PASADENA GLEN : Volunteers Sought for Erosion-Control Work

The Forest Preservation Society of Southern California is seeking volunteers to help place erosion-control blankets on 70 acres of Pasadena Glen.

Forest Preservation officials said the blankets, made from straw, coconut and polypylene webbing, will stop mud from sliding toward homes when it rains.

Volunteers should go to Eaton Canyon Nature Center at 8 a.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays for the next four to five weeks. Wear hiking boots, warm clothing and bring water and a lunch. Four-wheel drive vehicles and pickup trucks are needed.

Thanks in part to erosion-control efforts, the fire-ravaged Pasadena Glen area survived recent rains intact, but homeowners fear stronger torrents could cause serious mudslide damage.

Bob Dean, a U.S. Soil Conservation official, said a recently built barrier at the end of Grambling Lane in Kinneloa blocked nine feet of debris from plunging into the Glen, and sandbag stacks and newly dredged channels kept water and mud from flowing off-course.

For information on volunteering: (818) 794-9268.