Wildfires, drought and climate change bring devastating changes to CA wildlands
By Bettina Boxall Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — Summer had not yet arrived, but already the hillside on the edge of Los Padres National Forest was the color of toast. Even a brilliantly sunny day couldn't dress up the dull palette of invasive grasses that had transformed the slope into a dried-up weed patch. Only a sprinkling of young shrubs provided a hint of what the spot looked like before it