Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area: A
Multiagency Chaparral Management Project1
Thomas C. White, Gary L. Larsen, and Kim K. Bergstrom2
Abstract; The disastrous Laguna Fire of 1970
caused government agencies and officials to recognize the need for comprehensive vegetation management programs designed to reduce the potential
for large wildfires. In response the Laguna-Morena
Demonstration Area was organized. The Demonstration Area represents ten federal, state and local
agencies and private landowners seeking to demonstrate the newest available chaparral management
tools and techniques. Projects focus on those
techniques which have wide applicability to others
facing similar vegetation management decisions.
fuel loadings to the extent necessary to reduce sizes of wildfires.
Chaparral is a resource which requires unique
management strategies and can provide many multiresource benefits. Historically, however, chaparral has often been thought of as valueless or
simply as a carrier of destructive fires. In the
past, society has attempted to gain complete control over these fires through prevention and
suppression without realizing that fire can only
be delayed, not eliminated. Fire plays a fundamental role in the functioning of chaparral ecosystems. Long term management must acknowledge
the importance of fire as the climax event in
chaparral plant communities.
These philosophies are beginning to be integrated into the direction and policies of land
management agencies concerned with chaparral.
The following quote from the Forest Service, USDA,
Draft Regional Plan for the Pacific Southwest
Region, indicates Forest Service perspective regarding chaparral management activities.
Management activities over the past
80 years in California chaparral
have been focused primarily on protection from burning. This long
term protection has resulted in extensive areas of decadent brush that
is highly flammable and virtually
impenetrable to wildlife, livestock,
and man. Protection from burning
has proven not to be a realistic
means of preventing large conflagrations. The present rate of fuelbreak construction and prescribed
burning has not been able to reduce
Chaparral lands have capabilities
for producing several multi-resource
benefits that are now being realized
below their potential. An increase
in vegetation management activities
to eliminate decadent chaparral
stands will provide increases in
water yield, decreases in flood
flows and sediment yields, improved
wildlife habitat, reduced fuel available for extensive wildfires and increased forage for livestock.3
This quote suggests the need for an active management program on the 20 million acres of chaparral and related vegetation types in California
(Table 1). Both the Forest Service and the State
of California are presently developing plans and
programs to protect watersheds and communities
from the threat of wildfire and associated floods
while increasing the other benefits received from
the chaparral lands.
Table 1-- Areas of chaparral and related vegetation types in California.1
Acres
Chaparral
Great Basin Sagebrush
Coastal Sagebrush
(Soft Chaparral)
Woodlands (Hardwoods)
Total
Hectares
9,866,000
5,021,000
2,249,000
3,994,000
2,053,000
911,000
2,457,000
995,000
19,643,000
7,953,000
1
1
Presented at the Symposium on Dynamics and
Management of Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems;
1981, June 22-26, San Diego, Calif.
2
Acting Program Manager, Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area, Forest Service, U.S. Dep. Agric.,
Alpine, Calif.; District Ranger, Steamboat
Ranger District, Umpqua National Forest, Forest
Service, U.S. Dep. Agric., Idleyd Park, Ore.;
Public Information Technician, Laguna-Morena
Demonstration Area, Forest Service, U.S. Dep.
Agric., Alpine, Calif.
Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-58. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range
Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 1982.
Wieslander, A.E.; Jensen, Herbert A. Forest
areas, timber volumes and vegetation types in
California. Berkeley, Calif.: Pacific Southwest
Forest and Range Exp. Stn., Forest Service, U.S.
Dep. Agric.: 1946, Forest Survey Release No. 4
3
Draft Regional Plan, Pacific Southwest Region.
Forest Service, U.S. Dep. Agric., San Francisco,
Calif. 1981.
575
The Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area is at the
forefront in demonstrating large-scale comprehensive chaparral management. Much of what is being
accomplished on this 130,000 acre (52,000 hectare)
proving ground will aid vegetation managers around
the world in developing strategies for managing
this unique resource.
THE LAGUNA-MORENA DEMONSTRATION AREA
The Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area is the
result of one of the broadest based efforts ever
to focus on land management problems in California. It began with the disastrous 1970 Laguna
Fire which claimed six lives, destroyed 382 homes
and 1,200 structures, burned 176,000 acres in 36
hours, and stopped at the front door of San Diego.
A task force of federal, state, county and city
agencies, the University of California, private
citizens and various associations was appointed
by Governor Reagan to recommend actions for reducing the threat of wildfire. One of the recommendations was to begin a cooperative program
to demonstrate and develop fuel management
techniques on a large scale basis, resulting in
the establishment of the Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area.
