Wildfire Resiliency Project

Project Dates: October 2023 through December 2023

About the Park
Honda Valley Park is a 48-acre open space park located within the coastal interior zone of the high fire hazard area. The park has diverse, dense vegetation along steep slopes and within canyons, as well as a heavy understory of invasive plants and thatch.

Planned Work
Crews will be targeting deadwood and invasive species to reduce fuel loads in the park through weed whipping, hand cutting, hand pulling, chainsaw work, chipping, flattening, raking, shoveling, and bucking existing woody debris. Targeted invasive species include mustards, non-native annual grasses, pampas grass, eucalyptus, bigleaf periwinkle, Peruvian pepper, onionweed, nasturtium, English ivy, cape ivy, tree tobacco, French broom, thoroughwort, bullthistle, African asparagus fern, and Victorian box.

Crews will also focus on removing vegetation from trails, also known as trail brushing, to maintain clear site access for emergency crews and vehicles in the event of a fire.

Sensitive Resources
A biological resource assessment was performed and identified a variety of sensitive resources within the park.

Four special status plant species were identified: Plummer’s baccharis, Southern California black walnut, Santa Barbara honeysuckle, and bitter gooseberry. A biologist will be onsite to monitor when work is occurring within 50 feet of the mapped special status plants.

Six special status wildlife species are considered likely to be found within the park: Cooper’s hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, California legless lizard, overwintering monarch butterfly, American peregrine falcon, and western red bat. A pre-activity biological survey will occur within 10 days of the start of work for all special status species. Exclusion zones and a biological monitor will be utilized as needed if special status wildlife are observed. Work is performed outside of nesting bird season.

Two sensitive natural communities are present within the park: lemonade berry scrub shrublands and California sycamore – coast live oak riparian woodlands. No adverse impacts will be made to these communities. Invasive vegetation that threatens these sensitive communities will be targeted.

All crew members will receive environmental awareness training before work begins to review present sensitive resources and how to protect them.

Funding
This project is funded by a Coastal Conservancy Grant.

Honda Valley Park Biological Resource Assessment (September 2023)
Honda Valley Park Work Plan (December 2023)

Project Dates: October 2023 through January 2024

About the Park
Parma Park is a 200-acre open space park located within the extreme foothill zone of the high fire hazard area. The park is composed of twelve different vegetation communities. The native bigpod ceanothus chaparral community makes up a majority of the park space, followed by the coast live oak woodland and forest community. 

Planned Work
Crews will be targeting invasive species and deadwood to reduce fuel loads in the park through weed whipping, hand cutting, hand pulling, chainsaw work, chipping, flattening, raking, and shoveling. Crews will be assisting with annual defensible space work, preparation for native habitat restoration, and pruning of the historic olive grove within Parma Park. Targeted invasive species include bristly ox-tongue, acacia, canary island date palm, non-native annual grasses, eucalyptus, Peruvian pepper, olive, onionweed, cape ivy, French broom, thoroughwort, cotoneaster, euphorbia, and milk thistle.

Crews will also focus on removing vegetation from trails, also known as trail brushing, to maintain clear site access for emergency crews and vehicles in the event of a fire.

Sensitive Resources
A biological resource assessment was performed and identified a variety of sensitive resources within the park.

Seven special status plant species were identified: Plummer’s baccharis, Southern California black walnut, Santa Barbara honeysuckle, Catalina mariposa lily, Hoffmann’s sanicle, white-veined monardella, and bitter gooseberry. 

Eight special status wildlife species are considered likely to be found within the park: Southern California rufous-crowned sparrow, Crotch’s bumblebee, olive-sided flycatcher, willow flycatcher, southwestern willow flycatcher, merlin, American peregrine falcon, and western red bat. Cooper’s hawk is known to be present within Parma Park.

A pre-activity biological survey will occur within 10 days of the start of work for all special status species. Exclusion zones and a biological monitor will be utilized to protect all special status species on site. Most work will be performed outside of nesting bird season; if work is needed to occur during the nesting bird season, a nesting bird survey will be performed ahead of planned work.

Two sensitive natural communities are present within the park: needle grass – melic grass herbaceous grassland and California sycamore – coast live oak riparian woodlands. No adverse impacts will be made to these communities. Invasive vegetation that threatens these sensitive communities will be targeted.

All crew members will receive environmental awareness training before work begins to review present sensitive resources and how to protect them.

Project Dates: May 2024 through June 2024

Planned Work
A herd of sheep is set to graze approximately 15 acres across four parks ahead of wildfire season. This project aims to maintain defensible space between homes and parkland by removing overgrown grass and brush from the park properties. The grazing sheep will travel to Laurel Canyon Park, Hale Park, Franceschi Park, and Mission Historical Park. The herd will spend a few days grazing in each location before moving to the next park.

Sensitive Resources
Grazers, including sheep and goats, have been used in City parks since 2015. While they are an effective tool to create defensible space, measures are being taken to reduce their impact on sensitive biological resources within the parks. Before the herd’s arrival, a biologist will survey each property for nesting birds, and flags and fencing will be installed to protect sensitive plants, like young oak saplings, to ensure the sheep cannot reach them. The order of the grazing schedule has also been designed to reduce the likelihood of introducing new invasive plants into any of the parks during the process, as the animals’ droppings can spread the seeds of the invasive plants. The city's Vegetation Management Crew will manually clear areas too sensitive for grazing. 

Sheep Tracker
The public is encouraged to visit the parks to view the sheep during the month-long grazing project and can follow the Parks and Recreation Department on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for updates on the herd’s location.