The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) announced today Los Angeles County and Ventura County Fire Departments have begun to implement wildfire prevention programs funded by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to mitigate wind-driven fire spread and to reduce fuels in densely vegetated parks, open space and wildlands adjacent to communities including Topanga, Malibu, Calabasas, and Agoura Hills.
Through the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan, the project targets 674.6 acres for strategic fuel treatments to strengthen community defensible space.
On Monday, Los Angeles County Fire hand crews began the first clearing project along Santa Maria Road and Mulholland Drive in the Topanga area of Los Angeles County. The crews will continue to Summit to Summit Motorway, also in the Topanga Area.
The environmental con-sulting firm Dudek completed biological surveys and flagging for sensitive species last week. Native American Tribal monitoring will be in place at each of the locations. Additionally, Los Angeles County will provide an on-site professional forester to monitor the projects as they progress.
Beginning next Wednesday, 500 goats will be onsite at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve for approximately three weeks before moving to the next treatment location.
The State Legislature enacted an early action measure authored by local Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (AB-100) and signed into law by Governor Newsom in mid-April that allows the Conservancy to expend Proposition 4 bond funds for urgent wildfire prevention and resilience efforts. Proposition 4 was approved by the voters in the November 2024 general election. The Conservancy, which has helped preserve more than 75,000 acres of local open space and habitat, was allocated $31 million from Proposition 4 for watershed improvement, wildfire resilience, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development.
The $3.2 million grants to the fire departments were the first of many the Conservancy will award from these funds to proactively reduce the risk of wildfire, strengthen wildfire resilience, increase carbon sequestration, rally against the effects of climate change, and dedicate more resources to local community infrastructure.
Updated information is available at https://mrca.ca.gov/statewide-critical-fuel-reduction-projects/.
