Santa Monica Mountains Communities Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Planning Area Incorporates Numerous Stakeholders
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Santa Monica Mountains Community Wildfire Protection Plan October 2007 Canyon Fire Santa Monica Mountains Community Wildfire Protection Plan Mutual Agreement Page The Community Wildfire Protection Plan developed for the Santa Monica Mountain Communities: Was collaboratively developed. Interested parties and federal land management agencies managing land in the vicinity of the Santa Monica Mountains have been consulted. This plan identifies and prioritizes areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommends the types and methods of treatment. This plan recommends measures to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area addressed by the plan. The following entities mutually agree with the contents of this Community Wildfire Protection Plan: _____//signature on previous page// _________________ _________________ Daryl L. Osby, Chief Date County of Los Angeles Fire Department _____//signature on previous page// _________________ _________________ Mark Lorenzen, Chief Date Ventura County Fire Department _____//signature on previous page// _________________ _________________ Zev Yaroslavsky, County Supervisor Date County of Los Angeles, Representative 3rd District _____//signature on previous page// _________________ _________________ Linda Parks, County Supervisor Date County of Ventura, Representative 2rd District This page intentionally left blank. Acknowledgements The Santa Monica Mountains Communities Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Planning Area incorporates numerous stakeholders. We wish to acknowledge and thank the organizations that took an active part in creating the CWPP by attending meetings, providing feedback, commenting on the drafts, facilitating, and contributing to the content of the CWPP. Santa Monica Mountains CWPP Collaborator Organizations: Big Rock Mesa Fire Safe Council California Coastal Commission California Department of Parks and Recreation City of Calabasas City of Malibu Corral Canyon Fire Safety Alliance County of Los Angeles Fire Department County of Los Angeles Fire Department, Division of Forestry Las Virgenes Federation of Homeowners Association Horizon Hills Fire Safe Council Malibu Lake Fire Safe Council Malibu Lakeside Homeowners Association Malibu West Fire Safe Council Monte Nido Homeowners Association Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority Mountains Restoration Trust National Park Service National Resource Conservation Service North Topanga Fire Safe Council Resource Conservation District Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Alliance South Topanga Fire Safe Council Topanga Community Emergency Plan T-CEP University of California Cooperative Extension Ventura County Fire Department West Topanga Fire Safe Council Santa Monica Mountains CWPP Collaborator Acknowledgements Thank-you to the stakeholder agencies, homeowner associations, fire safe councils and individuals whose efforts and staff collaborated heroically to create the content of the CWPP, including Anthony Williams – County of Los Angeles Fire Department Beth Burnham – North Topanga Fire Safe Council Betsy Landis – Native Plant Society Brad Davis – City of Malibu Brad Weisshapt – County of Los Angeles Fire Department, Division of Forestry Cathy Brooke – California Fire Safe Council Clark Stevens – Resource Conservation District SMM Cynthia Scott – County of Los Angeles 3rd District Gary Burden – County of Los Angeles Fire Department Gregory Elwood - National Park Service SMMNRA J Lopez – County of Los Angeles Fire Department, Division of Forestry Jo Kitz – Mountains Restoration Trust Julie Clark de Blasio – Mountains Restoration Trust Kathryn Kirkpatrick - National Park Service SMMNRA Katie Ziemann – California Fire Safe Council Keith Gurolla - Ventura County Fire Department Maria Grycan – County of Los Angeles Fire Department Mike Wilson - National Park Service SMMNRA Paul Mora – Corral Canyon Fire Safety Alliance Robert Taylor - National Park Service SMMNRA Ron Oatman – Ventura County Fire Department Rorie Skei – Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Rosi Dagit – Resource Conservation District SMM Ryan Ulyate – North Topanga Fire Safe Council Sabrina Drill- UC Cooperative Extension Steve Hess – Las Virgenes Federation of Homeowners Associations Steve Williams – Resource Conservation District SMM Susan Nissman – County of Los Angeles 3rd District Susanne Goode – California State Parks Tim Pershing – County of Los Angeles 3rd District Walt Young – Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority Wolfgang Knauer – Horizon Hills Fire Safe Council Initial Draft SMM CWPP Writing and Production The creation of the Santa Monica Mountains CWPP has taken two years and several drafts. ForEverGreenForestry laid the foundation of this document facilitating numerous collaborative meetings with agencies, planning units and individuals, and gathering the research and contributions from participants. Tracy Katelman and her staff, and contributors compiled the first draft of the SMM CWPP, including: Tracy Katelman, ForEverGreenForestry, www.forevergreenforestry.com Deanna Sverdlov, Projects Coordinator Kathy Glass, Senior Editor Four Waters Media Writers: Cameron Naficy Elizabeth Keys Kristina Prosser Stephen Umgertis Terri Anderson Julie Clark de Blasio, Sweetgrass Environmental Consulting Contributors: Rick Halsey, California Chaparral Institute Betsy Landis, Native Plant Society Final SMM CWPP Editing and Production Geo Elements, LLC reviewed and synthesized the large volume of information from the earlier draft, developed site-specific hazard and risk assessments, and produced the final version of the SMM CWPP. The Geo Elements, LLC Team included: Carol Henson, Geo Elements, LLC, www.geoelementsllc.com David Kerr Chris Clervi Julie Thrupp Titus When you search for web versions of this plan will be available on several Santa Monica Mountain cooperator websites. This page intentionally left blank. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 PLAN PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................. 13 1.2 PLANNING AREA BOUNDARIES ........................................................................................................ 13 1.3 POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................... 17 1.3.1 Federal Level Policy ............................................................................................................ 17 1.3.2 State Level Policy and Regulations..................................................................................... 18 1.3.3 Local and County Policy and Regulations .......................................................................... 20 1.4 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................ 22 1.5 CWPP PROCESS .......................................................................................................................... 23 1.5.1 Community Outreach .......................................................................................................... 23 1.5.2 CWPP Planning Committee ................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2 - SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS OVERVIEW ................................................................................. 25 2.1 VALUES AT RISK ............................................................................................................................ 25 2.1.1 Life Safety ........................................................................................................................... 26 2.1.2 Structures, Businesses, and Infrastructure ......................................................................... 27 2.1.3 Natural and Cultural Resources .......................................................................................... 28 2.1.4 Recreation and Lifestyle ...................................................................................................... 29 2.2 LAND USE AND OWNERSHIP ........................................................................................................... 29 2.3 FIRE PROTECTION ......................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 3 – DEFINING THE WILDFIRE PROBLEM ........................................................................................ 35 3.1 FIRE ECOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 37 3.1.1 Fire Regimes Condition Class ............................................................................................. 37 3.1.2 Vegetation ........................................................................................................................... 37 3.2 CLIMATE ....................................................................................................................................... 46 3.2.1 Climate Change................................................................................................................... 46 3.3 FIRE HISTORY ............................................................................................................................... 47 3.4 WILDLAND FIRE ENVIRONMENT .....................................................................................................