How to Help the Santa Monica Mountains Following the Wildfires

With scores of acres of state and national park land scorched from the Springs Fire in the Santa Monica Mountains, state and national park officials say they have been overwhelmed with requests to help.

"We're touched by the outpouring of support from the community and their desire to help," said David Szymanski, superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. "We'll need everyone's help to ensure the recovery goes as smoothly as possible."  

The Springs Fire burned more than 1,000 acres of National Park Service land and more than 12,000 acres of California State Parks land.

Back country trails and fire roads in Point Mugu State Park remain closed as of Thursday. They will remain closed until at least May 23, according to Craig Sap, California State Parks Superintendent for the Angeles District. 

"This closure is necessary as crews identify and extinguish hot spots and to assess trail hazards," Sap said. "After that we are planning to temporarily restrict use sunrise to sunset. We haven’t determined how long that restriction will remain in place, but it will be as short as possible." 

Sycamore Canyon Campground, La Jolla Group Camp and La Jolla day use is tentatively scheduled to reopen May 22 or 23.

Szymanski said although fire is a natural part of all ecosystems, too many fires can harm native plant communities, reduce wildlife habitat and even increase future fire risk.

The Santa Monica Mountains historically only experienced fires once every 75 to 100 years. Dry and fire-prone invasive weeds and grasses become established and increase future fire risk when areas are burned too often. 

Park officials say this is how the public can help:  

1. Respect the closures. We're working as hard as possible to assess conditions within the burn area, but the fire is still active and our own staff must be escorted by fire officials. We can't open the park (or specific trails) until it's safe for visitors and the cultural and natural resources we protect.

2. Stay on the trail. When our parks re-open, staying on designated trails (not unofficial paths created by fire crews) and minding posted closure signs is critical to protecting the wildlife and plant communities that survived the flames. Foot and bike traffic tramples sensitive soil, vegetation, burrows and nests.

3. Sign up to volunteer. Fire is part of nature, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give nature a hand along the way. We're still assessing the damage, but you can sign up now for future opportunities to do habitat restoration and trail improvement.