Pacific Southwest Region

Southern California Hazardous Fuels Rehabilitation and Restoration

Charlton Flat Fuels Project

• Angeles National Forest

Charlton Flat is a heavily used picnic and day-use recreation area on the Los Angeles River Ranger District of the Angeles National Forest. Situated along the historic Angeles Crest Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains, it's within easy reach of millions of southern Californians.

Six years of drought and recent insect infestation has caused significant tree mortality at the site, making it particularly vulnerable to fire.

District Ranger Don Cosby and Resource Officer Steve Bear, working with members of the Angeles Fire Staff have been using fuel reduction funding from FY 2004 Congressional earmarks to remove hazard trees and other dead vegetation from the site.

"Once we get them on the ground and limbed, they can be chipped or removed completely," according to Bear. "It's all about returning the organic matter to the forest floor and leaving the site in a better condition." Felling of standing dead trees, the first of two project phases, was completed this spring. The second phase includes chipping the felled trees and returning the biomass to the forest floor, leaving some for wildlife habitat, and removing portions of it completely. This phase is expected to last through next summer. It is part of the larger Angeles NF fuels management program, which includes work around other recreation sites and in areas that border communities.

Forest Fuels Officer John Thomas sees the need for keeping fires that originate in these areas on the ground and not in the crowns of the trees. "About 99% of fire starts on the Angeles are human-caused. So we're basically trying to eliminate the aerial fuel source from around our recreation sites. If it's not a running crown fire in these dead trees, we have a better chance of catching it early." He went on to point out that the natural spacing of larger diameter trees in the Charlton Flat / Chilao area also helps the area from spreading forest fire when an ignition occurs.

For more information on the Charlton Flat Fuels Reduction Project, please contact John Thomas at 661-723-2751 or Stanton Florea at 626-574-5213.

Success Stories

• Barton Flats
• Breaking Barriers
• Burn Area Restoration Projects
• Carveacre Community Protection
• Charlton Flats
• Crystal Lake
• Evacuation Route Clearing
• Forest Area Safety Taskforce
• Grant Successes
• June Aerial Flight Results
• Kuffel Canyon Road
• Laguna Mountain Community Protection
• Lake Arrowhead Log Storage Facility
• March Aerial Flight Results
• Mistletoe Eradication
• North Lake Arrowhead Fuels Reduction
• Seeds for Forest Renewal
• Skyline Fuels Reduction Project
• Student Conservation Association Partnership
• Take Pride in America

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