November 25, 2002

Fires spur ecosystem educational program
Wildfires prompt educational effort

By Marianne Love, Staff Writer

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- Forest Service officials are putting together an educational program focusing on the scorched mountains above Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas and La Verne.

They want to take advantage of the natural regrowth of nearly 58,000 acres scarred in the September Curve and Williams fires.

The San Gabriel Canyon program will mirror the successful Mount Baldy Environmental program, which started five years ago.

"Plans were under way, but the fires pushed the idea ahead a little earlier,' resource officer Karen Fortus said. "We always wanted to do something in the San Gabriels.'

About 75 people kicked off the program on Nov. 16 with a guided tour with Forest Service rangers and firefighters, who recounted stories of the immense infernos.

What forest officials plan is to turn the burned area into an outdoor classroom for students.

Classes and tours for adults are also in the works.

The Mount Baldy program started with about 60 students a day in the Upland and Ontario- Montclair Unified School district.

Five years later, the program has blossomed to 130 kids a day. Visitors traipse through the forest on expeditions into some of the more off-beaten paths where they learn about the ecosystem and the history of the forest including natural plants, wildflowers and animals that roam the mountains.

"And, it meets the state's educational standards,' Fortus said. "It's not just a day of fun. They are getting essential information that fits in with programs they are taught in school.'

Originally, the San Gabriel Canyon program was to focus on the watershed and water-related projects, not fire ecology.

"We are looking at it from a watershed recovery standpoint,' District Ranger Marty Dumpis said. "Plants in the San Gabriel Canyon depend on fire for viability. It clears the thick brush and provides regrowth and easy access for the animals.'

Dumpis described the fires as one way to do a periodic cleansing to bring back fresh growth and a greater abundance of animals as the food source increases.

"Everything co-exists and is tied back to the watershed recovery, making it more vibrant,' he added.

The class fee is $5 per person, which pays for study materials.

For more information about the educational programs, call Fortus at (626) 335-1251. Or, call Steve Segreto at (626) 335-1251, Ext. 225.

-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com.