Did State Park Recs worry about native vegetation, such as Braunton’s milkvetch, which prevented firefighters from fully extinguishing the Lachman Fire?
There was a rumor that California State sent a park representative on the early a.m. hours of the January 1 Lachman Fire to Temescal Trail Ridge by the Highlands. According to one report, the woman told firefighters about certain areas that had to be preserved from subsequent actions because of native vegetation. One person reported that the woman said a bulldozer would not be allowed on state land for firefighting purposes.
CTN was never able to substantiate that information. The importance is significant because the Palisades Fire is directly tied to the reignition of the Lachman Fire. An Elizabeth Vargas report New documents show California was notified of fire | Elizabeth Vargas Reports, showed that NewsNation reporter Rich McHugh through a public records request received the LAFD Call Logs.
According to the call records, at 1:46:53 a.m. it was noted that State Parks was sending a representative. At 3:19:56, it was noted that the rep would arrive in 45. One can assume that California was aware of the Lachman Fire and a representative had been sent.
According to a November 18 email to CTN Attorney Roger Behle said, “We are meeting with the State Attorney tomorrow to identify the Park Reps that were present.”
Why would a California State Parks representative need to be involved in a wildland fire suppression effort?
Residents do know that anytime they wanted to clear brush on state land, a permit was required at a cost to the resident, and a botanist was required onsite to oversee clearance to make sure that specific vegetation was cleared.
A recent example of highly regulated vegetation removal, was in 2019 when the L.A. Department of Water and Power tried to replace bout 220 aging wooden power poles that had been installed in 1933 and 1955, in Topanga State Park.
DWP was stopped when an amateur botanist reported that the federally endangered Brunton’s milkvetch plants had been trampled. (Braunton’s milkvetch is a perennial that lasts about three years and is a fire adapted species that typically requires heat or scarification to trigger dormant seed germination.) click here.
At the November 2020 California Coastal Commission (CCC) hearing, it was discovered that DWP did not have a permit, nor had it received Coastal Act authorization. A cease-and-desist order and consent restoration order was issued by the CCC. click here.
DWP was fined almost $2 million for destroying the plants. Of that money $272,500 went to California Department of Parks and Recreation and $1.1 million went to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for habitat restoration or land acquisition in the Santa Monica Mountains.
After the hearing, a resident wrote CTN “I was hiking today and noticed a thriving colony of Brauton’s Milkvetch by the side of that very spot where workers bulldozed some plants when they broadened the fire road.
“The plant may be officially endangered but it is clearly growing vigorously in the Santa Monica Mountains! What is done is done but the protection of these plants obviously cannot be used as an excuse for any further delay of the pole replacement project.”
In order to go forward with replacing aging poles with steel fire-resistant poles, DWP had to present a restoration plan to CCC. In June 2024, the plan was presented and approved.click here.
Neven Karlovac updated CTN “Nothing happened since [November 2020] through December of 2024, I am sure of it because I live in the Highlands and I am often on the Temescal Ridge trail and always looking at those vulnerable wooden poles.
“In January after the fire, the trail was closed, but today [late July 2025], I was back on the trail feeling a bit guilty because the trail is still officially closed.
“You can imagine my astonishment when I saw those beautiful huge steel poles stringing the landscape. I could only see maybe down to Skull Rock and in the other direction to the Hub but it is reasonable to assume that the whole SM section was replaced.”
CTN reached out to the California Coastal Commission, which confirmed that DWP had permits.
CTN reached out to State Parks and asked if DWP had a permit, and if it did when it was awarded and were there conditions.
California State Parks Information Officer Jo Biswas said that DWP did have permit to replace electrical poles in Topanga State Park, but to see the permit, the editor should file a public records request.
After six years and a required restoration plan, new fire-resistant power poles were placed in Topanga State Park after the Palisades Fire.
The wood on poles were replaced with metal poles after the fire, around April/May 2025, we were living in the highlands and you could see the helicopters in the sky dropping the metal poles onto the ridge , it took a number of days.
Regarding if a ranger was physically present with firefighters ?
There’s a picture circulating on “X” with the firefighters and the rangers on the hillside
So “endangered” vegetation takes precedence over fire safety for residents.
Good to know.