New Conservation Strategy to Protect Montane Forests in Southern California
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SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 30, 2024—The Southern Montane Forest Project has unveiled its Climate-Adapted Conservation Strategy for Southern California montane forests. This initiative aims to bolster the resilience of montane — or higher-elevation forests — with climate-informed actions. The strategy offers land managers a comprehensive guide to enhancing forest and community health with collaborations across different landscapes.
Southern California’s montane forests are vital to both humans and wildlife. These forests protect the upper watersheds of major rivers and supply about 40% of the water used downstream for drinking and agriculture. They also support Indigenous communities with food, fiber, and medicine and provide recreational opportunities to over 24 million people. Montane forests even capture carbon, prevent soil erosion, and serve as critical habitats for threatened and endangered wildlife.
Yet these forests are under threat from wildfires, droughts, pollution, and invasive species. This new climate-adapted conservation strategy is designed to help land managers tackle these challenges.
“We are losing our montane forests faster than any other part of California,” said Jeff Heys, a landscape manager with the USDA Forest Service for the Southern California Wildfire Crisis Strategy. “Implementing this strategy will ensure future generations in Southern California can still enjoy these forests.”
This conservation strategy has three main components: A customizable decision framework to prioritize forest health, a regional adaptation menu to combat climate stressors, and a post-fire restoration framework to identify and plan restoration projects.
The Southern Montane Forest Project is a collaboration of the U.S. Geological Survey, the USDA Forest Service, San Diego State University, and the Climate Science Alliance. It plays a key role in the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, which aims to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires across the country. Major funding was provided by the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with funding from the Joint Fire Science Program and the USDA Forest Service.
Over four years, the group has worked closely with forest managers, stewardship practitioners, tribal members, and diverse community members to create this new roadmap for forest health.
Megan Jennings, Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Institute for Ecological Monitoring and Management at San Diego State University, emphasizes that collaborative development helps the project in “establishing common ground action and supporting the cross-boundary partnerships that will be needed to increase the pace and scale of work to protect our region’s forests.”
To read the full strategy and watch a project overview, visit the Southern Montane Forest Project.