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Southern California Edison, a portion of the Los Angeles aqueduct, and lands that drain to Bouquet
Reservoir, a source of drinking water for Los Angeles. Many cultural and historical heritage sites were
also affected, including the site of the St. Francis Dam failure, a proposed national memorial site.

The impacts from the Copper Fire continued well after the initial event, as heavy rains and flooding
occurring in 2005 and 2006 were exacerbated by the loss of vegetation that resulted from the Copper
Fire and led to significant erosion, sediment loading to San Francisquito Creek and critical California red-
legged frog habitat, and damages to the road and road crossings that parallel San Francisquito Creek
through portions of the watershed.

Ranch Fire
The Ranch Fire originated on the western portions of the Angeles National Forest in the fall of 2007.
Over two weeks, it burned over 58,000 acres across two National Forests, with 13,000 acres burned on
the ANF in the Piru Creek and Lake Piru watersheds. The vegetation types burned on ANF land were
predominantly sagebrush, annual grassland, and chaparral, with smaller stands of oak woodlands.

Fire frequency within some areas of the Ranch fire footprint have been extremely high, with three large
fires, the Wolf (2002), Piru (2003), and Day (2006) occurring within 5 years prior to the Ranch fire. The
impacts from these recurring fires have resulted in a significant loss of native vegetation regrowth and
soil stability, and exacerbated the encroachment and establishment of both non-native grasses and
noxious weeds on the landscape and invasive species within aquatic environments such as Piru Creek.
Road, trail, and communications infrastructure were also affected, which have continued to provide a
source of sediment, and a conduit for the introduction and spread of non-native plants.

The watersheds impacted by the Ranch Fire are also known to provide habitat for the endangered
arroyo toad, for which post-fire erosion and sediment loading has altered riparian, wetland, and in-
stream habitat. Additionally, the Piru Creek watershed provides nesting and foraging habitat for the
California condor, and microtrash concerns persist in these areas.

Sayre Fire

In November 2008, the Sayre Fire consumed approximately 95% of all vegetative cover across roughly
5500 acres of the ANF. The Bull Creek and Lower Pacoima watersheds were the most predominantly
affected watersheds on USFS land, with some effects extending to the South Fork Santa Clara River
watershed. The impacts from the Sayre Fire are consistent with the consequences of fire in the steep,
chaparral covered environments of much of the ANF; the most significant are increased sediment from
mass-wasting and erosion, the conversion of native vegetation communities to non-native grasses and
noxious weeds, and the amplified threats of off-trail use by OHVs and other users, which further
destabilized soils and provide opportunities for invasive plants to spread. Similar to other areas on the
ANF, the increased frequency of overlapping or adjacent fires such as the Foothill Fire (2004) and Marek
and Sesnon fires (2008) compound these effects across the landscape.

In addition, the Sayre Fire impacted miles of roads, trails, fuel breaks, and utility corridors, and burned
through five hazardous waste sites, creating heightened risk for soil and water contamination. The
extensive vegetative cover loss from the Sayre Fire also exposed microtrash, increasing the threat to the
California condor population that frequents the western areas of the ANF.

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