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24-2-01-3
2025
03/26/2025
Translating Science to Action in Southern California’s Montane Forests
In Southern California, montane forests protect the upper watersheds of all of the region’s major rivers and provide important ecosystem services for the region’s 25 million residents. However, these forests are faced with synergistic threats including intensifying cycles of precipitation and drought, increasing temperatures, major bark beetle outbreaks, severe wildfire, and pollution associated with urban development, among others. Since 1985, Southern California has lost a greater percentage of forest cover than any other region in the state (Wang et al. 2022). However, management efforts to increase forest resilience by bringing forests closer to the historic natural range of variation have not matched the pace of severe disturbances. The goal of this proposal is to provide needed prioritization and implementation products for the region and to improve their efficacy by addressing key partnership barriers with three primary objectives. Obj. 1: Create a phased process to develop a partnership and prioritization framework, followed by implementation and monitoring of outcomes. We will host partner workshops to identify factors for inclusion in the framework, compiling the best available spatial data based on partner input, and delivering a spatial prioritization map in return. The co-production of a monitoring plan (metrics, methods, and monitoring intervals) to advance adaptive management will provide the structure for tracking success in implementation based on the prioritized map. Obj. 2: Improve the prioritization framework by operationalizing and making the process more transparent through implementation in the Environmental Evaluation Modeling System. As part of this objective, key data gaps for sensitive species modeling will be addressed. Obj. 3: Develop a shared vision for forest management through meaningful engagements led by a neutral facilitator, to strengthen key partnerships and accelerate the implementation of science-based management. These efforts will facilitate adaptation to intensifying fire regimes. This work advances a major collaborative project across Southern California, including the 4 million acres of the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscape. Applying a structured decision framework to prioritize action in the montane forest will provide managers with quantitative and defensible prioritization guidelines for use in project planning, including NEPA/CEQA documents. Delivery will be made more effective through coproduction based on sustained scientist–practitioner partnership, including extended science support into the implementation phase of management. Co-production will be extended to the development of a monitoring plan for use in adaptive management. This project also brings needed focus to a persistent partnership barrier; meaningful engagement with the “let nature be” community is intended to build a shared and actionable pathway for forest management.
Hennessy M Sarah
Forest Service
Region 5-Pacific Southwest Region

Other Project Collaborators

Other Project Collaborators

Type

Name

Agency/Organization

Branch or Dept

Agreements Contact

Monica E Irvin

Forest Service

PSW-Pacific Southwest Research Station

Budget Contact

Anna Wong

Forest Service

PSW-Pacific Southwest Research Station

Co-Principal Investigator

Megan K Jennings

San Diego State University

Biology Department

Co-Principal Investigator

Nicole Molinari

Forest Service

Funding Cooperator

Gina L Tarbill

Forest Service

PSW-Pacific Southwest Research Station

Project Locations

Project Locations

Fire Science Exchange Network

California

Level

State

Agency

Unit

STATE

CA

FS

Pacific Southwest Research Station

STATE

CA

LOCAL

Local government lands

STATE

CA

FS

San Bernardino National Forest

STATE

CA

FS

Los Padres National Forest

STATE

CA

STATE

State Lands

Final Report

Project Deliverables

Supporting Documents