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Significance of the Angeles National Forest

The Angeles National Forest serves as the picturesque backdrop for one of the country’s largest and
most diverse urban centers, providing access to approximately 700,000 acres of open space in the
greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Each year, the ANF hosts over 3.5 million visitors, giving them
the opportunity to explore a variety of landscapes including chaparral, oak thickets, high desert, pine
woods, steep and rugged mountains, and numerous lakes, streams, and rivers. The first national forest
in California, the ANF is located within one of the world’s vital biodiversity hot spots, and contains many
natural and cultural resources unique to Southern California. It is home to a variety of wildlife, including
the California condor, spotted owl, bighorn sheep, and numerous threatened and endangered species.
The watersheds of the ANF support the natural environments within the boundaries of the Forest and
are also the source of one-third of Los Angeles’s drinking water, and the eighteen dams and debris
basins support a massive flood control system to protect and provide for the millions of people that live
downstream.

Wildfire and the National Forests

Wildfire may be the biggest challenge that forest managers and the public will face over the next couple
of decades (USDA 2005). The national forests of Southern California occur within a Mediterranean
climate; one of the driest, most fire prone areas in the United States. Periodic wildfire is a natural and
important part of the ecological processes of the region. The threat of unnatural, catastrophic wildfire,
however, have been increased by decades of fire suppression activities, recent droughts and insect
infestations, and the challenges from increased human ignitions associated with population growth and
increasing use of the forest. Although the ecosystems of Southern California have evolved to be well
adapted to fire, the stressors associated with recent increases in frequency and intensity of fires have
resulted in long-term losses in habitat, ecosystem transitions, changes in hydrology and associated
effects to sediment and nutrient fate and transport, and opportunities for invasive species to take hold
and spread. In addition, urban communities adjacent to national forest boundaries share the risks of
wildfire, and forest managers are challenged to provide safe environments for those within and adjacent
to the forest. In California, 10 of the state’s largest 20 wildfires have occurred within the last 10 years.

Copper Fire
In 2002, the Copper Fire, occurring predominantly within the San Francisquito watershed, burned
approximately 20,000 acres of coastal sage scrub, montane chaparral, grasslands, and riparian corridor,
as well as isolated big cone Douglas-fir stands. The intense nature of the fires, coupled with the steep
terrain and highly erosive soils of the watershed, resulted in loss of vegetative cover and significant
sediment loading to San Francisquito Creek, which in turn resulted in particularly acute impacts to two
endangered aquatic species: the unarmored three-spine stickleback and the California red-legged frog.
In addition, the loss of vegetation significantly exacerbated encroachment of invasive vegetation
throughout the watershed, and facilitated an increase in illegal and damaging off-route OHV use. The
Copper Fire also notably reduced the population of an endangered plant, the Nevin’s barberry, among
other rare and threatened native plant species on the Forest.

Along with the natural resources, the Copper Fire affected infrastructure important to the Los Angeles
urban area, including power transmission lines for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and

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