Challenge students, friends or employees to reduce the amount of waste they create at lunch-time.
California Wildfire Restoration Initiative
Strategy and timeline for replanting the Angeles National Forest after the 2009 Station Fire
Following studies by its soil scientists, ecologists, hydrologists and foresters, the U.S. Forest Service has determined reforestation work in areas affected by the Station Fire can start in the spring of 2011. This timeline is fully consistent with restoration strategies appropriate for burned wilderness areas. The timeline requires a waiting period for the land to cool and show that it can not recover without human assistance.
This "let the land heal" approach has been vital in most areas of the Station Fire because they are located on hillsides and slopes susceptible to mudslides in their first post-fire rainy season. Reforestation efforts in the spring of 2010 would be dangerous for volunteers, and plants would most likely wash away with the first rain.
To join a discussion on the Station Fire, and to learn more about how you can become involved in wildfire restoration work, join us at TreePeople's Citizen Forestry Forum.
Watershed impacts from the Station Fire
This historic Station Fire--so far the largest ever in the Angeles National Forest--burned in the heart of Los Angeles' upper watershed, at the headwaters of the Los Angeles River. Although fire is part of our local ecosystem and is essential to the health of the forest, extremely intense fires may damage soils and burn enough vegetation to compromise the forest's vital services. These services include providing a portion of Los Angeles' drinking water and protecting communities from flooding and mudslides. Up to 15 percent of the city of Los Angeles' water comes from local sources such as the Angeles National Forest, and other neighboring communities in the San Gabriel Valley rely on the forest watershed for most of their water.
Did you know:
- TreePeople's first big plantings in the Angeles National Forest were in reaction to the Big Tujunga fires of 1975 that burned portions of Big and Little Tujunga Canyons, La Crescenta, La Canada, all the way to Mt. Gleason. TreePeople's planting efforts from those fires continued through the end of the decade.
- TreePeople's volunteer email list gives updated information about upcoming plantings and tree care events. In addition, we provide postings about replanting opportunities in the
Get involved!
TreePeople has a long, strong history of working with the U.S. Forest Service and we've been bringing volunteers to the Angeles Forest since the 1970s. Most recently we helped plant 20,050 seedlings in areas of the San Bernardino Nation Forest burned in the 2003 fires with Forest Aid.
To get involved with upcoming plantings and tree care events in Los Angeles' mountain areas, please register online. You can receive our monthly volunteer e-newsletter, tell us about your interest in Mountain Forestry updates, and sign up for volunteer events in the Angeles National Forest, San Bernardino National Forest and Santa Monica Mountains.
History of the California Wildfire Restoration Initiative
In June 2008, TreePeople received a $1-million grant from The Boeing Company to launch a comprehensive California Wildfire Restoration Initiative in response to the wildfires that have ravaged areas of Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California in recent years. This generous donation was supplemented a short time later with a $1.5-million grant from The Walt Disney Company.
The Initiative is built around public/private partnerships and provides innovative approaches to forest restoration. Priorities include:
- Developing strategic partnerships with local, state and federal agencies
- The expansion of environmental education and fire safety programs for students and families
- Engaging the community in on-the-ground restoration
Over the next five years, the Initiative will train and support at least 7,500 volunteers to restore over 10,000 strategic acres, targeting forest and woodland areas that burned so intensely, they are unlikely to recover on their own.
Going beyond just planting trees, the Initiative seeks to restore the many functions of our mountain forests. These functions include capturing rainwater, providing habitats for wildlife, cleaning the air and flood and pollution prevention.
TreePeople is working in partnership with the San Bernardino National Forest Association (SBNFA), Mountains Restoration Trust and United States Forest Service on Southern California public lands affected by past wildfires. These lands include four national forests – the San Bernardino National Forest, Angeles National Forest, Cleveland National Forest and Los Padres National Forest – along with the Santa Monica Mountains.
Our thoughts go out to everyone impacted by the fires in the Angeles National Forest as well as other burn areas. We’d like to thank the firefighters for their courageous and outstanding efforts to combat the firestorms.
