Today, the land sits charred and sunburned in a corner of a soon-to-be-shut military base.
But naturalists see a haven for wildlife, thick with coastal sage scrub and teeming with rare California songbirds along with hawks, frogs, lizards and jack rabbits.
With that vision in mind, federal officials this week formally unveiled plans to turn part of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into Orange County's second national wildlife refuge.
The announcement comes just weeks after the fierce Santiago Canyon fire raced through an estimated 226 acres of the 975-acre proposed site, burning a wide expanse of coastal sage scrub, considered one of the most endangered vegetation types in the United States.
Wildlife experts are undeterred. While the fire will create unexpected problems in creating the new refuge, it could also spark new growth of native plants, they said, providing an unplanned but fascinating lesson in the Southern California cycle of fire and rebirth.
In fact, the El Toro refuge could set the stage for two different kinds of renewal: restoring a military base to natural habitat, and watching burnt vegetation rejuvenate.
"There will be some short-term effects on some wildlife populations, but it's not a catastrophe," said Dean Rundle, refuge manager for the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge complex that includes Orange County's only refuge, in Seal Beach.
"We're still very interested in that proposal, and we're going to go forward with that," added Michael Mitchell, manager of the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge would be organized under the auspices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and aimed at conserving wildlife and protecting the natural biological diversity of Southern California.
Residents will be able to offer comments at a public meeting Wednesday. But months of planning lie ahead, including a draft plan, environmental review and the no-cost transfer of the land from the military to the refuge system. If all goes well, the land could be designated a federal refuge by next summer.
The philosophy behind federal wildlife refuges is to protect wildlife, such as the California gnatcatcher, orange-throated whiptail lizard, San Diego horned lizard and Riverside fairy shrimp found within the proposed El Toro refuge.
A key tenet to such protections is shielding the vegetation where these creatures live. The coastal sage scrub, for example, once carpeted much of Southern California's coastal hills, but an estimated 90% has already been lost to development.