Six major goals were identified for the Demonstration Area:
Reduce the catastrophic potential of wildfire
Provide a forum for all who have an interest
in wildland fuel management
was signed in March of 1980.
The plan details a complex combination of integrated resource and fire management strategies
and outlines a range of activities to take place
in the 200 square mile (520 square kilometer)
Demonstration Area over the next 15 years. Although the fire problem was the driving force behind the establishment of the Demonstration Area,
the goal of integrated resource management is not
simply to limit the number and size of fires.
It is also important to minimize social losses
and to maximize benefits by emphasizing various
combinations of fire suppression, fire prevention,
land use planning, and fuel management tools such
as prescribed burning.
Physical and Biological Setting
The 130,000 acres (52,000 hectares) of the
Demonstration Area lie in eastern San Diego
County in the Laguna Mountains, the northern end
of the Peninsular Mountain Range which extends
into Baja California (Figure 1). Elevations in
the Demonstration Area range from 3000 to over
6000 feet. To the east the land drops off sharply
to the Colorado Desert.
Climate in the Demonstration Area is classified
as warm-summer to cool-summer Mediterranean. Average annual temperatures range from 53ºF (12ºC)
to 610F (16ºC) and average annual precipitation
from 15-30 inches (380-760mm). Most of the rainfall occurs between October and April with an
Demonstrate chaparral management techniques
Monitor environmental impacts of large scale
chaparral management
Develop widely applicable guidelines for
chaparral management
Develop and test new techniques for chaparral
management.
One of the initial challenges facing the
Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area was the effective integration of vegetation management programs of several agencies and private landowners.
Widely divergent management goals and philosophies
and complex land ownership patterns caused an
acute need for cooperative planning. After three
years of work by ten federal, state and local
agencies the Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area
Coordinated Resource Plan, Managing Chaparral4
4
Managing Chaparral: Management plan and environmental analysis, Laguna-Morena Demonstration
Area. On file, Descanso Ranger District, Cleveland National Forest, Forest Service, U.S. Dep.
Agric., Alpine, Calif. 1979
576
Figure 1--Location of Laguna-Morena Demonstration
Area in California and in San Diego County.
occasional thunderstorm in the late summer months
(Griner and Pryde 1976).
Each fall and winter high pressure systems to
the north-east produce the infamous Santa Ana
winds throughout southern California. During the
worst periods these hot, dry winds can exceed 60
miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour). Large
and difficult to control wildfires often result
from these Santa Ana winds.
Vegetation in Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area
ranges from soft chaparral at the lower elevations (California sagebrush-Artemisia californica,
white sage-Salvia apiana, and California buckwheatEriogonum fasciculatum) to oak and pine-oak woodlands over 5000 feet (black oak-Quercus Kelloggii
and Jeffrey pine-Pinus Jeffreyi). Most of the
Demonstration Area is covered with various chaparral communities including the following species:
chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), ceanothus
(Ceanothus greggii and Ceanothus palmeri), scrub
oak (Quercus dumosa), and birchleaf mountain mahogany (Cerocarpus betuloides). Most changes in
vegetation communities result from variations in
temperature, available water and nutrients, and
soil type. The most significant factors influencing these variables are elevation, aspect and
geology.
Chaparral soils in eastern San Diego County
are generally formed from granitic, dioritic, and
gabbroic rocks of the Southern California Batholith (Griner and Pryde 1976). These rocks give
rise to coarse textured, weakly developed soils
with low water and nutrient storage capacity.
Some areas of schist are also found at higher
elevations and usually indicate a less fertile
soil. Deep soils formed in the valleys and near
riparian areas are usually residual rather than
depositional formations. Live oak woodlands are
often associated with these pockets of deep soil.
The range of vegetation communities found in
the Demonstration Area provide a variety of resource values. These include recreation opportunities, diverse wildlife habitats, livestock
forage, watershed protection which minimizes
erosion and enhances water quality, and scenic
vistas that change with the seasons. In addition
to the six overall goals, management of the Demonstration Area attempts to maintain and enhance
these significant resources.
ACTIVITIES OF THE LAGUNA-MORENA DEMONSTRATION
AREA
Activities on the Demonstration Area range
in scope and complexity from the use of vegetation
management tools such as the brush rake to scientific tools such as a computerized geographicbased information system. Many of these activities
are moving the Demonstration Area toward accomplishment of the six major goals. Following is
a summary of some activities as they relate to
these goals.
