REMOVAL OF INVASIVE PLANTS (RIP)
Wildfire Recovery and Mitigation
Led by Jordan Corral, the Removal of Invasive Plants team of Resilient Palisades was formed months before the 2025 Palisades Fire. Its purpose was to reduce invasive vegetation that threatens native ecosystems and contributes to wildfire risk in our community.
Then the fire came.
Today, our work has taken on even greater urgency. We are helping the landscape recover from the Palisades Fire while working to reduce the conditions that can contribute to the next one.
We are recovering from the last fire while mitigating the next.
Sara Marti, Dany Godoy, Jordan Corral, and Los Angeles Regional Fire Safety Council volunteers Bernice and Karen with seven bags of castor bean seed clusters removed from Temescal Canyon Gateway Park.
Recovery and Mitigation Go Hand in Hand
After wildfire, landscapes change quickly. Fire creates large areas of disturbed ground, and invasive plants take advantage of those conditions. In the nearly two years since the Palisades Fire, we have seen that happen across the landscape.
Potrero Canyon before the Palisades Fire, eight months after the fire, and fourteen months after the fire, showing how quickly vegetation can return to a burned landscape.
Dense stands of castor bean, giant reed, pampas grass, black mustard, fennel and other invasive species have emerged across burned and disturbed areas, competing with returning native vegetation and changing the structure of the landscape.
In September 2026, California proclaimed a state of emergency to prepare for an El Niño season forecast to be very strong, with the potential for repeated heavy rainfall this winter. For a landscape already profoundly disturbed by the Palisades Fire, that rain could trigger an extraordinary explosion of plant growth.
The rain will create an enormous opportunity for native plants to recover, but it will also accelerate the growth and spread of invasive species. University of California researchers note that invasive plants rapidly reestablish after wildfire, and recent UC guidance specifically points to increased invasive plant growth observed during past El Niño conditions.
The Scale
of the Challenge
With the resources currently being deployed statewide, we cannot eliminate invasive plants. Their seeds are already widespread, most species regenerate aggressively, and new growth will continue to emerge. At the current scale, our work can slow their spread, prevent invasives from gaining more ground, and give native plants a better chance to recover and compete.
Changing that trajectory will take much more. It will require sustained funding, significantly more people in the field, repeated treatment and maintenance of restored areas, and a community wide commitment to protecting the landscape over many years. The scale of the challenge is enormous, but so is the opportunity to change what grows back.
The Mount Holyoke Bluffs just two months apart, showing how quickly lush winter growth can become dry vegetation.
Our team selectively removes invasive plants, prevents invasive seeds from spreading, protects native plants that survived or are naturally returning, and restores native vegetation in areas previously dominated by invasives.
Why Not Just Give Up?
Invasive plants do not simply become part of the landscape. When they are allowed to spread unchecked, they displace native habitat, consume limited water, alter waterways, increase fire risk and become dramatically more expensive to control.
The Santa Clara River shows what that trajectory can look like. What begins as a manageable infestation can become a watershed scale problem requiring years of work and over $100 million dollars to address.
The longer we wait, the harder and more expensive recovery becomes.
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN INVASIVE PLANTS TAKE OVER
California Invasive Plant Council found that by 2011, about $71 million had already been spent controlling Arundo in central and Southern California, and estimated another $124 million would be needed to control the remaining mapped infestation. The report specifically concluded that early control is more cost effective.
The current Upper Los Angeles River Watershed Arundo Eradication Program is budgeted at $12.36 million to address roughly 80 acres across 72 stream miles.
Why Removing
Invasive Plants is Critical
Wildfire Resilience
Invasive plants change the amount, arrangement and continuity of vegetation across a landscape. Invasive grasses and other species dry quickly and contribute to conditions that allow fire to spread fast through landscapes.
Removing invasive vegetation and restoring appropriate native plant communities is one part of building healthier, more fire resilient landscapes.
Biodiversity
Invasive plants compete with native vegetation for space, sunlight, water and nutrients. When invasive species dominate an area, native plants disappear along with the habitat and food sources that local wildlife depends on.
Restoring native plant communities supports insects, pollinators, birds and other wildlife that evolved alongside them.
Water and Watersheds
Many invasive plants consume substantial amounts of water and alter riparian and watershed ecosystems, like what happened along the Santa Clara river.
Removing invasive species and restoring vegetation suited to Southern California's climate protects watershed health and reduces competition with native plants for limited resources.
Soil and Landscape Health
Some invasive plants are allelopathic, meaning they release chemicals that suppress the germination or growth of other plants. This changes soil conditions and gives the invasive species an advantage, making it harder for native plants to return even after the invasive plants are removed.
Other invasive species can alter soil nutrients, microbial communities and other ecological processes in ways that favor their continued dominance.
Healthy native plant communities do much more than make a landscape beautiful. Their roots, relationships with soil organisms and interactions with wildlife are part of a functioning ecosystem.
What We Do
RIP combines hands on removal with restoration, monitoring, education and community action.
