Greening Griffith Park

MONTHS AFTER the disastrous wildfires of autumn 1993 — in Malibu, Laguna Beach and Altadena — a strange but beautiful thing happened. Amid the bare, scorched hillsides, unfamiliar bushes sprouted. All along the length of their branches, cup-shaped lavender flowers blossomed.

The showy shrubbery was bush mallow, and it’s one of many fire followers — plants that can lie dormant for decades, only to reappear after a fire. Over a quarter of a century or so, pushier chaparral will crowd out the bush mallow, which will wait, once again, for its chance to bloom.

Bush mallow is just one particularly pretty reason why Griffith Park managers should think carefully before starting any aggressive replanting or reseeding after this month’s 820-acre fire.

California brush isn’t just finely adapted to drought; it’s adept at coming back from wildfires, usually within a few years. Fires sparked by lightning were once part of the natural cycle and helped fertilize the soil. Native Americans used to set brush fires regularly, in part to clear undergrowth. But dense development near wildlands changed people’s view of brush fires — they now are seen as extraordinary threats to our homes and safety.

On the heels of the Griffith Park fire, some city officials called for immediate replanting, as well as the reseeding of hillsides to prevent landslides after rains. But unlike after the 1993 fires, the rainy season is months away. There’s time for a more nuanced approach, picking only the hills where slides would cause major damage and blocking soil movement with hay bales, netting and mulch. Seeding is more likely to introduce exotic grasses that choke out native plants and give them less chance to reestablish themselves.

Like the naturalists who are waiting to see whether this month’s Catalina Island fire restores or disrupts the local ecology, park officials should err on the side of benign inaction, except where necessary to protect homes and lives.

Some restoration might be needed, especially if such invasive plants as the ubiquitous mustard start taking over. But to the extent possible, the city should give nature a chance to renew Griffith Park. Even a blackened oak tree can suddenly send off green shoots. What looks like a dead hillside might, with minimal intervention, prove that an abundance of life lies just beneath the char.