Final Lab: the LA Station Fire and its Affect of Critical Habitat in LA

How the Los Angeles Station Fire Destroyed Critical Habitat

In 2009, the highly destructive Los Angeles Station Fire burned through areas of the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains. The overall destruction of the fire was an extremely large section of the National Forest, decimating a large portion of the region. Beginning in August of 2009, the fire wasn’t fully contained until late October of the same year. The fire burned more than 160 thousand acres of land, and a total of over two thousand fireman and other workers were in the fight to stop the fire (instaweb.org2009). The fire was soon discovered to be arson, and with the combination of the dryness of the land and extensive undergrowth from a lack of fires over several years, this caused the fire to grow and become uncontrollable. Becoming one of the largest wildfire in California (O’Connor2009). 

The two maps above show a different version of the fire. One shows the recorded extents of the fire: the first recorded extent of it, the middle extent of the fire, and the final extent-before the fire was one hundred percent contained. The second map shows two layers: one layer is the full extent of the fire, showing the area that was decimated by the blaze, while the second layer that is dictated in blue shows critically endangered habitats in Los Angles and surrounding areas that are home to numerous species of animals. Therefore comparing the two layers shows that the fire and the critical habitat do have an overlap. Therefore, one can hypothesize that if the fire and the critical habitat do have an overlap, then the fire would have a detrimental effect on the animal species that live in the area, which greatly effects their populations. Thus, in my analysis I will prove that the fire significantly decreased animal populations.

 The fire took place in the Angeles National Forest, which was established in 1892 by and Executive Order from the President. The National Forest Spans over 650,000 acres of land. The forest is a vital part of Los Angeles because it acts as the sol watershed management system for the LA Area. Therefore providing countless gallons of water to the city through the water cycle (USDA.gov2013). This is not even the most important feature of this area, some small areas, as demonstrated by the map, are critically important to the whole ecosystem of the forest. In California there are 359 species listed as endangered or threatened, with a number of these species residing in the Angeles National Forest (UCAgrculture2009). Just some animals that call the forest home are the Black Bears, Bobcats, Mountain Lions, deer, small mammals and numerous bird species. They are all are critical to the habitat, and any decrease in their numbers is detrimental to the ecosystem.

There are no specific numbers on how many animals were lost in the 2009 Station Fire, but it was reported that an abnormal number of large specie animals were found; more than would normally be found in a wildfire. While large animals normally have the ability to escape the fire, in this case the fire progressed so quickly, because of its uphill path, that the animals couldn’t outrun the rapidly advancing fire. While we know the fire had a negative effect on the populations of many species of plants and animals, there has never been a study on how many were lost (Barstow2009). However, on record there is a small account of scientist recordings that there three bears, twelve deer, two coyotes, and one bobcat died in the fire (Barstow2009). Numerous birds also died, not from the flames, but from the toxic gas that came from the smoke. Another reason for why most animals were not able to escape from the flames was because of how thick the brush was in certain areas in the forest, which hindered them from escaping and fueled an accelerated speed of the fire (Barstow2009).

After evaluating research of the Los Angeles Station Fire and its effect on the animal and plant populations I can accurately say that I was wrong in my hypothesis. According to the map that I generated, only small fragmented areas that are labeled critically important to endangered habitat. Therefore, the fire would not have a great effect on the populations of animals based on my assumptions. Scientists who studied the aftermath of the fire said that one lasting effect the fire may have on animal populations is that many small rodents died in the fire, because they naturally burrow in fires and died as a result of their natural instinct. As a result, there may be a lack of food source for predators in the future (Barstow2009). However, many animals that had the ability to escape the fire didn’t perish and the vegetation is now flourishing, as plant and shrub life recovers fastest after wildfires.  

 Works Cited

"About the Forest." Angeles National Forest -. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.

Barstow, Donna. "Rare Big-animal Deaths in Angeles National Forest's Fast-moving Station Fire." LA Weekly [Los Angeles] 21 Oct. 2009: n. pag. Print.

"Endangered Species and Habitat." University of California Agricultural Issues Center (2009): 32-34. Print.

"InciWeb - Incident Information System." InciWeb the Incident Information System: Station Fire News Release. N.p., 27 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.

O'connor, Anahad. "Huge Los Angeles Fire Was Arson, Officials Say." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.

"Bing Maps Hybrid Base Map." Map. ArcGIS Online Base Map. Bing, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Greninger, Mark. All Sation Fire Perimeters As of September 2, 7:02. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Enterprise GIS, 2 Sept. 2009. Zip File.

Project, Landscape. "All Critical Habitats in California." Map. ArcGIS Online. USFWS Critical Habitat Portal, 24 May 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.