Good burning for ecological health – an interview with Jared Childress of the California Prescribed Burn Association

  As the Program Manager and Burn Boss for the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association for the UC Cooperative Extension, Jared Childress identifies and implements prescribed fire projects throughout San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, leads fire-related trainings and engages various communities for getting “good fire” on the ground. Before working for the UCCE, Jared worked as the Prescribed Fire Coordinator for Audubon Canyon Ranch's Fire Forward program, where he was co-founder and co-chair for both the Bay Area Prescribed Fire Council and Sonoma’s prescribed burn association, The Good Fire Alliance. Jared is the sole proprietor of Ember Fire Consulting. Having grown up on a coastal California ranch, Jared’s work has centered around the stewardship of CA rangelands and the relationships with the people who work them. This has led him to cowboy on numerous ranches, fight fire as a seasonal Wildland Firefighter with CAL FIRE and Federal Contractors, organize neighbors around wildfire prevention and perform rangeland monitoring as a field biologist with Point Blue's Range Monitoring Network. Jared holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with an emphasis on rangeland ecology, is qualified as a CA Certified Burn Boss (CARx), Firing Boss, Engine Boss and still spends part of his Summers fighting wildfire. Photo above by Jared Childress.