Goals and Benefits of the Project

During the years 2002-2007 a series of large intense wildfires occurred in California. Seven of the nine largest wildfires in California’s recorded history occurred during those five years. Four of those seven fires occurred in San Diego County. Fully 28 % of the surface area of SD County burned during that period. Approximately 51 % of the montane mixed conifer forest (MCF) in San Diego County burned during those five years, almost all in large, high-intensity fires. In contrast during the entire 20th Century only 45 % of the County’s MCF burned (Wells 2001, Wells et al. 2004). No region wide analysis of the intensity and severity of these fires has been made. However, if we assume that the effect of the CEDAR fire on Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (CRSP) is typical of the impact of these fires, then it is likely that the regional biodiversity of San Diego County has been significantly impaired. The goal of the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Reforestation Project is to facilitate the recovery of the MCF at CRSP. To accomplish that goal the project will establish patches of native conifers at favorable sites throughout the extent of pre