An Ode to Cows

Summer is fire season in the Sunol Valley and the Alameda Creek Watershed. And as fires blaze across Northern California, and flare up closer to home, we’re reminded of an unsung cadre of fire prevention specialists on SFPUC lands: Cows.

Cows have grazed the Alameda Creek Watershed since the mid-1800s. Our Watershed Managers at the SFPUC use a twenty-first century approach to this century’s old tool to help minimize fire danger on the 36,000 acres of land we own in the Alameda Creek Watershed.

Our rangeland managers apply sustainable and cutting-edge cattle management practices, an the cows’ hungry habits do a great job of keeping the grasses low, which reduces the potential fuel for fires.

When driving through the watershed, please stay on paved areas and away from high grasses that could catch fire from the underside of your car.

And if, while you’re there, you happen to see any of our four-legged fire prevention team members, say thanks. For all of us.

For more local resources on fire safety:

https://www.acgov.org/fire/links.htm

See you around the Valley! And be fire safe out there.

Members our four-legged Fire Prevention Team near San Antonio Reservior. Their appetite keeps grasses from growing into a fire hazard.