Impacts to natural and cultural resources on active wildfires via fire effects and suppression activities can have long-lasting effects on habitat. In Southern California, there is a mosaic of open space and conservation landowners as well as being an ecological hotspot with dozens of endangered species of plants and wildlife that makes resource protection during wildland fire management a challenge. With the increased risk of wildland fire, especially along the wildland urban interface, wildland fire managers need to incorporate local experts and conservation open space landowners into decision making processes.

It is a collaboration of local agencies including the USGS Western Ecological Research Center San Diego Field Station, BLM, San Diego Management and Monitoring Program, USFWS, NPS, CalFire, the County of San Diego, and local NGOs and will facilitate a shift in adaptive management in Southern California by establishing databases and web maps for fire personnel to utilize while responding to wildland fires in Southern California and create and manage a cohort of Resource Advisors in the Southern California Ecoregion.

This program received initial funding from SANDAG and expanded support from Camp Pendleton MCB and ACOE Los Angeles District.