Fire clearance given the brushoff

Re “Weed whackers wanted,” editorial, April 25

This editorial suggested that freeway-adjacent brush must be cleared. The primary example given was the brush alongside the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass and the 110 Freeway near Mount Washington. This suggestion is rash and irresponsible. Both areas offer the city a taste of what many citizens crave: natural open space. Travel through the Sepulveda Pass and one travels through a hillside relatively lush with native chaparral; likewise, the 110 near Mount Washington gives one the sense of traveling through a riparian wilderness.

While as a city we fight to bring our river back to its natural state -- a natural state destroyed in the early 20th century by those in fear of a putative apocalyptic flood -- I find it tragically ironic that now we want to clear away all the native brush gracing the sides of our freeways because of a putative brush fire.

ANTHONY FORDIANI

Los Angeles

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The annual or semiannual weed whacking of overgrown freeway shrubs is a costly, short-term remedy to L.A.’s larger problem of maintaining sustainable public landscapes. Perhaps it is the choice of plants that is the problem. On difficult-to-maintain freeway slopes, it would seem to make sense to choose plants more for their ability to stay low and use less water than for their ornamental qualities. An alternative is to switch to native or indigenous plants, which are naturally adapted to L.A.’s predominantly dry climate. Other cities in arid environments, such as Claremont, Davis and Santa Barbara, have used native plants effectively in their public areas.

By working with our climate instead of against it, and using plants that are adapted to our cycles of drought and deluge, we can achieve a landscape that is unique to this region while minimizing fire hazards associated with frequent watering.

SCOTT SHIMATSU

Alhambra

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What’s wrong with using inmates? Nonviolent, minimum-security inmates would be a good fit for several reasons. Reward them with incentives for early release or credit toward fines, etc., thus creating an environment more conducive to rehabilitation than the one of being locked up. The inmates would be getting healthy exercise while helping to solve the weed abatement problem and possibly a myriad of other necessary projects requiring a similar labor force.

DICK MCCALLSON

Huntington Beach