Final day for comments on Angeles National Forest environmental study

They are fragrant and lovely to the untrained observer...in reality, they are invaders, dominating the landscape. Known alternately as Spanish Broom or Scotch Broom, they are arguably the most visible flowering plant in the Angeles, and their presence is no accident. Their origins in the forest harken to a time when it was thought they would beauty and stabilize the highway corridors...and so they were planted all along the roadways by county and state agencies.

Today we understand them differently. They are overtaking the natural ecosystem of the Angeles, and the Station Fire merely gave them more room to do so. They are changing more than the visual landscape; they force out native plant species in every habitat that they infest, and they infest them all.

Invasive species alter wilderness landscapes forever. Six years after the Station Fire, the U.S. Forest Service now has a draft EA (Environmental Assessment) in review for management options on Broom and other invasive species. The comment period for that document closes today.

A postcard sent in April 2015 seeks the input of interested parties and provides a link to the document and an email address for comments:

Dear Interested Party: the Angeles National Forest (ANF) is seeking input and requests your comments on the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed ANF Invasive Weed Management Plan. The draft EA with a detailed description and project area maps is available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=46486

Hard copies are available via regular mail. Comments are requested by May 22, 2015 and may be provided to Janet Nickerman, at (626) 353-8439 or jnickerman@fs.fed.us