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The Claremont Canyon Conservancy is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Claremont Canyon’s natural landscape and to the promotion of fire safety throughout the canyon and in adjacent residential neighborhoods. The Conservancy works closely with public and private property owners and various government agencies to ensure the best possible stewardship of the canyon as a whole. We support educational programs designed to improve fire safety and seek out the most effective measures that private property owners can take to protect their own properties from wildfire. The Conservancy supports and actively conducts strategic fuel reduction projects in the canyon. We promote stewardship through general weed management to help restore the natural balance in the various ecosystems within the watershed, through educational programs that increase public awareness and appreciation of the canyon, and through advocacy for improved access to the canyon.

Fire Safety Policy: The Claremont Canyon Conservancy advocates an integrated fire management plan (IFM) where all parties share in the responsibility of creating defensible space to reduce potential damage and to aid firefighters in their role of fire suppression. IFM requires careful attention to potential sources of ignition under power lines and along narrow road edges where cars park, creating congestion and preventing access by firefighters. In an IFM plan all landowners, both public and private, help create a canyon-wide landscape managed to meet the twin goals of maintaining the natural resources of the Claremont Canyon watershed and achieving greater defensibility against catastrophic wildfire. Central to the protection of the homes in and around the canyon is the achievement of defensible space at individual home sites and in neighborhoods. Also important is the strategic management of vegetation on public lands adjacent to the urban/wildland interface so that wildfires can be fought effectively by firefighters and residents. Buffer zones (corridors of managed vegetation, equipment staging areas, etc) need to be planned specific to each site based on evaluation by knowledgeable experts. While the main emphasis is upon the reduction of exotic invasive vegetation such as broom and eucalyptus, some native vegetation may be reduced at specific sites where appropriate and when in keeping with the longterm goal of adaptive management.