THE CHANEY TRAIL CORRIDOR PROJECT

SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION

Chaney Trail is a wildlife corridor and unique locus of biodiversity.

The Chaney Trail Corridor Project is a professional biological and community science, founded in response to the potential sale of the 78 acre Nuccio's property, surrounded by the wildland of the Angeles National Forest, the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Los Angeles County Significant Ecological Area. We seek to protect and conserve the land and natural resources, and provide support for wildlife and the community as we regenerate after the Eaton Fire.

Image of brush and foothills from Chaney Trail

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Chaney Trail Corridor is located on the ancestral and unceded land of the Gabrielino Tongva People. We are grateful for and honor their stewardship, and as guests, seek to protect the land and all that lives in the Corridor.

The Chaney Trail volunteers joined up again with Caltech @parker.lab and @nurbsants this week to search for ant queens, check on the colonies and document nocturnal insects post-fire. We are working on picking up our iNaturalist observations in an attempt to document what has changed. Many thanks to the Parker Lab scientists for teaching us so much; we are once again in awe of our mighty centuries old Coast Live Oak trees that have largely survived the fire and are home to ant colonies as old as the trees themselves.

@laursoutdoors
@dr.daisyrosasv
@chiemi_art
@leosfieldnotes
@ethankalani
@wilhamgram

The California Newt (Taricha torosa) is a resident of Millard Canyon, usually visible and numerous from November to April - we have not seen a single one - until this morning! This is the end of their breeding season. This one must have migrated from a protected hiding spot to the stream to breed. What a relief to see this survivor!

Trail Cam Update from the Chaney Trail Corridor!

Video from 3/8/25. The area is closed, this is shared with love by a permitted resident.

Just some rainy day trail cam for you from the Chaney Trail Corridor. xoxo

Report today from Millard Canyon, the deer are doing well! They are serene with the lack of activity. One was laying down on the ground resting and got up to have a look (in the video). A mama deer and fawn have been in the Canyon since the fire, they were also out today in the rain. Mom has an injured right front leg, but is still going strong, climbing steep slopes and munching. It is very helpful that they have this quiet time to recover.

The fawn and Mom are always together. Fawns typically stay with their mothers for about one year. They are born in late spring or early summer and by the time they are about 3 to 4 months old, they start eating more vegetation and become more independent, but they still stay close to their mothers. This one was snacking heartily today!

[The Canyon remains closed until the end of 2025, these were taken by a careful and quiet permitted human resident.]

The Bat Team got together with our supervising bat biologist, Dr. Joey Curti @nikkocurti to check on the bats post fire and install a new and improved detector by @titleyscientific

We are excited to be working with Cal Poly Pomona students who are working hard to interpret our pre-fire bat data so we can compare it to what we find post-fire.

Thank you so much to our dedicated volunteers who helped and who have stuck together through everything: @kcplantsaltadena @dr.daisyrosasv @chiemi_art @wildlifeofcottonwood

It is hard to see the landscape changed, but it is still beautiful and awe inspiring and we are committed to protecting it and all that continues to live and re-grow in this special place.

Life continues. After the fire and the mudslides, the landscape of the Chaney Trail Corridor has been profoundly transformed. It can be disorienting, but when we located one of the burned camera metal stands, we put a new one right next to it. The fire changed the terrain, but the animals persist, including the owls and deer who were regulars at this camera. One thing that is beautiful to see is how long they stay in the frame now, they seem almost relaxed in the barren landscape alone, without people and dogs on the trail. A deer rested in front of the camera for hours this week. These are all new trail cam photos from the last few days, except the last, which is the same frame/perspective from 7/17/2024.

The Chaney Trail Corridor Project is helping out the antkeepers at Caltech’s Parker Lab who have been studying the ant colonies in the Chaney Trail Corridor for 8 years. The native trees, especially the old Coast Live Oaks of Millard, are home to native ant species such as Liometopum occidentale and Camponotus quercicola. The lab has observed colonies in 15 trees over time, and after the fire, we were not sure if they would still be there, but after the fire, every colony was present except for two. Observing these survivors (the trees and the ants) has been awe-inspiring, and observing the Caltech team see their ants thriving has been heart-warming. By day and by night (when the queens fly), we will continue to assist this wonderful effort.

@nurbsants @parker.lab

#savepubicland #protectourparks
This post is in support of a larger movement led by @resistancerangers to save our public lands.
The flag was up for a few minutes then removed during camera check. We left no trace. Rangers at Yellowstone hung the inverted flag, historically used as a sign of distress, to call attention to cuts to the National Park Service.

