Desert Sun reports on UC natural resources conference

Keith Matheny of the Desert Sun joined UC natural resources advisors, specialists and professors on a field trip to view the aftermath of the Paradise Fire, where 3,000 acres burned in 2005, and the Sawtooth-Millard Complex Fire, where 35,000 acres burned in 2006.

Matheny noted in the article that much of the plant regrowth is invasive species that are threatening the recovery of native plants and creating more fuel for wildfires in the future.

The article quoted Dee Zeller, a naturalist at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve:

"From 2005 to now, you had to hunt to find Sahara mustard. Now you don't have to hunt. We can spend a lot of time hacking it out of here, and we will. But it's a no-win proposition."

The print version of the article, prominantly displayed on front page of the local news section, is quite a bit longer than the story posted on the Desert Sun Web site.

It includes information about research by UC Riverside professor Edie Allen on nitrogen deposition and its impact on wildfire risk. Allen studies the nitrogen that is deposited on wildland from air pollution.

"The exotic grasses are here. We're not going to get rid of them," Allen is quoted. "What we want to stop is allowing them to be so abundant that the native species can't exist any more. And spreading around fertilizer in the form of air pollution is one way to make them spread."

Read more