Wildfire Resilience
Update: Sep 25 2026 - Burning has been completed for the forseeable future with crews patroling the burn area. State Parks, CAL FIRE and Marin County Fire have provided Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about these burns. Some limited smoke may remain visible for next few days. Community members should refrain from calling 911 to report smoke from Angel Island to avoid overwhelming emergency dispatchers.
Prescribed burns help State Parks by promoting habitat improvement and reducing fuel loads that have accumulated in the absence of historically frequent, low intensity fires. All burning is dependent upon wildfire activity, resource availability, weather conditions, predicted smoke movement and fuel moisture.
Wildfire Preparedness Activities
California State Parks is committed to working together with local fire agencies and other partners to regularly conduct the following ongoing fire prevention activities at Angel Island State Park:
- Defensible space maintenance is routinely conducted by the California State Parks around park facilities and high use areas to protect this infrastructure
- Roadside vegetation maintenance regularly occurs to provide access for emergency responders along fire roads within the park.
- Fire rings and BBQs in campgrounds and day use areas are regularly maintained, with nearby vegetation managed to limit receptive fuels in these areas
- Vegetation clearance around electrical infrastructure and associated maintenance work is conducted by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company and its contractors in close coordination with California State Parks
Wildland Vegetation Stewardship Work
California State Parks has a long history of conducting vegetation stewardship work at Angel Island State Park, including work that is focused on enhancing the resilience of the park’s vegetation communities to fires. This work includes the following:
Invasive Species Management to protect biodiversity and reduce fire severity.
- Removal of eucalyptus, acacia, broom and other invasive plant species that outcompete and replace native plant communities and can increase fuel loading and fire behavior
Targeted Fuel Reduction work occurs in specific wildland areas when conditions warrant. This work may support preservation of sensetive habitats and plant communities, the management of invasive plant species and the preservation of historic or culturally significant landscapes. This work includes:
- Vegetation management and road clearance completed along the Park's roads.
- Vegetation management work beyond routine defensible space around the park's historic structures, including at Angel Island Immigration Museum and Camp Reynolds, as part of the Park's Facility Ignition Prevention Program
Prescribed Burning is a tool used that is used in support of the efforts mentioned above.
- Prescribed burns have taken place in much of the park, intermittingly over the past 40+ years
- Prescribed burns to reduce fuel loading and support stewardship of grasslands, maritime chapparal, and oak woodlands were completed across 147 acres in September of 2026. State Parks, CAL FIRE and Marin County Fire have Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about these burns
- Pile burning has taken place in multiple areas of the park, with over 650 piles burned between 2022-2026 in support of broadcast burn preparation and fuel reduction efforts
- Air curtain burning has been utilized burning hundreds of tons of down tree trunks and large woody debris on the island over the past five years
Video update - September 8 2026 Prescribed Burn