Pacific Southwest Region

Southern California Hazardous Fuels Rehabilitation and Restoration

Kuffel Canyon Road Project

• USDA Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise Group

Kuffel Canyon Road runs through the San Bernardino National Forest and several residential neighborhoods. This site, located adjacent to several homes, was considered an imminent fire threat to the safety of these private residences. A fifty acre fuel reduction project is underway to address this concern.

The goal of the project is to change potential fire behavior by breaking up the continuity of the forest fuels and removing ladder fuels (small trees and shrubs) that might carry a fire into the crowns of trees. Many of the trees that have been removed were already dead due to drought and bark beetle attacks. The quick response to a dangerous situation was made possible by FY2004 funding provided by Congress. The funding has allowed for this project to move through the first few stages very rapidly. Beginning in July, the site was surveyed, trees were identified and boundaries were marked. As of the end of August, over half of the project has been completed, with an estimated finish date of September 2004.

TEAMS, a Forest Service enterprise group, and several other contractors have worked very hard to prep the site, conduct the logging operation, remove materials, and to chip the remaining slash (leftover debris). The site will be replanted with healthy young trees, including Ponderosa, Sugar and Jeffrey Pine. These trees will be spaced properly to encourage a healthier forest ecosystem and to prevent serving as ladder fuels. Many of the tree plantings are done by volunteers. Last year over 36,000 trees were planted in restoration areas on the San Bernardino and nearly 10,000 of these were done by volunteers, who were supervised and educated by Forest Service staff members.

For more information on this project, please contact Jim Totten, USFS TEAMS lead for the project, 559-359-8498.

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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