LAB 8 - Mapping the Station Fire in ArcGIS

This week's lab focused on the Station Fire in Angeles National Forest that occurred during August/September of 2009. The aspect that I have chosen to base my final lab on is the impact of the Station Fire on Significant Ecological Areas (SEA) and Sensitive Environmental Resource Areas (SERA) in the regions that were affected by the fire. I hypothesized that due to the fire's vast size and giant wake of destruction, it would have destroyed much of the SEAs and SERAs as it raged through the Angeles National Forest.


FIGURE 1

Source: http://inciweb.org/incident/maps/large/1856/1/

The Los Angeles Station Fire of 2009 was one of the most destructive fires in the history of the Angeles National Forest burning 161,189 acres of land, destroying 209 structures, and claiming the lives of 2 firefighters (Figure 1); the source of the fire was investigated and found to be the result of arson (1). Following the disastrous fire, the US Forest Service began to be the focus of some newspapers as people looked for someone ir something to blame. The main argument was that the US Forest Service had failed to clear the underbrush which contributed to the size and voracity of the fire thus inhibiting the fire fighters from containing it before it wreaked havoc on the region. However, the US Forest Service fired back stating, "the Station Fire is not the fault of federal land managers, firefighters, or environmental laws," said Richard Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute. "Huge wildfires will occur in Southern California regardless of how the government 'manages' its lands. They are an inevitable part of life here" (2). Additionally, recent estimates from USGS indicate there are approximately 10,000 acres of fuel treatments and more than 160 miles of fuel breaks within the Station Fire perimeter. In addition to this, many non-native plants have invaded the forest having the effect of increasing the flammability of the vegetation and landscape. Figure 2 maps the progression of the fire at different times throughout the duration of the Station Fire. The yellow color denotes the fire at its earliest stages in the early morning of August 29th and is followed by a light orange, then a dark orange, and finally a red color indicating the cumulative damage of the 2009 Station Fire. The dark grey lines on the map mark the state highways and should be used a reference point for the size and location of the fire.


FIGURE 2

The Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal defines Sensitive Environmental Resource Areas as regions that "show environmentally sensitive areas or watersheds that are meant to be undisturbed or have significant building restrictions" (3). In Figure 3, these areas appear as the blue regions on the map below. The concept of "Significant Ecological Areas" is unique to Los Angeles County who adopted the idea as part of the General Plan for the County. These regions are indicated in Figure 3 as the dark green regions. An area qualifies for recognition as an SEA if it possesses one or more of the following features, or classes:

1. Is the habitat of rare, endangered, or threatened plant or animal species.
2. Represents biotic communities, vegetative associations, or habitat of plant or animal species that are either one-of-a-kind, or are restricted in distribution on a regional basis.
3. Represents biotic communities, vegetative associations, or habitat of plant or animal species that are either one-of-a-kind, or are restricted in distribution in Los Angeles County.
4. Is habitat that at some point in the life cycle of a species or group of species, serves as a concentrated breeding, feeding, resting, or migrating grounds, and is limited in availability
5. Represents biotic resources that are of scientific interest because they are either an extreme in physical/geographical limitations, or they represent an unusual variation in a population or community.
6. Is an area important as game species habitat or as fisheries.
7. Is an area that would provide for the preservation of relatively undisturbed examples of the natural biotic communities in Los Angeles County.
8. Is a special area, worthy of inclusion, but one which does not fit any of the other seven criteria (4).

FIGURE 3

The damaging effects of the worst fire in the history of the Angeles National Forest are evident even today as the region tries to recover. As seen in the map above, the fire did not actually reach any of the Significant Ecological Areas nor Sensitive Environmental Resource Areas despite its massive size. This, however, did not prevent these regions from suffering losses as a result of the State Fire. The US Forest Service outlined the impacts and threats of the fire as follows:

