Fire Enlisted in Losing War With Tumbleweeds

Agricultural legend has it that the Antelope Valley was the gateway through which tumbleweeds arrived in California decades ago. Judging from opinions offered at the Great Tumbleweed Debate held there Thursday, the pesky weeds will still be rolling about the area for a long time.

County agriculture officials said they will stick to an unprecedented plan to burn up to 2,700 acres of tumbleweed-infested land in and around Lancaster and Palmdale. But they conceded that it is at best a short-term solution to this year’s bumper crop of tumbleweeds. They admitted it may unintentionally worsen the high desert’s erosion problems with blowing sand.

The decision by county agricultural officials to go ahead with the burning came after a 90-minute public hearing in Lancaster during which a county fire official said the burning really will not do much to stunt tumbleweed growth.