Ascot Hills FREE (Fire Resilience for Environmental Equity)

Wildfire relief

Other

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Ascot Hills Park sits at the convergence of urgent environmental and social vulnerabilities. It ranks at the highest level of wildfire risk in California by CALFIRE, and in the 90th percentile on CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (CES), a Statewide tool measuring environmental health and socioeconomic disparities. The surrounding community—including Ramona Gardens (98th percentile in CES) — is disproportionately impacted by climate change and urgently needs support to prepare for climate and fire related events. This community faces compounding threats: escalating wildfire danger in a densely populated urban area, unhealthy air pollution from freeways and freight corridors, and a lack of resilient green spaces. Ascot Hills FREE (Fire Resilience for Environmental Equity) helps to address these inequities through fire-adapted native habitat restoration, youth job training, and local plant propagation—offering both immediate relief and a replicable model for building wildfire and climate resilience.

Ascot Hills FREE is a multi-benefit initiative that reimagines how LA builds climate and wildfire resilience—by combining fire-adapted habitat restoration, hyperlocal plant propagation, tribal collaboration, data analysis, and local youth workforce development. This grant supports restoration of 33 acres in Ascot Hills Park through strategic fuel reduction, invasive species removal, and installation of 2,000 locally grown native trees and plants—propagated from North East Trees’ on-site nursery using microclimate-adapted stock. Grant funds will support hands-on training for six local youth who will gain skills in wildfire resilience, native ecology, and urban greening, preparing them for careers in public conservation.
Ascot Hills is home to LA’s largest climate-adapted microforest—sequestering 3–5 tons of carbon per year—and a micrograssland designed to study how species like Purple Needlegrass can help slow down wildfires. We led this implementation and are partnering with LMU to evaluate these innovative strategies and create Statewide resources for scaling this approach. Additional funds are needed to advance this, as current State funds focus on implementation, not research. This grant will also support 12 community events, including work with LAFD and City agencies to ensure defensible space enhances—not erases—habitat. In partnership with local tribes, we’ll ensure cultural sensitivity and respect for Indigenous knowledge through ongoing monitoring during restoration.

This project offers an innovative scalable model for wildfire resilience across Los Angeles County—demonstrating how fire adapted restoration, data analysis, hyper-local plant propagation, youth workforce development, and tribal collaboration can build safer, healthier, and more climate-resilient communities. In the short term, we will restore and protect 33 acres at high risk for wildfires, reduce invasive fuel loads, and train six local youth in fire-adapted habitat restoration. In the long term, this project will serve as a blueprint for high-risk areas in LA, showing how to create fire-adapted landscapes using native seed stock and empowering young adults as future land stewards. By working with tribal partners to restore land in culturally respectful ways, we also strengthen countywide tribal coordination and cultural preservation. Our vision is that communities across California can look to this model for how to respond to climate threats while uplifting the next generation.