Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy

Land Management Plan Part 2
Los Padres National Forest Strategy
September 2005
distances, creating dramatic contrasts of color, texture and scale. The ocean edge is juxtaposed to
this mountainous landscape and creates spectacular scenery around every turn in the road. Water
runs off this area quickly, creating many small streams and several rivers with dramatic
waterfalls.
Although largely covered by chaparral, coastal sage scrub and prairies, the Big Sur Place is noted
for the southernmost stands of coast redwoods in a vegetative mosaic of pine, mixed evergreen
forest, and riparian vegetation. Coastal fog, spring wildflowers, coastal prairies, coastal sage
scrub and chaparral offer seasonal contrasts of color and viewing distances that make this an area
to visit many times. One can also see terrestrial and marine mammals, pelagic life, and land birds
in this land to ocean interface. As a transition zone between northern and southern California
floras, and as an interface between land and marine environments, it is an area of unusually high
biodiversity. Many of the coastal streams provide habitat for federally listed steelhead trout
(Oncorhyncus mykiss irideus), an oceangoing rainbow trout. The ridges of the Santa Lucia
Mountains supply roosting and feeding habitat for California condors that soar in the thermals
created by the steep, ocean-facing terrain.
The integrity of the landscape is primarily affected by construction and maintenance of
California State Highway 1 on land that is constantly shifting and moving, creating a fragile
balance between human use and geomorphic processes. Frequent landslides have promoted
several exotic plant species, which grow primarily on disturbed soil. The Place has a history of
small and large wildland fires that result from a combination of productive vegetation and hot,
dry summers just a short distance inland from the coastal marine influence. The highly erosive
soils coupled with steep, unstable slopes generate significant sediment, augmented by road
maintenance material and removal of ground cover by fires. The landslides and erosion result in
frequent road closures and slough material removal problems and sedimentation that affects
offshore marine sanctuaries.
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