Reduce the Catastrophic Potential of Wildfire
The general vegetation management strategy for
fuels within the Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area
involves breaking up large continuous stands of
old growth chaparral and developing a mosaic pattern of different vegetation ages. By maintaining
portions of chaparral in young vigorous growth
stages the chance for a large wildfire is greatly
reduced. By reducing the amount of fuel available,
a wildfire will burn with lower intensity and will
be easier to control. This strategy will not eliminate wildfires, although it can greatly reduce
their potential for destruction.
In implementing projects, prescribed burning
will be the major management tool. Ten thousand
acres (4050 hectares) of existing fuelbreaks,
along with roads and natural features including
variations in plant communities, will act as control lines for large prescribed burns. In treating various plant communities differences in fire
frequencies will be considered. Frequencies which
will maintain existing communities range from
approximately 10-50 years. For example, chamise
chaparral appears to be adapted to a 15-20 year
burning cycle while the scrub oak-mountain mahogany
community may be adapted to a frequency of at
least 40 years. The Tecate cypress has a 50-100
year fire cycle.5 On the north slope of Guatay
Mountain in the Demonstration Area stands of cypress have not burned for over 90 years. Physical
characteristics including high water holding capacity of the soil and the north aspect, seem to
have protected the site from fire.
Provide a Forum For All Who Have An Interest In
Wildland Fuel Management
The Demonstration Area has drawn together many
agencies and individuals with an interest in vegetation management. Ten agencies with land or
program management responsibilities comprise the
Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area: Forest ServiceUnited States Department of Agriculture, California
Department of Forestry, Soil Conservation Service,
Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
California Department of Parks and Recreation,
California Department of Fish and Game, University
of California Cooperative Agricultural Extension,
County of San Diego, Greater Mountain Empire Resource Conservation District. Three owners of
large ranches are actively involved in program
planning while other landowners participate in individual projects.
5
Zedler, Paul H. Life history attributes of
plants and the fire cycle: A case study in chaparral dominated by Cypressus fordesii. Paper presented at the Symposium on Environmental Consequences of Fire and Fuel Management in Mediterranean Ecosystems. 1977 August 1-5; Palo Alto, Calif.
577
The Demonstration Area also provides opportunities for students, researchers, and the public
to contribute ideas and gain knowledge relating
to chaparral management. Since 1978, over one
thousand people with professional interest in
chaparral have toured the Demonstration Area.
Eleven student interns have been involved in a
variety of projects including wildlife monitoring,
studying the effects of fire on plant succession,
vegetation classification mapping and wood densification studies. In addition, field research
studies have been conducted on the Demonstration
Area by the Chaparral Research and Development
Program of the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range
Experiment Station.
A second aspect of demonstration involves
making activities more visible to the public, professionals, academia, and other resource managers.
Currently, the Demonstration Area is emphasizing
the transfer of information to these groups through
several types of media. Tours are available to
any interested group or individual. Hundreds will
tour the Demonstration Area this year. Slide-tape
programs, brochures, a self-guided auto tour, technical reports, and poster displays are being developed for various audiences on many topics.
Those involved with these projects expect them to
be useful to others facing similar vegetation
management decisions.
The development of effective interagency cooperation has resulted from bringing together
many interested people with various perspectives
on fuel management. Broad scale coordinated resource planning has evolved through several
phases as shown in figure 2. Initial contacts
and communication networks were established
through cooperation on interagency projects. Individual agency goals, philosophies, and guidelines were molded into project objectives that
provided mutual benefits.
Monitor Environmental Impacts of Large Scale
Chaparral Management
During the second phase of cooperation an overall philosophy for chaparral management was developed. The Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area
Coordinated Resource Plan establishes these longterm goals, principles, and strategies.
The final phase of cooperation involves ongoing
project planning and implementation. Each agency
or landowner with an interest in a given project
coordinate their efforts based on agency objectives and the goals developed in phase two. Cooperation provides several benefits for each participating agency. By sharing resources project
costs can be significantly reduced. Projects
can be completed with greater ease and fewer
problems if natural rather than agency boundaries
are utilized. And finally, by pooling professional knowledge and experience higher quality,
more comprehensive planning and implementation
results. This type of cooperation is necessary
for successful comprehensive vegetation
management.
Demonstrate Chaparral Management Techniques
One of the important functions of the Demonstration Area is to provide a place where land
managers and the public can see on-the-ground
chaparral management techniques in one area. The
first three years emphasized resource planning
and project implementation using a wide range of
techniques. At the Buckman Demonstration Project
sample plots demonstrate various mechanical, hand,
and prescribed fire treatments. This area offers
side by side comparison of a range of chaparral
management methods. More extensive treatments
can be seen on projects taking place throughout
the Demonstration Area.
