Plan To Build 85 Miles Of Fire Breaks Features Goats
Written by 991KBU on February 28, 2019
About 50 people showed up last night to hear Santa Monica Mountains resident … and development advocate Don Schmitz … ask for support for his fire protection plan.
Schmitz is again pushing for fire breaks to be rebuilt or extended in the mountains … and also for an ambitious system of water tanks … pipes and sprinklers.
And goats … lots of goats … to munch on vegetation in the rebuilt fire breaks.
About 85 miles of fire breaks would be put in along ridges … to contain fires to canyons … and prevent a sheet of fire from hitting Malibu.
The reaction???
Skeptical support.
Take Encinal Highlands resident Gayle Gibson Howard.
NEWSCART 75069 GAYLE GIBSON HOWARD
“I think Mister Schmitz’s plan is perfectly doable, and I think if we could get past some of the the red tape and bureaucracy to get it done, we could get it done.
“And we could save lives, we could save homes, and most importantly we could save Malibu.”
And David Sturgess … of Cornell.
NEWSCART 75070 DAVID STURGESS OF CORNELL
“It seems very sensible.
“And I think the point Don makes, that it’s a matter of doing what we already do, namely, we create water breaks and then put water in those strategic areas, and this is sort of formal way to do that, seems very sensible.”
The fire breaks would probably need Congressional action … and approval from the National Park Service and M R C A.
The next steps … Schmitz says … is for popular support to galvanize and press local officials to campaign … for the wet fire breaks in the local mountains.
