Prescribed Burn Treatment Helped Keep Flames at Bay on Carrizo Plains
Due to impacts of the Madre Fire that burned last month on CDFW’s Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve (ER) in San Luis Obispo County, certain hunting opportunities will not take place.
While other units of the ER were spared severe wildfire damage, thanks in part to a prescribed burn conducted in partnership with CAL FIRE in February 2025, impacts to the South Chimineas Unit call for it to be closed to all public access through spring 2026.
“The closure of the South Chimineas Unit will allow the habitat to recover,” said Brandon Swanson, CDFW’s unit biologist for San Luis Obispo County. “The closure will also give the wildlife on the South Chimineas Unit a break after the disturbances of wildfire that would be compounded by the pressures of hunting. The potential for dead trees to fall is also a public safety concern.”
Drive-on access for elk hunting on the ER within the La Panza hunt zone will be allowed on the North Chimineas Unit through the normal draw from public hunt tag holders, but not on the South Chimineas Unit.
The following South Chimineas Unit special hunts planned for this fall and winter have been canceled:
- Sept. 12-14: Chimineas Junior Only Deer Hunt
- Nov. 1: Chimineas Junior Only Quail Hunt
- Dec. 13: South Chimineas Ranch Family and Mobility Impaired Upland Hunts
- Jan. 3, 2026: Chimineas Upland Game Hunt
- Jan. 3, 2026: Chimineas Mobility Impaired Quail Hunt
Chimineas Ranch special hunts still planned (applications due Aug. 11):
- Sept. 6: Chimineas Ranch Family and Mobility Impaired Upland Hunts
To apply for these special hunts sill taking place, go to the special hunt online application instructions (PDF).
An estimated 25,000 acres of CDFW’s Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve burned in the Madre Fire. The February 2025 prescribed burn conducted in partnership with CAL FIRE on the American Unit of the ER helped limit the spread of the Madre Fire. More information on the impact of this prescribed burn can be found in CAL FIRE's Madre Fire Fuels Effectiveness Report.
Nearly all of the tule elk’s home range on the ecological reserve saw flames, but tule elk are capable of moving great distances — a herd some 50 strong was sighted within the burned area on the South Chimineas Unit. CDFW buildings and other infrastructure such as wildlife watering wells and water storage tanks saw little damage due to firefighters’ efforts and weed abatement work by CDFW.
The 38,900-acre Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve consists of oak and juniper woodland, chapparal, grassland and desert and coastal scrub, most of which is expected to recover from fire impacts and benefit from the elimination of invasive grasses.
For more information about the Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Places-to-Visit/Carrizo-Plains-ER.
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Media Contact:
Krysten Kellum, CDFW Communications, (916) 825-7120