578
Monitoring is being conducted at various intensities for all major projects on the Demonstration Area. Attainment of objectives and project
costs are monitored for each project. Some projects undergo more intense types of monitoring.
For example, effects of fire on deer and bird
populations have been studied. Forage production
and erosion rates have also been examined on plots
following a fire. The Riverside Fire Lab, Pacific
Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station has
monitored fire effects on projects such as the
Kitchen Creek Prescribed Burn Project. Finally,
overall program direction will be evaluated on a
yearly basis in an annual report.
Develop Widely Applicable Guidelines For Chaparral
Management
The field of chaparral management is in its infancy especially with regard to development of
specific management guidelines. Most chaparral
management projects have occurred on a more or less
random basis with little broad level direction.
A chaparral compartment examination and analysis
process developed on the Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area will provide some of this direction.
A compartment ranges in size from 600 to 10,000
acres (240-4050 hectares) and is based on watershed boundaries. Within a compartment smaller
units are identified which describe relatively
homogeneous units of land based on soil type, vegetation, and slope. These units serve to give
managers a rapid "feel" for the land and provide
a system of easy access to a wide range of site
specific data.
During a compartment examination information is
assembled in a computer, resource units defined,
and management goals and objectives identified.
Inventory of each compartment will occur every
10 years with a resulting package of project proposals. During planning for an individual project, actions are identified to meet objectives
already outlined during the compartment examination.
Figure 2--Evolution of Broad Scale Coordinated
Resource Planning
579
It is likely that this process will be applied
on a broad scale throughout California. The Demonstration Area has been instrumental in integrating the examination process into the Cleveland
National Forest Land Management Plan and will
assist in its development in the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service.
Develop and Test New Techniques For Chaparral
Management
The Demonstration Area is a proving ground for
the application of new techniques in chaparral
management. Some of the most notable techniques
include the helitorch, use of goats for fuelbreak maintenance, and the use of chaparral as
a wood fuel product in the form of densified
pellets.
The helitorch is a thirty gallon drum of gelled
gasoline slung beneath a helicopter. The gelled
fuel is released from the drum and ignited as it
falls to the ground. The helitorch provides a
number of advantages over traditional burning
methods including greater flexibility in firing patterns, prescription ranges, size of burn
unit, and accessibility.
Browsing by goats has been demonstrated as an
alternative to traditional methods of fuelbreak
maintenance. Goats cause fewer environmental
effects than chemical or mechanical methods, are
an alternative to the unpopular use of herbicides,
and provide a product in the form of meat and
hides. The feasibility of using goats on a
large scale still presents problems due to the
large initial investment required to purchase
the goats. Improved market conditions and
better knowledge of goat husbandry could make
this a more valuable tool.
wood energy demonstration program. Hand harvested
chaparral from fuelbreaks and other treatment
areas will be chipped and pressed into a wood
product for use in fireplaces, wood stoves or
campfires. An initial study5 shows that only
17 percent of the potential energy will be used
in the harvest and densification process. However,
the economic feasibility of the project is not
currently attractive. Increasing fuel costs could
alter this in the future.
FUTURE DIRECTION OF CHAPARRAL MANAGEMENT
The Coordinated Resource Plan, Managing Chaparral, identifies the overall objectives and
direction for the Demonstration Area until 1992.
Identification of specific projects and demonstrations to accomplish the objectives will occur
more frequently. For example, an Action Plan for
Demonstration for fiscal years 1981-1982 lists
31 demonstrations to be completed during those
years. Informal and ongoing evaluation of accomplishments and direction will occur in annual reports, monitoring reports, yearly Coordinating
Group meetings, and during compartment examinations and project planning.
By 1990 all of the Demonstration Area will be
under active management. Each compartment will
have been inventoried and management activities
implemented to maintain age class mosaics. The
demonstration of integrated and coordinated resource management on chaparral lands is not intended to end with the activities taking place
on the Laguna-Morena Demonstration Area. The
tools and techniques developed here such as coordinated resource planning, chaparral management tools like the helitorch, and the compartment examination process, can be applied on all
chaparral lands and related vegetation types
throughout the Nation and the World.
The California Department of Forestry in cooperation with the Forest Service is beginning a
LITERATURE CITED
5
Riley, John G.; Moini, Samad; Miles, John A.
An engineering study of the harvesting and densification of chaparral for fuel. Davis, Calif.:
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Univ.
of Calif. 1980.
580
Griner, Lee E.; Pryde, Philip R. Climate, Soils
and Vegetation. In: Pryde, Philip R., ed.
San Diego: An Introduction to the Region.
Debuque, Iowa: Kendall, Hunt Publishing
Company; 1976: 29-46.