Irvine, CA (November 15, 2024) - Restoration of a heavily trafficked 49-acre portion of Bommer Canyon Preserve is underway through Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC) efforts.
IRC's goal is to build a more resilient habitat to wildfires through strategic fuel modification zones and enhance habitat quality for local wildlife. The restoration project is the largest undertaking that IRC has collaborated with the city of Irvine. With nearly 9,000 container plants ordered, the project is also one of the largest in planting scale.
Restoration efforts commenced in August 2023, funded by a $1 million grant provided by the California Natural Resources Agency to the city of Irvine through support from California State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris. The agency gave the grant to reduce the risk of wildfire.
“Many areas of the heavily visited and highly visible Bommer Canyon Preserve have been overrun with non-native grasses and weeds, which dry up in late spring and can readily ignite, posing a fire hazard to neighboring communities and wildlife,” said Robert Freese, IRC restoration and enhancement program manager. “The goal of the project is to replace highly flammable non-native vegetation with less flammable native vegetation to benefit both human communities and the natural environment.”
IRC uses fuel modification landscape planning to create several natural fuel breaks across the landscape to achieve a more fire-resistant habitat. This includes planting moisture-loving willow and mulefat shrubs along two drainageways, installing several hundred cactus pads on two dry ridgetops, enhancing a naturally wet meadow, and creating multiple small patches of oak woodland. The remaining site areas are being managed to gradually deplete non-native weed seeds in the soil before seeding them with native scrub vegetation.
IRC has finished numerous mowing rounds, continues to manage weed infestations and has started planting native plants.
The project's next phase will begin in November 2024 and continue through spring 2025. It will include installing and irrigating nearly 9,000 container plants representing sixteen native shrubs, trees, cactus, wildflowers and bunchgrass species, many of which are slow-growing and difficult to establish from seed. Then, in the fall and winter of 2025, they will seed the remaining area more widely to establish even more native species.
“We are about 25% complete with this project with just about a year and a half left,” Freese said. “I’m happy with our results so far and looking forward to seeing the renewed habitat. The native plants we introduce will support local endangered wildlife like the California Gnatcatcher and Coastal Cactus Wren.”
Although the project's final phase will officially conclude in March 2026, IRC said it will continue to oversee the site on behalf of the city of Irvine for the next five years to ensure that the restored habitat is sustainable.