Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 08 09

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Parks, Open Space, and Public Works, to learn from their challenges, ideas, and concerns. She presented a slide show that summarized the material in the meeting packet. Meg presented the Overarching Messages the consultants are trying to communicate to the public. Some of these messages include: the variability of land types that the City must manage, that the City is already doing a lot of mitigation work, that all mitigation measures will require tradeoffs with other goals for the land, and that management for shortgrass prairie remediation will simultaneously help with wildfire mitigation. Meg talked about the types of fuel treatments, noting that full "firebreaks" and more modest "fuel breaks" can reduce the spread of fire to an extent, but cannot stop the entry of embers blown into an area. She added that most fuel breaks do not work without both consistent maintenance and the presence of firefighters at the time of an actual fire. The purpose of a fuel break is to slow the fire, to reduce its flame length, and to give firefighters a control and access point, not to fully stop a fire. She said that after feedback from staff they have separated their fire mitigation recommendations into several category types: open space, non -irrigated parks, and irrigated parks. Ditches within the city are not owned or maintained by the city, but they have included them in this analysis, hoping that ditch owners will also follow their recommendations. The consultants created a wildfire mitigation approach for each property category (see page 17 of the packet). The next part of her presentation addressed pros and cons for various strategies of fire mitigation and summarized whether or not they are recommended for each of Louisville's public lands type. If a strategy has two checks, it is highly recommended for that land type, one check is a recommended strategy that may have moderate benefits, an X means the strategy is not recommended, and an (X) means that the strategy is only recommended in very specific circumstances. Prescribed burns: In general, the consultants are very much in favor of the mitigation benefits of prescribed burns on open space land, pointing out that they are effective at controlling cheatgrass and smooth brome, two invasive species that create a lot of fuel cover on some of the city's open space ecosystems. Meg added that prescribed burning is much more effective in conjunction with other controls that manage for native species, like herbicide use and seeding. Herbicide and integrated weed management: Meg reported that she heard citizen feedback with dramatically opposed opinions on herbicide use on open space land. Herbicides can help with the reduction of non-native fuel cover and are particularly useful in conjunction with other strategies, so they are recommended for use for fire mitigation on open space. Animal grazing: Grazing is good for reducing fuel height. Meg thought that animal grazing might have more public support than herbicide use, but she did list some potential drawbacks. Grazing is recommended for fire mitigation on open space. Seeding with native grasses: Meg pointed out that simply seeding with native grasses alone is insufficient. Native grasses must be given a space to get established via other methods of removal, such as fire or herbicide use or grazing. Native shortgrass prairie grasses tend not to