Oct. 18, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: The choice by Los Angeles County to bulldoze, chain-saw and burn mature chaparral within the Santa Monica Mountains within the title of fireplace prevention is counterproductive and dangerous (“Man, machine and mutton: Inside the plan to prevent the next SoCal fire disaster,” Oct. 14).
Counterproductive as a result of outdated development chaparral and sage scrub is less flammable than the flashy, invasive, non-native weeds that can inevitably substitute these native shrubs and herbaceous vegetation as soon as this intervention occurs — exacerbating fireplace danger. And dangerous as a result of the vegetation themselves, which have intrinsic worth and that take up carbon, can be destroyed, and wildlife can be killed or pressured to maneuver to ever-shrinking, threatened habitat.
Why is the state utilizing valuable public {dollars} to extend our danger, exacerbate local weather change and dominate and destroy nature?
Tessa Charnofsky, West Hills
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To the editor: Thanks for reporting on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy granting greater than $3 million of our tax {dollars} to grind up what little is left of our native habitat within the Santa Monica Mountains. This ill-conceived undertaking, supported by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, has been fast-tracked with out giving the scientific group and the general public the prospect to weigh in. As Dan Cooper signifies, we can not imagine that paving over (or chopping down) your entire system will present a viable resolution.
Eradicating invasive grasses with grazing goats: advantageous. Creating huge gasoline breaks: a waste of money and time.
Snowdy Dodson, Van Nuys
