Regrowth of highly flammable brush in the Sierra Nevada foothills often negates effects of wildfire and expensive fuel reduction work within a few years. Cost-effective procedures are needed for preventing recurrence of dangerous brush fires in key ignition and spread areas across the foothills. Long-term experience of local land managers suggests that successive prescribed fires following wildfire can kill many resprouting shrubs, resulting in more open grass-shrub mosaics. Fine, grass-dominated fuels are safer and cheaper to manage than dense stands of brush, create substantially less smoke when burned, and can be effectively controlled across large areas by grazing livestock. However, vegetation type conversion raises ecological concerns. We analyzed soil organic matter, vegetation, and runoff/erosion across four fire history scenarios: 1) long-term fire-suppressed; 2) 20-year wildfire frequency (1950-1972-1992); 3) four-year wildfire frequency (1997-2001); and 4) one-time wildfire (2001). We replicated these sampling areas on two soil types ubiquitous to Sierra Nevada Foothills chaparral: soil derived from residuum of granite, and basic igneous and metamorphic rocks. Results suggest that chaparral management that incorporates frequent low-intensity burns appears to increase belowground C sequestration. Vegetation cover analysis shows that the four-year fire recurrence interval has significantly lower shrub cover and higher annual grass cover compared to the other treatments. Runoff and erosion rates were variable, but initial results show somewhat less from the 4-y fire treatments than the fire-suppressed treatments. Reintroduction of moderately frequent fire (between four- and 20-year frequencies) to this ecosystem may improve sustainability and resistance to fire. Improved stand structure and ecosystem biochemistry from the 4-y fire treatment suggests that relatively frequent burning is desirable, but it may not be feasible in some areas. However, fire effects are no longer present in the 20-y fire frequency treatment.