California buckeye (Aesculus californica), after the fire. There is a stand of buckeyes just off of Brown Mountain Truck Trail that were windblown and covered in Phos-Chek after the fire, and then this week, this happened. For our Eaton Canyon comrades, this is the same tree planted near the front of the nature center. Some say the Buckeye isn’t found in our region, but this stand of trees in the Chaney Trail Corridor has been there a very long time. Some experts from the California Native Plant Society San Gabriel Mountains Chapter think the tree may have been brought in long ago by indigenous people to catch fish in the Millard stream. The buckeye nuts or hulls can be ground into a powder that can be thrown into pools in the stream to stun fish. And, yes, there used to be fish in the Millard stream! We know some folks still around who fished Millard and we have historical records of fish in our beloved stream. Maybe we can thank the birds for bringing in the buckeye here. Whatever the case may be, the Buckeye’s leaves are dazzling to see emerge and we can’t wait to share its blooms with you in a few months.

We think much of the work over the last couple of weeks by Army Corps contractors who have marked and cutdown trees after the fire has been invalid, because many of these trees are now budding and blooming. These trees mean the world to us and we will keep fighting for them.

The Chaney Trail Corridor Project is honored to receive an award from @rosefdn - The Rose Foundation’s California Wildlands Grassroots Fund. This grant will allow us to continue our work to conserve and protect the Corridor and its inhabitants. We are grateful to the Rose Foundation for the support and recognition of our work, especially after the Eaton Fire, when recovery and preservation are more important than ever.

A bobcat at 02:12AM this morning in the burned area of the Chaney Trail Corridor. This bobcat appears to be healthy and uninjured. We know from @pasadenahumane that there was an influx of injured bobcats after the fire so it is a joy and relief to see this one roaming. This is a place where we hiked many times, hosted nature walks and collected bat and inaturalist data. Perhaps this is the same bobcat we caught on our cameras that burned up on the trail, they were only about 100 yards away from where this shot was taken.

Second camera is up. 2/18/2025. After the fire and slides.

Let's protect our preservable trees! In the fire debris clean-up effort, the Army Corps of Engineers and their contractors plan to remove hazardous trees in the debris removal phase. There are questions about the standards being used by these contractors. Several species, such as our beloved native trees - Coast Live Oak and Sycamore included -can take quite a bit of scorch damage and recover. Many local arborists are deeply concerned that trees which might otherwise recover are being marked for removal. The collective loss in canopy cover, shade, wildlife habitat and other benefits would be staggering if all the marked trees were removed.

Included here are some photos of blue paint tree markings on a property that opted-in for debris removal. The white paint markings are from the EPA and do not indicate removal, they are cautionary markings for staff safety when they enter a site. An orange ribbon is placed on each medium-risk tree along with a plate with a bar code circled in blue paint at the base of the tree. An additional blue dot means it is marked for removal. They will also geo-locate each tree that has been marked for removal.

If you have a tree that has been marked and you wish to keep the tree, you can post a sign requesting that the tree not be removed. You can also contact the
Army Corp of Engineers with the SKU to request that the tree(s) be retained: (213) 308-8305 or SoCalWildfires@usace.army.mil

Visit our Bio Linktree to download a sample "Tree Retention Notice" you can post on your tree(s), also see the "Altadena Homeowners Post-Fire Tree Guide" written by local arborist Rebecca Latta @rebeccalattaconsulting who is leading the effort to protect our trees. More info. available at www.altadenagreen.org/resources

A camera is back up. Remnants of the old ones found. Starting again. These are not very good photos, but they mean a lot because this coyote passed by minutes after the camera was turned on. Big thanks to @deniscallet for the encouragement to get back out there and to @filofilms for explaining what it means to see the trail cam photos. And to @goodneighboraltadena for a place to be together and have these conversations about the place we love.

[The corresponding trail cam video and cam set-up are in our story today and will be archived in our highlights under “Trail Cams” and “Cool Stuff”]

Erythranthe cardinalis (Scarlet Monkeyflower) with the arrow in the heart pointing to Phos-Chek. We love you.

Emerging: Malosma laurina (Laurel Sumac)

We have resumed the Chaney Trail Bat Survey now with the wonderful help of Joey Curti, Ph.D. @nikkocurti - Over the weekend, our small team went to the Chaney Trail Corridor and took in all of the changes and turned on the detector. The fire has been devastating, but we are in now in a unique position to understand how the population of bats in the Corridor has changed pre and post wildfire.

Dr. Curti is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Tingley Lab & Blakey Lab, La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He has kindly jumped right in to meet with and guide our team.

