2025-121 Chino Hills State Park — Wildfire Management
Audit Scope and Objectives
The audit by the California State Auditor will provide independently developed and verified information related to the wildfire management practices at the Chino Hills State Park (Chino Hills). The audit’s scope will include, but not be limited to, the following activities:
- Review and evaluate the laws, rules, and regulations significant to the audit objectives.
- Determine which entities have specific responsibility for fuel modification and abatement projects within Chino Hills. Review how often these entities are expected to perform abatement of combustible vegetation and whether they are expected to provide a defensible space in which fire suppression personnel can conduct operations in the event of a wildfire.
- Determine what Chino Hill’s wildfire mitigation and fuel management policies and practices are, what standards they are based on, and whether they align with key state wildfire prevention policies and plans, including the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
- Identify the fuel management and abatement activities that occur in the area surrounding Chino Hills and determine which entities have conducted those activities.
- Determine which entities have responsibility for assessing the amount of wildfire fuel present within Chino Hills, how that assessment is made, and how often it is performed.
- Assess the coordination efforts among Chino Hills and the surrounding communities. Specifically, review and determine the following:
- What local or regional entities Chino Hills coordinates with when it performs fuel modification projects.
- Whether any local ordinances related to vegetation management require Chino Hills to abide by them.
- Review Chino Hills’ wildfire management plan and determine the following:
- Whether the plan incorporates a statewide interagency planning meeting and, if so, which entity is responsible for coordinating the meeting and which entities should be in attendance.
- Whether the plan specifies that campgrounds will be maintained and cleaned of weeds and, if so, whether that cleaning and maintenance has occurred at the expected intervals.
- Determine which utilities have power lines within Chino Hills and the entities responsible for ensuring adequate fire prevention activities are completed in a timely manner.
- Review and assess any other issues that are significant to the audit.
