Fire Management

 

• Fire will bring recovery- an enhanced forest with new flowers. Vegetation that we haven't seen in years or that we've never seen may come up. Make the best of this opportunity.
• Start a Station Fire Education Center/program.
• Promote the positives of fire recovery and natural processes.
• The forest needs to do more proactive fire management. More controlled burns.

• County responsibility to enforce fire brushing - not forest. More houses to clear appropriately to reduce fire danger. It's owner responsibility.
• The Puente-Chino Hills are unique for Coastal Sage Scrub habitat, the mountains for being precipitous. Fire, floods and debris flows provide for an educational role in mitigating the damage caused to urban development.
• Need to plan keeping in mind this is a dynamic environment (especially fire) and plan for long term ecosystem change (long term drought, global warming, etc.).
• Incorporate ideas for opportunities related to fire regimes, flood control, climate change when thinking about restoration (weed/invasive species removal, funding opportunities from fires, etc.).
• Educational kiosk/information on fire ecology.

• There are tremendous natural and cultural resources. Cultural resources are getting lost in fires. Let smaller fires happen. Preserve cultural sites.
• Natural fire regime in the San Gabriels is different from other areas. 150-year cycle. Problems of repeated small fires that lead to more invasives in chaparral habitat.
• Would like to see more fire prevention services.

• Burn in the forest may expose additional archeological sites.
• We need more rangers to patrol the forest during dangerous weather conditions and better/faster firefighting infrastructure.
• Fire (and subsequent mudslides) caused by human activity is the greatest danger to the resources in this location and we must prevent these human caused fires if we are to protect the biodiversity. It is NOT natural for these forests to burn outside of lightning strikes that occur in humid weather. 
• A NRA should include additional resources to help with Station Fire recovery and a public education component associated with the NRA to track recovery and educate the public about wildfire.

• I believe Big Santa Anita Canyon visitors could be better educated about forest fire dangers. I also believe that if NPS takes this area over they should develop emergency evacuation. Plans with local partners in a collaborative effort.
• The ANF policy of not using fire as a management tool is not based on science. Reducing fuel hazards modifies fire behavior, aiding suppression efforts; although this may not be true during wind-driven events. Fire is the source of disturbance that improved habitat suitability for bighorn sheep and mule deer, resulting in population increased and the lack of fire reduced habitat suitability for those species, resulting in population declines. The policy is not based on by environmental requirements, as representatives from the ANF have stated. Those requirements will increase project costs; however, similar issues have not curtailed prescribed burning in the SBNF and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which have similar regulatory constraints, similar costs, and are also adjacent to urban centers.
• The recent Station Fire presents a unique opportunity to educate the public about wildfire and track recovery.
• Protect parks from major fires. We need security for visitors.
• Wildfires over the last several years, especially the recent Station Fire, have created a culture of fear towards native wildlands. Increasing fire frequency has resulted in the conversion of chaparral-covered hillsides to highly flammable non-native grasslands. And important opportunities to help the community discover and better appreciate the wonders of the mountains are being lost due to budget constraints.

• The 2008 fire that destroyed most of the 14,000 acres of Chino Hills demonstrates the importance of maintaining areas like Coyote Hills for regeneration and repopulation.
• An NRA should address Station fire recovery. It would be helpful to have a public education component associated with the NRA to track recovery and educate the public about wildfire. The Station Fire burned 160,577 acres including parts of 3 major watersheds. It was the largest wildfire in the history of the Angeles National Forest. A National Recreation Area should incorporate additional resources to help with recovery efforts. It should detail how partnerships for volunteer work could be created between volunteer groups, the Forest Service and the National Park Service. Recovery should focus on the rebuilding of trails, camp sites, picnic sites, wildlife corridors and habitat and watershed restoration. Information and resources for recovery efforts should be made easily accessible to volunteers who want to help out.
• Please put resources into protecting the park from abuses. The Rocky Mountain National Park in CO educates those who enter about treading lightly, taking trash out, no smoking, fires etc.
• The biggest mistake made by the forest service is the ridiculous mismanagement of those in charge of the station fire, a fire which I strongly believe should have never been allowed to cross the Angeles crest highway and I also strongly believe could have EASILY been prevented from crossing that road but I've seen this lack of attitude about putting fires out before. The approach by some is too slack, too slow to react and for some reason, there is a lack of real concern about possible outcome. Now it will be years before this forest ever recovers and some of it never will be the same due to this mismanagement by those who should not have been in charge.
• The San Gabriel NRA proposal should address how it could bring additional resources to help with Station Fire recovery. It would be helpful to have a public education component associated with the NRA to track recovery and educate the public about wildfire.
• The California Wildlife Action Plan identified as a stressor affecting wildlife and habitats within the project area is altered fire regimes.
• Little to no real research/vision for sustainable (and regenerative) discussions and methods for fire and for watershed best management practices – leading to better management of land, resources and sustainable recreation practices/design.