So little time remains. The ecological clock is ticking and yet we stand idle. Winter storms are upon us. The rainy season now looms on the western horizon, threatening to wash away what precious little topsoil remains in the fire scarred landscape of LA. The wildlands of Topanga and Temescal and Eaton Canyon lie before us like an apocalyptic wasteland.  

The very nature we love and embrace cries out for restoration. 

But where is the restoration? Where are our leaders and authorizing agencies? Where is the Forest Service and the EPA, where’s CalFire and the State Parks, Where’s the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Environmental Protection Agency? 

Acting now could save what precious soil remains, what few roots have life, what few seeds are actually viable. Planting trees, sowing grasses, and improving the soil now will take advantage of whatever good rain we get. Acting now will give the wildland vegetation a jumpstart, a possible new beginning before the searing summer heat.

But not acting now will risk everything, adding further abuse to an already battered dying landscape.  

It's not that we don’t have the money. Last year California voters approved 60 billion dollars for just this cause—wildfire restoration.

Yes, losing a home with all the personal memories is tragic and devastating, but homes will be rebuilt. But losing an ecosystem as grand and diverse as the wildlands of LA may quite easily be irrevocable, unless we begin restoration now. 

To Governor Newsom and the countless directors and managers of federal and state agencies, to all those who could act now, who have the power, the money, and the support to act now, we say yes, act now, begin the restoration of our wildlands. There is no time to waste.