
About the Project
By engaging partners across southern California, this project is advancing our collective understanding of the vulnerabilities and challenges facing montane forests and the opportunities and strategies for increasing forest resilience.
Learn about our project objectives and explore our resources below. For additional background information about the project, scroll down to Project Background.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Build a community of practice
Through partner engagement and collaboration, we have developed a common understanding among resource and fire managers, policy makers, the science community, Tribal partners, and other stakeholders regarding the threats to Southern California's montane forests and the benefits they provide as well as the strategies to minimize those threats.

Build a climate-adapted strategy
Our project team has worked with this community of practice to:
I. Develop a Forest Conservation Strategy
This climate-adapted strategy is a roadmap for sustaining montane forests in Southern California;
II. Identify Implementation Actions
The strategy is already informing planning and management efforts to enhance forest health and resilience;
III. Promote Collaboration
To accomplish the implementation actions identified in the strategy, we are promoting ongoing collaborative action and fostering the development of partnerships to improve forest resilience.
PROJECT RESOURCES

Project Background
Southern California’s montane forests are unique and fundamental to the region.
Montane forests (forests >5,000 ft elevation) are restricted to "sky islands" of mountain habitat found in the Transverse and Peninsular mountain ranges of Southern California, with most of the montane forest area found in the San Jacinto, San Bernardino, and San Gabriel Mountains and extending to smaller areas on mountains further north and south. As in the Sierra Nevada, southern California montane forests are dominated by a mix of conifers (mostly pines, firs, and incense cedar) and hardwood (mostly oak) species.

Map depicting extent of montane forests in southern California in relation to mountain ranges.