An unusually wet and warm winter is generating a “super bloom” of deadly mushrooms. Thirty-five people have been sickened from gathering and eating death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) so far this season, three have required liver transplants, three have died. The California Department of Public Health has taken the unprecedented step of requesting the public to avoid picking and eating wild mushrooms during this high-risk season when death cap mushrooms are abundant. So far, all of the incidents of poisoning have been in Northern and Central California, but the death cap and its equally toxic relative the Western destroying angel grow in the Santa Monica Mountains and are unusually abundant here, too, this year. Join us for a look at some local poisonous mushrooms, and please stay safe! Cover design by Urs Baur
The winter birds are here. Topanga gardens are alive with living gold—yellow-rump warblers, common yellow-throats, Lawrence’s and lesser goldfinches. All over the mountains, even in the Palisades Fire burn zone, everything is green and growing, and even the wildlife is returning. It will be a long time before the deer return—they depend on plants like ceanothus that take time to regrow, but the hawks and owls are back. We found the podgy round footprints of a bobcat and the delicate toe prints of a skunk on our last walk in the fire zone, and signs everywhere of new growth and renewal. Nature is healing. For humans the recovery is far slower.
On January 7, the Pacific Palisades community came together to observe the first anniversary of the Palisades Fire with a remembrance ceremony that honored the victims of the fire. Bagpipers accompanied a color guard procession to the Village Green, a new flag was dedicated, wreaths were presented to honor those lost in the fire, and bells rang out.
In Topanga, the anniversary was marked with a ceremony that focused on regeneration. The message of both events was one of resolution to move on, while not forgetting the loss and sacrifices of the past year.
Moving on is a Sisyphian undertaking. A recent report, “Burned, Sold, and Rebuilt? The Long Road to Recovery After California Wildfires,” released by Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy offers a grim picture.
“The information may not be news to those Malibu residents who lost their homes in the Woolsey Fire—with fewer than 50 percent rebuilt seven years later—but for the latest group of fire-affected in Malibu the report may be sobering,” writes reporter Judy Abel in the Malibu Times.
The report, “Burned, Sold, and Rebuilt? The Long Road to Recovery After California Wildfires,” finds that, based on data collected from the recovery process in other major fires, the actual timeline for rebuilding will be far longer than projected, potentially many years longer than desired or anticipated. The authors point to a host of problems, from insurance issues to declines in local tax revenues, and from the challenges of issuing permits and approvals for the rebuilding of hundreds of homes at the city and county level to labor shortages.
Persistence, determination, and stamina are required. This is going to be a very long marathon. Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health has received a grant to help residents impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires with individual and group counseling and support groups has received a grant that will allow it to continue offering support to Eaton and Palisades fire survivors.
LAist reports that the funds will be used to operate two new walk-in help centers in Altadena and Pacific Palisades through June that will offer not only counseling but classes like yoga to help fire survivors find peace and healing.
“‘[People] are more willing to come forward and to talk to a professional about some of the issues that they’re experiencing,” Miriam Brown, deputy director of the Emergency Outreach and Triage Division at the Department of Mental Health, told LAist reporter Robert Garrova.
“At first, survivors she spoke with were just looking to meet basic needs like clothing and shelter,” he writes. “But she said that’s shifting. ‘A lot of anxiety, a lot of depression,’ Brown said.”
The Palisades Fire Collaborative center is located at 15247 La Cruz Dr. Los Angeles, 90272. The Eaton Fire Collaborative is at 540 W. Woodbury Rd. Altadena, 91001. Both centers are scheduled to be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents who are struggling to cope with the aftermath of the fires are encouraged to call the fire support line 24/7 at (833) 659-0600 to talk with a mental health professional.
For survivors of any kind of disaster, the hardest part is the ordeal that begins after the adrenaline from the actual disaster stops pumping and the news crews have gone home. The Palisades Fire was the most destructive in Los Angeles history and among the five worst in California’s history. Recovering from it is going to be a long process, for everyone the fire impacted directly or indirectly.
Those who lost their homes and loved ones are still grieving, and everyone in and around the burn zone is grappling with ongoing road closures and delays, and concerns over next year’s fire risk, but one year later the hills are green again instead of ashy gray, the birds are singing in the canyon once again, and at night the great horned owls can be heard gravely discussing their plans for nest building. Spring is coming, bringing with it the promise of hope.
Stay safe, be well.