Our work includes:
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Selectively removing invasive plants while protecting existing native vegetation
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Cutting and collecting invasive seed clusters before they can disperse
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Returning to previously treated areas to manage regrowth
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Planting California native species in areas previously dominated by invasive plants
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Supporting native plants that are returning naturally after the fire
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Identifying invasive plants on residential properties and providing free action plans
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Helping residents identify appropriate native replacements
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Organizing volunteer removal and restoration days
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Educating residents about invasive plants, native habitat and wildfire resilience
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Working with community organizations, environmental experts and public agencies to expand restoration efforts
Removing a plant once does not mean the work is finished. Seeds remain in the soil, roots resprout, and disturbed land can be reinvaded.
Restoration means we keep coming back.
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20+ properties served at no cost
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Thousands of gallons of invasive vegetation removed
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Hundreds of pounds of invasive seed collected
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Dozens of youth and community volunteers engaged
Restoration in Action
Since the Palisades Fire, RIP has grown into an active community restoration program working across Pacific Palisades and beyond.
Our team has removed thousands of gallons of invasive vegetation, intercepted invasive seed before it could spread, protected recovering native plants, planted California native species and brought students, families and community partners into the work.
Removal of Invasive Plants partnered with local Scouts for hands on ecological restoration, removing invasive vegetation and making space for native plants to recover in Pacific Palisades.
From Temescal Canyon Gateway Park to Twelve Trees Memorial, local schools, residential properties and sites in the Santa Monica Mountains, restoration means returning again and again.
Request Your Free Assessment
Our team offers free invasive plant assessments for Pacific Palisades properties.
We can visit your property to identify invasive plants, explain why particular species are a concern and help you develop an action plan for removal. We can also suggest California native plants that may be appropriate replacements.
The assessment and action plan are completely free.
If you would like additional help carrying out the removal, Resilient Palisades may also be able to provide a quote for the work. There is no obligation to use our removal services.
Resilient Palisades is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Fees from this program support our environmental restoration, community education and nonprofit programs.
How We Manage Invasive Plants
There is no single method that works for every invasive species.
Our approach depends on the plant, its stage of growth, the surrounding habitat, terrain and conditions at the site.
Hand Removal
For smaller plants and sensitive restoration areas, hand pulling and digging allow us to selectively remove invasive plants while minimizing disturbance to surrounding native vegetation.
Mechanical Removal
For larger or more established plants, we use appropriate hand tools and mechanical equipment. The method depends on the species and site.
Seed Removal
Sometimes the most important plant is the one that never gets a chance to grow.
We cut and collect seed heads and seed clusters from priority invasive species before they disperse. This has become an important part of our castor bean work.
Restoration
Where appropriate, we plant California native species in areas previously dominated by invasives. We also protect native plants that are already returning naturally.
Monitoring and Follow Up
Removal is only the beginning. Previously treated areas need to be monitored because invasive plants can resprout or emerge from existing seed banks.
Successful restoration requires repeated care.
Powered by People
RIP began as a volunteer effort, and volunteers remain at the heart of this work.
No experience is required. We provide guidance, and volunteer activities vary based on the site and the physical demands of the work.
Volunteers may help remove smaller invasive plants, collect seeds, plant natives, care for restoration areas, document plants or support other aspects of a workday.
There are ways to contribute without tackling the hardest terrain.
A few hours can make a real difference. Regular volunteers can help transform an entire landscape.
How This Work Is Funded
Resilient Palisades is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our invasive plant removal and habitat restoration work is supported through charitable donations, grants, partnerships and volunteer service.
Volunteer labor allows us to accomplish an extraordinary amount, but volunteers alone cannot address the scale of invasive growth across our recovering landscape.
Funding helps us purchase tools, protective equipment, native plants and restoration supplies. It also allows us to bring trained and paid field assistance into areas where the terrain, scale or physical demands of removal make volunteer work impractical.
As our landscape enters a period of rapid post-fire growth, expanding this work will require substantially greater investment.
Every additional resource means more land we can reach, more invasive plants we can stop from spreading and more native habitat we can help recover.
Learn More About Invasive Plants & Post-Fire Recovery
Learn more about invasive plants, native habitat restoration and wildfire recovery from trusted California conservation and research organizations.
Invasive Plants & Native Restoration:
California Invasive Plant Council
Theodore Payne Foundation: Invasive Plants of Southern California
Calscape: Find California Native Plants for Your Location.
Wildfire & Post Fire Recovery:
Theodore Payne Foundation: Wildfire FAQ
A Silent Threat: Invasive Plants in Pacific Palisades After the Fire
El Niño & Current Conditions:
UC Weed Science: El Niño and Weed Management
UC's current explanation of what the developing El Niño could mean for invasive vegetation. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
California's 2026 to 2027 El Niño State of Emergency
Questions about RIP, volunteer restoration days or invasive plant assessments?
Jordan Corral, Removal of Invasive Plants Team Lead
jordan@resilientpalisades.org