Glenn Nader has always lived in wildfire-prone areas. He’s a fourth generation California rancher who has been through three wildfires in Lassen County – that’s in northeastern California close to Reno, Nevada. “I do understand the homeowner’s point of view. I kept putting fire prevention tasks on my to-do list. By the third wildfire near my ranch, I felt comfortable that my home could survive the fire.”
Glenn is the University of California Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor in Butte, Sutter and Yuba Counties. He is an animal nutritionist, doing research and education in areas such as feeding rice straw to cattle, yellow starthistle management, rangeland water quality, fire and fuel management and improved marketing of beef cattle. Glenn has a Bachelor’s in agriculture from Chico State University and a Master’s in animal nutrition from the University of California, Davis.
In 1996 he moved to his current job in three California counties in the Central Valley north of Sacramento and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Six months after he started this job, the Williams wildfire destroyed more than 100 homes in Yuba County. That was just when Glenn was asking residents about their education needs. Preparing for wildfires was the top answer. Glenn helped start the Butte and Yuba Fire Safe Councils and served as the Butte Fire Safe Council Chair from 1998 to 2001.
In Yuba County, prefire planning and management has had a documented impact in three wildfires. In California, the community works to reduce wildfire risk. The work includes local fire departments, U.S. Forest Service, CalFire and land owners. They discuss the needs and create a community plan. In Butte and Yuba counties, about $3 million was spent on prefire management, mostly fuel breaks around communities.
His advice to homeowners in the wildland interface? As federal, state and other resources are dwindling, look at how you can survive wildfires. Use the science we’re providing in eXtension and state Cooperative Extension materials. Learn about firewise building construction and firescaping around structures.
Contact Information
email: ganader@ucdavis.edu