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2025 CNF Planned Projects

Here is a list of ongoing fuel treatment projects currently planned for implementation in the Cleveland National Forest. This list will be regularly updated, and additional projects may be included as planning progresses.

Trabuco Ranger District:
 

The Trabuco Ranger District (TRD) has earmarked around 390 acres for projects in the 2025 season. Acreage set for burning, will use a meticulous approach involved dividing these areas into smaller sections to ensure safety and control. The planned projects will be carried out in various locations encompassing forest land in Orange and Riverside counties, specifically near North Main Divide Road, Bedford Motorway, Serria Peak, adjacent to Ortega Highway and South Main Divide. 

• The North Main Divide Fuel Break is designed to safeguard communities including Corona, Lake Elsinore, El Cariso Village, Lakeland Village, Wildomar, Anaheim Hills, North Tustin Silverado, Lake Forest, and Rancho Santa Margarita. The Southern section of this fuel break comprises of annual grasses and small shrubs with cut-and-piled material, scheduled for controlled burns to maintain the break. The northern portion has also been re-established, featuring annual grasses and shrubs with cut-and-piled material. The fuel break system involved both pile and broadcast burning within containment lines, providing firefighters with a strategic advantage in case of a wildfire in the area. 
• The Ortega Highway/South Main Divide Fuel Break is designed to safeguard communities including El Cariso Village and Lake Elsinore. The fuel break consists of annual grasses and small to medium shrubs. 

Residents may contact: District Fuels Officer: Charles Nott 951-285-0765 or Cyrus Galvan Fuels Tech 619-760-7905 for information on planned projects.

Palomar Ranger District

The Palomar Ranger District (PRD) has earmarked 564 acres for projects in the 2025 season. Despite substantial acreage set for burning, a meticulous approach involved dividing these areas into smaller sections to ensure safety and control. Projects funded in part by a grant from the San Diego River Conservancy, supporting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

• The Palomar Fuel Break situated along the Aguanga Ridge, near adjacent to Palomar Divide Road and High Point Truck Trail, includes targeted burning in specific sections of Palomar Divide/Aguanga fuelbreak system, particularly between Gypsy Camp and High Point Lookout. Controlled burns will be applied to piles containing mixed chaparral and surface project areas with annual grasses and some live shrubs as part of fuel break maintenance. 
• Palomar Mountain vegetation burn will involve cut and piled montane chaparral, with some areas featuring surface fuels of mixed conifer, timber litter, and mixed oak woodlands. This prescribed burn on Palomar Mountain will be executed across various sections:
  • Jeff Valley: Pile Burn 
  • Birch Hill: Pile Burn 
  • Observatory Unit: Broadcast Burn 
  • Aguanga Fuelbreak: Broadcast Burn
• Sunshine Summit/Stoneridge: 
  • Pile Burn   
• Romona Fuel Break, situated on the periphery of the Romona community will undergo specific treatment. Piles within the North Romana Fuel Break extending from Highway 78 to Pamo Road, Black Canyon Road and Sutherland Damn Road in an east-west direction, are scheduled for controlled burning. These piles, composed of cute and piled mixed chaparral, will be burned for fuel break maintenance.
• Palomar Station: Pile Burn 
• San Vicente Barona Mesa Fuel Break
• Barona Mesa: Pile Burn 
• East Grade: Pile Burn

Residents may contact: District Fuel Program Manager: Dana Barre 619-873-7119 for information on planned projects.

Descanso Ranger District

The Descanso Ranger District (PDRD) has earmarked approximately 2,300 acres for projects in the 2025 season. Despite substantial acreage set for burning, a meticulous approach involved dividing these areas into smaller sections to ensure safety and control. Projects funded in part by a grant from the San Diego River Conservancy, supporting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

• Nearby communities: Alpine, Mount Laguna, Pine Valley, Carveacre and Guatay, Campo. Nearby Roadways: Interstate 8, Sunrise Hwy., Anderson Truck Trail, Viejas Creek, Star Valley, Alpine Blvd, Japatul Valley Rd., Pine Creek Rd., Old Hwy 80., Deer Park Road, Buckman Springs Rd. Carveacre Rd.
• The Alpine and Carveacre Fuel Breaks situated on the periphery of the Alpine community, will undergo specific treatment. In Carveacre, piles within the fuel break will be subjected to controlled burning. On the east and southside of the Alpine community, characterized by annual grasses, a broadcast burn is scheduled for fuel break maintenance.
• The Pine Valley Fuel Break, positioned near the Pine Valley community, will undergo maintenance through the burning of annual grasses. Additionally, pile burning is scheduled along Deer Park Road near Pine Creek Road and in the Bear Valley OHV area alone Bear Valley Road. This is part of a broader forest health project aiming to reintroduce fire to oak woodlands. 
• The Prescribed burning on Mount Laguna will be conducted in several different areas along Sunrise Hwy. The fuels consist of cut and piled montane chaparral in some units and timber litter in others. The burning will assist in community protection as well as limiting the severity of a wildfire during the summer months. These burns are being conducted to promote forest health and reduce fuel loading. 

Residents may contact: Fuels Program Manager: Jamie Rickard 619-873-7128 for further information on the planned projects.