Publication Date

Fall 2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor

Dustin Mulvaney; Rachel O'Malley; Will Russell

Abstract

This thesis reconstructs the extent and dynamics of historic wildfires in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California between 1850 and 1950 using qualitative archival evidence from historical newspapers, maps, and related documents. A systematically coded database of 225 reports, consolidated into 155 unique wildfire events, was developed to analyze temporal and spatial patterns, ignition sources, vegetation types, suppression strategies, and impacts on communities and infrastructure. Historical rainfall records from the Boulder Creek station were integrated using water-year totals, three-year rolling averages, and standardized precipitation indices to examine how multi-year dryness relates to fire occurrence and size. Linear regressions show only weak relationships, but several large events coincide with dry and drought-classified periods. Georeferenced reconstructions of key fires demonstrate that multiple pre-1950 wildfires reached or exceeded contemporary “large fire” thresholds and, in several cases, megafire-scale extents, strongly influenced by logging, slash accumulation, broadcast burning, transportation corridors, and evolving suppression capacity. Framed within a social-ecological perspective, the study shows how climate, land use, and institutional responses jointly shaped fire behavior and perceived risk, and concludes with recommendations to expand archival research, refine historical fire perimeters, integrate tree-ring and fire-scar evidence, and incorporate long-term fire history into land-use planning and community-based fire management in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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