UCCE workshop covered in LA Times

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UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor Sabrina Drill planned a Santa Clarita Valley workshop on fire resistant vegetation long before the Southern California firestorm of 2007, but the severity of the disaster brought increased attention to her work.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Deborah Schoch covered the Nov. 3 event for the Sunday paper and quoted Drill extensively about fire hazards introduced when plants have been brought to Southern California from other locales.

Some of the non-native plants, unaccustomed to LA's hot summers, dry up and become fire hazards, Drill said, according to the article. Others, like eucalyptus, contain flammable oil. Some introduced plants overrun meadows and canyons, crowding out native vegetation.

Drill and other speakers at the workshop urged homeowners close to wild areas to avoid invasive species and to remove flammable vegetation from 100 feet or more around their homes, according to the article. They should remove dead leaves and other debris promptly.

"Think about maintenance, maintenance, maintenance," Drill said.

The article closed with a notation that the UCCE "Safe Landscapes" workshop will be repeated Nov. 17 in Malibu and Dec. 1 in Rolling Hills Estates. More information is at http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Natural_Resources/Wildland_Fire.htm

Sabrina Drill