• Ecosystem functionality through loss of vegetation, increased watershed response, and altered hydrologic regimes (i.e., increased debris flows and erosion, flash flooding, etc. – especially in stream channels). 
• Wildlife resources (animals and their habitat) through lack of vegetative cover, compromised water quality and quantity, increased spread of non-native species, loss of individuals, and potential loss of viability due to isolated populations. 
• Imperiled wildlife species native to the area either lost or stand to lose one of their last places of refuge in the world through habitat modification, increased watershed response, and exposure to new sources of threat. Species include the California condor, mountain yellow-legged frog, Santa Ana sucker, and other riparian species. 
• Heritage resources (archaeological and cultural) through increased erosion, vandalism, and potential for looting. 
• Botanical resources (plants) through watershed disturbances, threat from non-native, invasive plants, and increased unauthorized access. 
• Forested landscapes:  37,000 acres of the burn area supported forests of pine, fir, oak and other hardwood tree species.  Of these fire-impacted forested acres, 11,000 acres will not return to a forested status without human intervention. 
• Human life and property through debris flows, rock fall, flooding, hazard trees, and exposure to hazardous materials discovered after the fire (6).

Essentially, regardless of the fire's perimeter avoiding the actual SEAs and SERAs, the wildlife, resources, and general ecology of the region was impacted negatively. The cumulative area burned in the fire came extremely close to the border of one of the SEAs, however, I believe the firefighters were instructed to protect this area and were therefore posted along the perimeter of the Significant Ecological Area in order to prevent it from succumbing to the flames. The effects of this fire are still evident as the vegetation attempts to regrow and replenish. The fire was extremely hot and damaged not only the forest that it touched, but flora and fauna miles around suffered the consequences from this deadly fire. Figure 4 is an photograph taken in 2011 depicting how the forest has bounced back from the Station Fire of 2009. While there is substantial growth, the effects of the fire can still be clearly seen in the image. The charred remains of once magnificent trees atop the new growth of secondary forest is a familiar scene to visitors of the forest.


FIGURE 4

Source: Griffith Park Wayist

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for this seemingly unsolvable problem. The Forest Service in partnership with the National Forest System has developed a strategy to manage the rehabilitation of the Angeles National Forest. The Station Fire Restoration Strategy (SFRS) is a step-by-step plan for the Forest System to follow in order to achieve the ecological recovery goals outlined in the strategy. The objectives of the SFRS are to: 

1. Restore the ecosystem and human-made infrastructure (for example, recreation facilities) within the burned area to a better condition than existed prior to the fire. 
2. Identify, design, prioritize and schedule restoration projects over time. 
3. Design ecosystem recovery treatments and actions to facilitate the natural recovery process, working with nature. 
4. Develop a Volunteer, Interpretation, and Partnership stewardship program to enlist public participation in fire recovery efforts. 
5. Establish a community-based “Friends of the Angeles” organization to assist forest managers in future stewardship of the forest (6).  

The SFRS has began to be implemented in the Angeles National Forest and has already had positive results that promise to help in the replenishment of this forest and the future of the floral and faunal populations that were affected by the Station Fire of August/September of 2009.


WORKS CITED

1. Bloomekatz, Ari B. "Station Fire Was Arson, Officials Say; Homicide Investigation Begins." LA Angeles Times. 3 Sept. 2009. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-was-arson-homicide-investigation-begins.html>.

2. "California Chaparral Institute Provides Perspective on the Los Angeles Area Station Fire." Green Jobs, Green Careers, and Green Business Solutions for Sustainable Communities. California Chaparral Institute. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.californiagreensolutions.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=3241>.

3. Franchino, Nick. "Sensitive Environmental Resource Areas." Lacounty.gov. Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal, 2011. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/?p=1664>.

4. "Significant Ecological Areas." SCOPE - Home. SCOPE, May 2005. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.scope.org/sea/index.html>.

5. "Station Fire Recovery Update: Public Meeting 3/23." Griffith Park Wayist. 16 May 2011. Web. 07 June 2011. <http://griffithparkwayist.blogspot.com/2011/03/station-fire-recovery-update-public.html>.

6. "Station Fire Restoration." US Forest Service Fact Sheet. US Forest Service, 15 Apr. 2011. Web. 6 June 2011. <http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5298487.pdf>.