This practice offers an alternative to chipping or burning woody material. Unlike these methods, habitat piles create wildlife and carbon benefits. 

Brush piles offer protection and sustenance for: 

• Mammals such as dusky footed woodrats, squirrels, and voles
• Birds such as quail, towhees, and hummingbirds
• Amphibians and reptiles such as slender salamanders, Pacific Giant salamanders, California toads, alligator lizards, or ring-necked snakes
• Many types of fungi, mosses, lichens, ferns, invertebrates, and plants

These species, which are essential for the well-being of forests, rely on habitat created by, or material from, fallen trees and decomposing wood.

Brush piles, unlike burn piles, keep carbon onsite and limit the greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere.

• • Make wildlife habitat brush piles in situations where you have lots of woody material and the landscape does not provide good cover for wildlife.

• Place piles outside of defensible space.
• Place piles where there is little habitat (i.e. where a catastrophic fire has removed habitat or where aggressive land management activities have left large areas without cover) and where they will not damage already existing native plants (i.e. native grasslands or openings where native, herbaceous plants exist). 
• Single larger piles or clusters of three to four smaller piles should be spaced 100 to 150 feet  apart to avoid carrying fire between piles. 

• In dry country where fire is a concern, make sure the piles are not placed under trees where they could act as ladder fuels for fire. However, avoiding tree canopy is not always possible. In these situations, if there is good separation between the pile and the canopy (at least three times the height of the pile), the pile is unlikely to act as a ladder fuel.

Understanding how to properly build and place piles is critical to creating valuable habitat. However, it’s important to avoid increasing the severity of wildfire, or damaging trees and other high-valuable native species. Guidance from a professional arborist, forester, or restoration ecologist can help you decide where to place your piles if you are unsure

Piles can be made in multiple sizes to benefit a range of species.

• For larger mammals, create piles that are four by six feet  tall, with an area of 12 feet by six feet or 12 feet by 12 feet. 
• For birds and small mammals, create clusters of three to four smaller piles with at least 15 feet spacing between each pile. Aim to create piles that are four to six feet tall and have a six by six feet  footprint or less, to offer multiple nesting locations for birds and refuge for small mammals.
• For amphibians and water-dependent species, place piles within 100 feet of any kind of water (stream, wetland, etc.), but do not impede the natural water flow. 

Configuration: 

1. Start with larger wood (minimum four inches in diameter) with six to eight inch spacing between each log to create openings. Larger spaces offer refuge for larger animals.
2. Add layers by piling material in crisscrossing, structurally-sound configurations (like triangles) or alternating squares (like Lincoln Logs) to increase the size of cavities.
3. After the initial structure is created, cover the pile with small materials (wood under one inch in diameter, leaves, duff, etc.) to a depth of 12 to 18 inches to offer protection from the elements and the prying eyes of predators.

Piles will naturally decay over time. It is important to keep internal structures intact, so the spaces remain big enough for a range of animals. When a Habitat Pile decays, it can be left undisturbed or moved to increase contact with the ground to promote decay; consider building a new pile adjacent to the decomposing pile.