(Photo Caption: Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles County Mayor and South Coast Air Quality Management District Director; Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Harris Sherman; U.S. Forest Service workers)
“It has been nearly two years since the tragic Station Fire that took the lives of two of our County’s firefighters, burned 160,000 acres, destroyed over 100 structures and displaced thousands of our County’s residents,” said Antonovich. “The impact of the devastation required a large-scale effort to renew and revitalize our forest. To assist, the AQMD allocated $1.4 million to support one of the largest local reforestation efforts to date with the growing and planting of nearly half a million trees in a 3,000-acre area of the forest.”
“In addition to improving water quality, recreational opportunities and air quality for future generations, this reforestation project will help restore the eco-system, reduce the threat of mudslides, and remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” he added.