For years, I owned vacant beachfront property in California. Every February I would receive notice from the local fire department to weed my property and make certain there was no pampas grass (HCN, 4/18/11) on it, else the fire department would do it for me and charge an outrageous fee. I was impressed that the local jurisdiction recognized the invasive and highly flammable properties of pampas grass. I always kept pampas grass off my properties, not for its invasive properties but because it harbored rats who loved to nest in it.
Jessie Vosti
Taos, New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Get rid of the grass, or else.
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