Meet Marlyn Barajas, the Habitat Authority's Program Analyst

Peppergrass Restoration

Over the past two years, as part of efforts funded through a Rivers and Mountain Conservancy Wildfire Prevention grant, we’ve removed flashy fuels along Peppergrass Trail in Whittier at Hellman Park in anticipation of planting the area with native habitat this winter. Compared to annual weeds, native perennial plants have high moisture content (preferable from a fire prevention perspective) and they increase habitat value for wildlife—a win-win for the Preserve and the local community. In February, the Habitat Authority’s native habitat restoration contractor planted cactus pads and hand seeded the 0.63-acre area with a mix of native plant species, all of which were collected from the Preserve. These activities were perfectly timed to coincide with recent rain events, which will get these seeds and cactus pads established in the absence of manual irrigation.