California environmental officials have halted a wildfire prevention project near the Pacific Palisades to protect endangered shrubs.
This brings attention to the latest conflict between fire safety and conservation in California in the wake of the devastating outbreak of the Palisades Fire, the most devastating fire in Los Angeles history, which burned through the very same area. .
In 2019, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began replacing utility poles on a nearly 100-year-old power line that runs through Topanga State Park, but the federally endangered Braunton milkvetch plant was trampled. Conservationists were furious and the project was canceled within days. process.
The goal of this project was to improve fire safety in the Pacific Palisades region. To do this, they replaced wooden poles with steel, widened firebreaks in the area, and installed wind- and fire-resistant power lines. All this was done after the area was identified as a fire hazard. “Increased risk of fire” According to the LA Times.
“This project will help ensure power reliability and safety while reducing the threat of wildfires,” LADWP said at the time. “These wooden columns were installed between 1933 and 1955 and are now at the end of their useful life.”
But an amateur botanist who was hiking through the park during the work saw damage to some of the park's Braunton milkvetch trees, a flowering shrub with only a few thousand remaining in the wild. After filing a complaint, the project was completely halted. Court News Service reported.
Instead of fire-proofing the park, the city, which the state claimed had done the work without proper permits, ended up paying a $2 million fine and withdrawing the entire project from the California Coastal Commission. Ordered to replant rare herbs.
This effort saved approximately 200 milkvetch trees in Braunton. The wildfire that tore through Topanga Canyon likely destroyed nearly all of it, including nearly 24,000 acres of some of L.A.'s most sought-after real estate.
The blaze had killed at least eight people and destroyed 5,000 homes, but was still only 14% contained as of Monday.
It is not clear whether steel poles were installed.
But the good news for milk vetch is that it usually requires a wildfire to germinate. This means that dormant seeds now have vast new habitat for a new crop of rare shrubs.
In a chaotic week that has claimed at least 24 lives, leaders in California and the city of Los Angeles have come under intense scrutiny over their approaches to wildfire safety and conservation. The most notable came from President-elect Donald Trump, who accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of prioritizing people's health. 'Worthless fish' over safety of Californians.
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called smelt, but…he didn't care about Californians,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, adding that he wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called smelt, but he didn't care about Californians. He accused Newsom of blocking a 2020 federal order to divert water to waterways. Reservoir on the south side.
The order was halted just days after President Trump issued it after Newsom responded to criticism from conservationists who said it would harm endangered minnow-like fish and other native fish. .
Delta smelt were once an important part of the local California ecosystem, but are now virtually extinct. In other words, delta smelt still exist, but their numbers are so low that they no longer have an impact on the environment.
The two politicians have been at loggerheads over access to California's water since Newsom filed a lawsuit seeking to block Trump's order, with Trump threatening to return to the state in September if the governor doesn't relent. The government has vowed to block support for wildfires.
In response, Newsom said Trump's accusations are “complete fiction.”
“The governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure our firefighters have all the resources they need,” a spokesperson previously told the Post.
But California's water supply has come under scrutiny amid the fires, especially after firefighters' efforts to extinguish the fires drained some hydrants in the city, often reducing water supply pressure.
Most notably, the county-run Santa Ynez Reservoir in the heart of the Pacific Palisades, which can hold 117 million gallons, was empty when the fire broke out last week and has been in operation since about February 2024. There is no such thing.
However, Governor Newsom told NBC News that all of the state's reservoirs in Southern California were “completely full” when the fires started.
Last week, the governor announced an investigation into why the reservoir was empty.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it is believed the fire started on a trail in the adjacent Temescal Gateway Park, not far from Topanga State Park.
Neither LADWP nor the California Coastal Commission responded to requests for comment.
