Lake Hughes and its surrounding Angeles National Forest reflect both natural history and human use. The Civilian Conservation Corps, established by President F.D. Roosevelt in 1933 during the Great Depression, worked with the Forest Service on fire prevention across the forest, building breaks, trails, roads, and support facilities, and some of their camps still remain. Nearby Elizabeth Lake is a perennial sag pond atop the San Andreas Fault, though it can dry out during extended drought, and Hughes Lake is another perennial sag pond long used for camping and recreation. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail runs 2,650 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. The main wash that fed Lake Hughes was redirected in the 1960s to control floods that threatened the community, and in 2013 water from the lake helped fight the Powerhouse Fire; these circumstances, especially the historic drought from 2013 onward, led to the lake drying out. The Powerhouse Fire began on May 30, 2013, near Power House 1 in San Francisquito Canyon and spread north toward Elizabeth Lake and Lake Hughes. Fire containment was led by the U.S. Forest Service, L.A. County firefighters, and CalFire. The fire burned 30,274 acres, or 47.3 square miles, of brush and forest, destroyed 30 homes and 28 outbuildings, forced several thousand residents to evacuate, and caused extensive damage to native ecosystems including coastal sage chaparral and riparian vegetation, with plant loss accelerating erosion and increasing landslide risk. The Angeles National Forest is also the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Fernandeño Tatavium Band of Mission Indians, Ventureño Chumash, Gabrielino Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, Gabrielino Kizh, Tejon Indian Tribe, and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, all of whom have maintained and continue their connection and relationship with these lands.