In a year that saw wildfires devastate the communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades and burn more than 57,000 acres, including Sylmar hillsides, the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society is looking to collaborate with the city of Los Angeles to prevent a similar disaster from striking the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve.
The Sepulveda Basin is highly susceptible to fires, explained Conservation and Sustainability Co-chair Patricia Bates. Of the approximately 2,000-acre area, Bates estimates that about 600 acres – or 30% of the basin – could catch fire and burn. The brush and invasive plant species that grow within the basin are less fire-resistant than California native plants.
Also impacting the basin is the increasing number of homeless encampments that are there. Bates estimates that at least 300 homeless people currently live in the basin and some are dangerously setting fires.
“Most of those fires have been in what’s called the South Reserve, which is the area south of Burbank Boulevard near the dam,” said Bates. “At this point in the year, about 50% of that is burned. We’ve recently been getting fires set in the area north of Burbank Boulevard [and] east of Woodley [Avenue]. Then we’ve had some significant fires over in Bull Creek, and that area is a wildlife reserve.”
One fire on Aug. 2 burned about four acres, and another on Aug. 8 burned seven acres before the LA Fire Department (LAFD) extinguished it.
There have been larger, more devastating fires in the past. In September 2020, a grass fire burned through 20 acres and took approximately 100 firefighters a little more than three hours to extinguish the flames.
Bates said that one fire incinerated the wildlife reserve and, to this day, that area no longer has any tall sycamore or cottonwood trees. The remaining trees are only around 15 feet – not the 60- to 70-foot trees that were standing before the fire. She estimates it would take another 10 years before the younger trees reach that height.
To help combat the fires, the Audubon Society raised funds for Fire Station 88 in Sherman Oaks to buy a fire skid unit, which is a self-contained firefighting system that can be loaded into a pickup or trailer and taken to remote areas to fight fires in the basin.
But in addition to that, they’re exploring options to more efficiently remove the brush from the basin before larger, more devastating fires can occur.
Options to Clear the Brush
Currently, it’s been volunteers who have been clearing the brush and removing invasive species, but Bates said that it’s labor-intensive and requires a lot of volunteers. The Audubon Society has been considering other, more efficient methods, like using a controlled fire. However, that method utilizes a lot of equipment and could be expensive.
Another option is using goat herds. Other cities in California, including San Francisco, San Clemente, Palos Verdes and La Canada Flintridge, have used goats to clear brush and keep wildfires at bay. By Bates’ estimation, about 100 goats could clear a 30-acre area in about a month. But this option comes with its own set of issues.
Just as with a controlled burn, utilizing goats could be costly. Additionally, with so many encampments still present in the basin and people starting fires, it could be a hazard to the animals if they got trapped in a brush fire or if people began poaching them. Even if using goats did become a feasible option, Bates said they would have to wait until next year to use them.
The Audubon Society has been working with the California Native Plant Society on making one of these options a possibility. To do so, they need the cooperation of local officials and the Department of Recreation and Parks (Rec and Parks). However, for several years now, they’ve struggled to get an agreement going.
Bates said that the Audubon Society didn’t have a good relationship with former LA City Councilmember Nury Martinez, as previous attempts to start pilot programs using goats were resisted. In addition, trying to get a response from the city’s Rec and Parks department proved futile.
More recently, however, they’ve had a positive relationship with Councilmember Imelda Padilla, said Bates. Still, the Audubon Society needs the cooperation of Rec and Parks, which oversees the Sepulveda Basin, before an option can move forward. A request to use the goat farms has already been sent, but Bates said that the department has refused to respond. Without approval, relying on volunteers to remove the brush is currently the only option.
Regardless, whatever method is used, the hope is to reduce the risk of another fire that could put wildlife, the basin and even nearby homes in danger.
“Unfortunately, because it wasn’t a particularly wet winter, I’m afraid that we’re going to have a very bad season with [fires],” Bates said.