We will continue to send updates as we re-launch our efforts.

Here we go!

We will be sending dispatches from the Chaney Trail Corridor to let you know how things are. This is our way of sending love to you on the place you love. It is still there, resting. The birds and the wildlife are coming out in the quiet.

Chaney Trail and Millard are closed to the public until the end of the year, until December 31, 2025 (link to the US Forest Service announcement in our bio linktree). The place where so many of us have gone to recover itself needs to recover.

We will share progress with you. We are fortunate to have members who are permitted to access the Corridor who can report back. And we are working on a plan to continue our bat study and monitor the wildlife and regrowth and will keep you updated as we go.

Much Love,
-The Chaney Trail Corridor Project

[Photo of the lower Millard parking lot taken on January 29, 2025]

Much needed rain and snow on the mountains, January 26, 7:00 AM. (Chaney Trail, bottom left in photo 1.)

Chaney Trail and the Altadena Crest Trail are temporarily closed, including Millard Canyon and Sunset Ridge. The gates are closed to foot and car traffic. The Forest Service, Cal Fire, County Fire, Public Works, Conservation Corps and others are doing some great work up there, and the forest and chaparral are getting some much-needed rest after the fire.

Visit parks.lacounty.gov and trails.lacounty.gov for more information.

Sound up to hear the Oak Titmouse calling from its trees, and the stream water flowing in the background. This was yesterday, January 20, 2025. There has been destruction, but life continues.

The Chaney Trail Cooridor Project still has the same mission: to protect the wildland and wildlife of the Corridor and to ensure the stream continues to flow with the water needed to sustain the ecosystem.

This community is extraordinary. We loved seeing you last night at the soundbath, and for those who could not attend, we hope to see you soon. The strength and resilliance of our community is unique, and we are honored to be a part of it.

Please, everyone, stay safe tonight with the upcoming winds on this MLK day. Strength and Love to you all.

We need one another and we need healing. This event is free and open to anyone; it is especially intended to be a service for those impacted by the fires. Sign-up link in bio Linktree.

A sound bath “washes” away stress and brings you to a state of relaxation, activating your body’s our own natural system of self-healing. No experience required, you will sit or lay down to experience the sounds and vibrations of planetary gongs, Himalayan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, and chimes.

The Chaney Trail Corridor organizers and volunteers have many talents that we want to share, and Shana Pallotta, advisory board member, is a Pasadena-based psychotherapist and sound healer; she will be leading the sound bath which is located in the group room of her psychotherapy office. Visit the meditation/sound section of www.shanatherapy.com for more info.

This is a special free event. The space can only fit about 30 people. Please sign-up only if you can come. If this session fills, we will plan more.

Millard Canyon will be OK. There has been fire and smoke, and the threat is not over, but right now, there is water in the stream and the birds are singing. There is still sun coming through the oaks, yellow rumped warblers darting out to catch insects and Northern Flickers calling from the trees. There will be work to do, but the beauty is still there, and the forest will bounce back with magnificence.
Sending Love,
-The Chaney Trail Corridor Project

We will rebuild. We will regrow.

We are sending love. Our hearts are broken over everyone’s losses and we are committed now more than ever to this community and to this wildland.

Many have asked about our trail cams, all 5 are gone. They stopped responding early Wednesday morning and the last photos they sent were of fire. We will get more cameras out there as soon as it is possible.

About the two photos on this post:

The first is the Chaney Trail Corridor now, the thin line is the Altadena Crest Trail where we have been doing much of our survey work.

The second is the Chaney Trail Corridor in May of 2010, taken about 8 months after the Station Fire.

There will be recovery. Chaparral is adapted to burn hot. And the riparian and oak woodlands of Millard are not all burned at this time because of the heroic work of firefighters in the canyon. There are still birds singing there and water in the stream.

We also wanted to share that we have a new bat biologist supervising our study, which will now become a study of bats in the Chaney Trail Corridor before and after wildfire. We feel fortunate to be able to contribute to this area of bat science for which there are not many studies.

Finally, we will be hosting a gathering for all in the community who want to participate, it will be a healing sound bath that will take place indoors for free locally. We are confirming the details, which we will post along with a sign-up link.

More soon, with love,
-The Chaney Trail Corridor Project

[Thank you, Mario, for the photo taken after the Station Fire.]

From the LA Times Plants @latimesplants section today - Here is the portion of the article on Nuccio’s. The loss of native plant nurseries is of great concern, but we are excited to work collaboratively with our local organizations and partners toward future opportunities in expanding the availability of native plants and we are very hopeful about the conservation of the Nuccio’s land.

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