Brush To Be Cleared Along Rustic Creek This Week

A fallen branch and dead leaves will be some of the brush cleared this week from the sides of Rustic Creek.

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

The Canyon Alliance and Boca Neighborhood Association have teamed up to provide brush clearance and tree trimming along both sides of Rustic Creek.

The work, which will center on the three blocks above West Channel Road, is scheduled for Oct. 28 and 29, and traffic should be able to maneuver past the workers and equipment, according to David Jackson, an area resident, who is coordinating the project.

The E. Berumen Tree Service & Landscaping Company will remove dead plant material and trim overgrown bushes and trees on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jackson said. The Alliance has provided $4,800 for the endeavor, while Boca Neighborhood Association is contributing $3,000 to reduce fire danger in the area.

“We were really lucky that this brush didn't catch on fire and just run down the whole length of the canyon and then light up everything in its way” during the Palisades Fire, Jackson said. “I feel like everyone really understands the threat in a much more personal way now than they did five years ago, where it was a bit more of an abstraction.”

Five years ago was the last time brush clearance and tree trimming occurred along this section of the channel, Jackson said. At that time, residents along Rustic and Sycamore paid for the effort. Boca Neighborhood Association Treasurer Wes Hough said that the association’s recent $3,000 brush clearance donation was also raised from this group of neighbors.

Both the city and county have declined repeated resident requests to address the overgrown brush, which is on property owned by the city, Jackson said. The county operates the concrete flood channel that lies between the overgrowth.

“The city maintained that they didn’t plant the trees, so it’s not their responsibility,” Jackson said. “The county said, ‘It’s not on our property.’”

Since the last clearing, the brush along the concrete channel of the 300-500 blocks of Rustic has become particularly thick in places, Jackson said. Further up the channel, the trees and bushes along the wood plank-lined portion are owned and maintained by private property owners.

The landscape company’s workers will cut much of the tall bush down to a couple of inches, while they also plan to trim dead branches from the trees and cart away fallen brush, Jackson said.

“It’s somewhat for beautification, but it’s mostly for fire control,” Jackson said. “There’s no irrigation system … so some trees flourish because they're older and they have deep roots, but basically unless neighbors tend to the area across from their homes, smaller plants, many of them invasive, dry out.”

A tree with dead needles along Rustic Creek.