Banducci to extend the work. She was ready: Two additional areas were already on her list.

The California Environmental Quality Act report for the project had been written to allow for the quick addition of newly available acres.

“Fortunately, we selected a large area for our CEQA document,” she said. “We have all the environmental information we need. We just have to do quick surveys and we’re good to go.”

Two Treatment Areas Added

The first additional treatment area consists of 11 acres located north of the Riverview development, above the area locally known as “South Beach” in Rancho Murieta South. Banducci said she had originally hesitated to include it because it had once been identified as a potential salamander habitat, which would have made treatment expensive. Updated reviews, however, found no such habitat.

“At one point in time, I had mentioned I wanted to treat that area because it’s just above where the kids play at the popular beach, and there are often bonfires there,” she said. “So we’re going to be able to treat that.”

The second new area, totaling about 32 acres of woodlands, lies within the Residences Subdivision in Rancho Murieta North. When the fuel-reduction plan was first developed, the subdivision didn’t have its final map, so its common-area parcels couldn’t be included. With mapping now approved, those acres qualify.

“Those are critical. They’re right behind homes on Puerto,” Banducci said. “The new homes aren’t built yet, so it is easier for equipment to work in the area.”

She added that developers Bob and Michele Keil “have been great to work with” as they finalize right-of-entry agreements.

Final Push into January

Banducci said she expects crews to spend only six to eight days in Deer Creek Hills before returning to Rancho Murieta in late December. Work is moving quickly, she added, including important follow-up treatments on areas cut last year.

“One of the last things that’s happening right now is they are cutting any of the stump sprouts we got from treatments that occurred last year,” she said. “They’re cutting those sprouts with loppers, and we are spraying those so we don’t create ladder fuels after we’ve cut them.”

For new thinning operations occurring now, workers are applying herbicide immediately after each cut.

“The treatment has to be within 45 minutes when we have a fresh stump,” she said. “So all of that is going on now at the same time: lots going on.”

Banducci estimated field work would be “completely finished by the end of January.”

Reporting, acreage reconciliation and other close-out requirements will continue.

“We have until March 31 to do those,” she said. “I think we’re going to be in pretty good shape.”

Deer Creek Hills

Fire Safe Council President Greg Pryor asked Banducci about the 200-plus trees planted at the Deer Creek Hills Preserve under the grant. She said some must be replanted but deferred to Sacramento Valley Conservancy Executive Director Kelly Hopkins for more details.

“Deer Creek Hills is a challenging place to grow oaks. We don’t see a lot of regeneration,” Hopkins said. “I can say this is more successful than other mitigation projects that have taken place at Deer Creek Hills.”

Pryor asked whether funding had been secured for water buffaloes: large, mobile tanks used to water young trees in remote areas. Hopkins said the Conservancy worked out an arrangement with Sacramento County.

“There was a significant amount of cost savings because of the structure of that agreement,” she said. “Even though the grant is ending, we still are going to continue to water (the trees) and make sure that they’re successful… and that we’re doing through our general fund.”

Previous Work

The active on-the-ground work began in November 2024 and took on a new sense of urgency in January when devastating wildfires broke out in Los Angeles.

The first phase, which finished in February, focused on thinning, pruning, ground-fuel removal and heavy mastication across more than 900 acres inside Rancho Murieta, on ranch lands west of Scott Road and in the Deer Creek Hills Preserve. The work resumed in September.

(See “Wildfire Fuel Reduction Project to Resume Sept. 29”) 

Community Response

In a brief interview after the meeting, Banducci expressed her appreciation for the support from the Scott Road landowners, the adjacent landowners and the community.

Banducci said that ranch owner Tom Pilliken dropped by weekly as the work progressed.

“He’d talk to the crews, look at the work they had done and express his appreciation at how much healthier his oak stands looked,” she said.

Adjacent landowners have also been talking to the crews, telling them, “Thank you. You are doing a great job and everything looks good,” she reported.

Grant Background

Banducci emphasized that the project would not have been possible without the Fire Safe Council. The council persistently applied for multiple grants and, to its amazement, ultimately secured the $4.4 million CAL FIRE grant in 2022.

Banducci noted that Rob Schultz, who wrote the grant application, and council members Greg Pryor, Cheryl McElhaney and Kelly Hopkins all played key roles in securing the funding.

Assistance from former Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost was also crucial to the project. Because the Fire Safe Council wasn’t a nonprofit, it needed a sponsor to apply for the CAL FIRE grant. Frost facilitated the involvement of Sacramento County Regional Parks, where staff member Veronica Thorley now serves as the project’s administrative manager.

The primary goal of the grant is to reduce ladder fuels, which involves pruning lower tree branches, thinning smaller trees and removing ground fuels.

“The objective is to manage the oak stand so that, if a fire enters the area, it remains a ground fire,” Banducci explained. “Crown fires generate significantly more embers, which can travel into our community and create serious risks.”