Reporter Alexandra Applegate:  

Reporting on, or even hearing about, climate change and its consequences can often feel hopeless. But when I looked into how invasive plants are making fires in the Santa Monica Mountains worse, I was surprised to find a lot of hope.

Those plants have overrun the mountains, trapping them in a negative feedback loop: More fires pave the way for more invasive plants to grow, which leads to more fires, and on and on.

But several conservation groups are getting their hands dirty — literally — and are trying to plant native species back to interrupt that loop. 

I asked conservationists: Did that ever feel like a losing battle? And all of them said no. As one person put it, “Planting a tree is planting hope."

Invasive plants make fires worse. Can they be stopped?

Settlers brought nonnative plants, like black mustard and tree tobacco, to SoCal centuries ago to feed cattle or for landscaping. But these species are not used to this drought-ridden climate. They have shallow roots and dry out quickly, becoming a tinderbox just waiting for a spark. 

In contrast, native plants can typically store water through the dry summer, making them less of a fire hazard. When a blaze breaks out, invasives can quickly get a foothold in the burn scars and choke out any chance for natives to recover. 

Now, more than a third of the Santa Monica Mountains have converted to invasive plants, compared to just 4% in 2014.

To turn back the clock, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund (SMMF) is growing more than 23,000 native plants at two small seed farms in Paramount Ranch and Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa. Farming these native seeds will significantly increase the team’s supply and help rapidly scale up restoration efforts in the mountains, says restoration ecologist Joey Algiers.

Millions more acres of CA land now under ‘high’ fire risk: CalFire maps

CalFire released the last of its updated fire hazard severity maps on Monday, showing a 3.5 million acre expansion of Southern California’s zones. The color-coded maps indicate how much of the state is fire-prone and how intensely a fire might burn. The maps only cover, however, areas where local fire departments are responsible for fighting blazes. 

Using climate, geographic, and weather data, CalFire split an area’s fire risk into one of three categories: "moderate," "high," and "very high." In LA County, areas deemed "very high" jumped by 30%. In total, California now has 3,626 square miles identified as fire risk zones — an area nearly twice the size of Delaware.

These maps are referenced in nearly 50 state codes, including those that address highways, health, safety, and construction. Most importantly, they are used to determine what areas should be required to follow certain fire safety regulations, like having fire-resistant windows or keeping brush away from homes.

Poppies aren’t popping: Why a superbloom won’t happen this year

For Southern California, "winter showers bring spring flowers" usually means millions of California poppies turn the hills and deserts orange. Mid-March is peak season for the Golden State flower. 

"In a really big poppy year, you'll come over a hillside up from, say, Los Angeles, through one of the canyons, and you'll crest the hill. From miles away, the reflection of the sun hitting those orange petals creates this incredibly, almost violent orange glow that you have to use sunglasses to look at," Callista Turner, who works at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster. 

However, don’t expect a "superbloom" phenomenon this time around. That’s due to insufficient rain to support plant growth. This year’s been one of the driest winters California has had in the past century. If you look at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve’s live cam right now, it’s very bare.

Still, we’re set up for better years to come. That’s because fewer tourists means fewer people trampling poppy paths. That gives the soil a chance to recover. Several dry years in a row also means invasive plants can’t flourish either. It’s like a big reset button.

Altadena mosque was destroyed but Ramadan traditions go on

Masjid Al-Taqwa was the first mosque in the Altadena-Pasadena area when it was founded by Black Muslims. Over the decades, it became known for a multicultural congregation that varied between 50 to 200 people. However, it burned down in the Eaton Fire. 

And so, this Ramadan, the community is using the facilities at New Horizon School in Pasadena for their daily iftar, the meal eaten at dusk to break fast. After their Eid al-Fitr celebration at the end of the month of Ramadan, they’ll be looking for their next temporary home to hold Jummah, a weekly Friday prayer. Then they’ll be focused on rebuilding a permanent home for their mosque.

Delores Abdus-Shakoor is one of the adults helping prepare the mosque’s children for the Eid al-Fitr celebration at the end of the month of Ramadan. She also takes donations from the congregation to buy every child a gift. Despite the heavy losses experienced by this community, people gave enough money to continue the tradition. "This has been a blessing," says Abdus-Shakoor.

Raniyah Copeland, mom of three, adds, "[The kids are] seeing that it's not just about the kind of physical location, but it really is about the community. It's about your spirit, and your heart, and that can go anywhere with you."

Baobab trees, spiritual deities, US-Mexico confluence: Latest art in LA

Independent culture critic and KCRW Art Insider newsletter author Carolina Miranda gives a rundown of three exhibitions worth seeing now: 

"Charles Gaines: Numbers and Trees, The Tanzania Baobabs" at Hauser & Wirth gallery in West Hollywood: “These works, when you really sit there and look at them, are about revealing the systems that underlie the representation of all things. So in the case of a tree, that might be … all the little cells that make up the tree. But also the larger systems of the tree — the roots, the branches, all of these things, these natural phenomena, that have to come together to create the structure. It's almost like he's making that visible.”

"Tau Lewis: Spirit Level" at David Zwirner gallery in Hollywood: “She creates these deities that seem to have a water theme going on. One of them has a rather fishy face. And they all circle this incredible geometric, circular tapestry that she has likewise created out of found bits of fabric, and studded with bits of metal that look like they emerged out of junk shops and hardware stores. … If you think about … Afro-Caribbean spiritual traditions … these ground drawings that exist as part of those rituals, she recreated that in a fantastical, super heroic way with bits of fabric and metal.”

"Hugo Crosthwaite: Ex-voto" at Luis de Jesus gallery in Downtown Los Angeles: “You will see aspects of Tijuana materialize in his work, but then you'll also see references to Mickey Mouse and Coca Cola and the border itself; and all of these elements that come together in this place to create what is really a border region and a rather singular culture at that.”

Last chance to win a box at The Bowl to see Leon Bridges (and four other shows across Los Angeles)! Become a member by midnight, March 31st.