Wildfire and Chaparral
Southern California’s Chaparral and WILDFIRE
Southern California is home to four National Forests
(Angeles, Cleveland, San Bernardino, Los Padres) and all are
dominated by chaparral plants that cover 89 percent of the
landscape. Only a small portion of these National Forests —
11 percent — contain the sugar pines, Douglas-firs, incense
cedars and other large conifer trees more commonly associated with a “forest.”
Southern California’s chaparral is an important native plant
community that provides critical watershed for the region, as
well as unique habitats for plant and animal species.
These chaparral lands require specific management practices
and fire risk-reduction methods not used in ‘traditional’ pine
forests of the Sierras or northern California.
Southern California is both a fire-prone and fire-adapted
region. Fire is part of the natural ecosystem here. Reducing
wildfire threats to people, homes and communities requires
an understanding of native plant communities including
chaparral. And it requires planning and building within the
parameters of our natural landscape.
What is Chaparral?
California chaparral is not a single plant, but a
native plant community of several species of
woody plants, including chamise, red shank,
ceanothus, manzanita, and scrub oak. 1
Old-growth chaparral does not become more
flammable with age, but continues to be a productive ecosystem, growing fresh new growth
every year. 2
The age of vegetation in California’s shrublands
does not strongly influence the probability or
extent of wildfires. 3
1 http://www.californiachaparral.com/chaparralfacts.html
2 http://www.californiachaparral.com/chaparralfacts.html
3 http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/6211
For more information contact Rich Fairbanks, Fire Program Associate for The Wilderness Society
phone: (541) 899-9558
email: [email protected]
Why so much fire in Southern California?
There have always been fires in Southern California. For centuries
wildfires burned through the landscape which was predominantly
chaparral. Today, as the region has become more developed, fires
now burn in wild lands that are close to communities of wood-framed
homes.
Preventive fire planning
for Southern California
Large firestorms (1993 Malibu, the 2003 Cedar and 2007 Witch fires
in San Diego County) occurred because of drought and longer, hotter
fire seasons, not as a result of excess chaparral growth. 1
Our Mediterranean region, with its prolonged periods of drought, must develop
long-term fire solutions much the way we
plan for earthquakes. We can’t change the
chaparral landscape, so we must adapt to
it. Some examples of how we can mitigate
wildfire hazards:
Fires rarely begin in federal Wilderness Areas—where there are no
roads and only quiet forms of recreation like hiking, hunting and
fishing. In California, between 1986 and 1996 only 25 percent of
the 18,189 forest fire starts occurred in roadless or wilderness areas
even though those lands comprise 40 percent of California’s national
forest acreage. 2
Fire in the Chaparral Ecosystem
Historically, chaparral in Southern California periodically burns. This
cycle of natural fire often occurs with low humidity, low fuel moisture, and strong Santa Ana winds. 3
When chaparral burns too frequently they become non-native grasslands which are highly flammable. These invasive grasses and weeds
are often seen along freeways and other areas where human-caused
fires are common. 4
Reducing risk to people and property
Chaparral plays an important watershed role in stabilizing the soil
on Southern California hillsides. 5 Through a combination of buffer
zones between homes and wild lands, and better urban planning, we
may be able to reduce chaparral fire’s impact on property and lives. 6
• Create a defensible space between homes and wild lands.
• Rely on science-based zoning for new
home developments.
• Use fire-wise building construction and
retrofitting such as replacing wood
shingle roofs with tile or metal and
boxing in the eaves.
• Develop coordinated Fire Management
Plans with all local, state and federal fire
agencies, and disaster agencies.
In some cases, the chaparral fuel (shrubs, grass, etc.) that feed
flames, should be modified or removed:
• Near homes and along evacuation routes, fire roads and
established fuel breaks. Removing chapparral is often done with
chainsaws, bulldozers and other mechanical methods.
• During a wildfire, removing fuels in federal wilderness areas is
allowed, including the use of bulldozers.
But reducing or eliminating chaparral fuel is impractical and
expensive when it is in:
• Steep canyons
• Backcountry areas far from homes and communities
In summary, fire is part of the life cycle of chaparral. Many of these
plants require periodic fire to sprout. But we can adapt our communities to the chaparral landscape to reduce the hazards of wildfire.
Front photo: © Rich Fairbanks
Back photo: © John Monsen
1 Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity, A. L. Westerling, H. G. Hidalgo,1 D. R. Cayan, T. W. Swetnam, in 18 August 2006 Vol. 313 Science www.sciencemag.org
2 USDA-USFS, Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Vol. 1, Washington, DC, 2000, page 3-104
3 Large, high-intensity fire events in southern California shrublands: debunking the fine-grain age patch model, Jon E. Keeley and Paul H. Zedler, in Ecological Applications, 19(1), 2009, pp. 69–94
4 Keely J.E. 2006 Conservation Biology 20:375-384
5 http://www.werc.usgs.gov/seki/pdfs/K_Picentl_Real%20Estate.pdf
6 Keeley, J.E., C.J. Fotheringham, and M.A. Moritz. 2004. Journal of Forestry 102: 26-31