In a fight between fireplace safety and protection, California’s eco-bureaucrats halted a wildfire prevention venture near the Pacific Palisades to defend an endangered tree called Braunton’s milkvetch. The project, initiated by the Los Angeles department of water and power ( LADWP ) in 2019, aimed to replace nearly 100-year-old power line poles in Topanga State Park with steel poles, widen fire-access lanes, and install wind- and fire-resistant power lines since the area was deemed to have an “elevated fire risk”.
The LADWP stated at the time,” This project may help maintain power reliability and safety while helping to reduce light threats.” These wooden beams were installed between 1933 and 1955, but they have since passed the end of their valuable services.
However, the project was put on hold within days after a novice naturalist complained about the harm being done to some of the resort’s Braunton’s milkvetch while the work was being done. According to a report from The New York Post, the city was accused by the state of carrying out the job without proper permits and ordered by the California Coastal Commission to change the project and restore the unusual plant.
The job saved about 200 Braunton’s milkvetch crops, which have possible been torched in the new Palisades Fire that consumed Topanga Canyon and almost 24, 000 hectares of LA’s most sought-after real estate. Wildfires, however, are typically essential for milkvetch germination, creating a vast new habitat for dormant seeds to grow into a fresh generation of the rare shrub.
25 dead in LA wildfire
As of Monday morning, there were 25 confirmed fatalities resulting from the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires. The Palisades Fire, the most devastating blaze in Los Angeles history, has claimed at least eight lives and destroyed 5, 000 homes. According to the Los Angeles County sheriff Robert Luna and the medical examiner, 17 people died in the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
Trump and Newsom debate the border between wildfire safety and conservation.
Governor Gavin Newsom and US President-elect Donald Trump have been debating California’s approach to wildfire safety versus conservation in the wake of the wildfire.
By preventing his 2020 federal order to divert water runoff from Northern California to southern reservoirs, Trump accused Newsom of placing a value on the safety of “worthless fish” over the safety of Californians. Conservationists criticized Newsom for claiming it would harm the endangered delta smelt and other native fish.
Trump and the governor have traded barbs about California’s water access, with the governor threatening to halt any state aid going to the state. Newsom called Trump’s accusations “pure fiction”, with a spokesperson saying, as quoted by The New York Post,” The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need”.
California’s water supplies have been scrutinized in the wake of the fires, particularly after some fire hydrants in the city ran dry as firefighters battled the flames and the pressure was frequently low for what water they had.
