About us
The California Chaparral Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization founded in 2004 that's dedicated to preserving what remains of California's chaparral - the state's most characteristic, yet most imperiled, native shrubland ecosystem. Through scientific research, Nature education, and activism, we strive to be the voice of the chaparral and all the life it supports. The California Chaparral Institute was established shortly after the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego County, the 273,000-acre wildfire that marked the beginning of California's new era of catastrophic mega-fires. During and after the Cedar Fire, chaparral was inaccurately blamed as the cause of the fire’s devastation. San Diego County government responded to this misperception by proposing a program to clear 300 square miles of backcountry habitat. After six years of involvement by the Institute and others to help the county develop a new fire risk reduction plan based on science, the county proceeded with its original program. The program was dropped after the Institute successfully challenged it in court.
contact
location
California Chaparral Institute, P.O. Box 545 Escondido, CA 92033, USA