A cut of $3.4 million in federal funding for public media is hitting LAist at the very moment it is producing some of its most ambitious local reporting. The nonprofit newsroom says it now depends more than ever on donations from readers to keep its journalism independent and paywall-free.

At the same time, LAist continues to highlight quiet but powerful experiments reshaping Los Angeles’ public spaces. In a small, shaded canyon just off Avenue 45 in Mount Washington, the nonprofit Test Plot is running a living laboratory designed to heal damaged land while testing how native plants respond to California’s changing climate and urban pressures.

Story Highlights

• Public Media Funding Cut: Congress withdraws $3.4 million in federal support for LAist.

• Reader Donations Crucial: The nonprofit newsroom seeks community support to remain independent.

• Rainbow Canyon Test Plots: Experimental plantings of native species in Mount Washington aim to restore degraded parkland.

• Climate and Fire Resilience: Research focuses on plants’ ability to coexist with California black walnuts and withstand fire.

• Next Steps: Test Plot to launch projects at Puente Hills Regional Park, a former landfill slated for a 2027 opening.

A Hidden Laboratory in Rainbow Canyon

At the base of a twisting road in Mount Washington lies Rainbow Canyon, a secluded pocket of nature rarely seen by passers-by. It hosts California black walnut trees, a seasonal stream, and tree trunks arranged for seating. Since 2023, these acres have held several “test plots” — fenced areas where the nonprofit Test Plot groups native species such as hummingbird sage and big saltbush to watch how they respond to local conditions.

“Walnuts drop chemicals through their leaf litter to control competition,” explained Alex Robinson of Test Plot, as he walked among the young plantings.

He added that only certain plants tolerate those chemicals.
“Presumably the native plants that grew with the walnut can adapt. We’re trying to see which ones grew with the walnut.”

A short distance away, another plot focuses on fire resilience — a pressing issue in California’s wildland-urban interface.

“We have plants that are very adapted to fire that aren’t likely to catch fire,” Robinson said. “The idea is to identify species that can be planted around homes and buildings.”

From Elysian Park to Catalina Island

Rainbow Canyon is one of 14 sites where Test Plot operates across California, most of them in Los Angeles. The concept began in 2019 when landscape architect Jenny Jones and native plant specialist Max Kanter started a pilot in Elysian Park.

Despite setbacks — including gophers destroying grasses — volunteers kept returning, and the plants kept growing. That early success drew in Jennifer Toy, now Test Plot’s leader, who later recruited Robinson from her teaching at USC.

The organization has since expanded to Debs Park in Montecito Hills, La Esquinita near the L.A. River, the Bay Area and Catalina Island. Each location uses plants tailored to its ecosystem. On Catalina Island, volunteers even built check dams to hold back polluted runoff before it could reach a protected marine sanctuary.

Community-Led Land Care

Rainbow Canyon’s 30 acres were once at the center of a battle between housing developers and residents seeking to preserve open space. In 1991, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority acquired the land, blocking development but leaving it mostly untended for decades.

In December 2023, Test Plot and its partners joined USC students to clear weeds and begin planting riparian natives.

“It’s a really amazing place to plant,” Robinson said. “It’s all these native soils. It’s in this canyon. It’s shaded. We timed it right before the rains.”

About 70 volunteers showed up to help. Toy stresses that such restoration is never “low maintenance.”

“We hate the term low maintenance,” she said. “Restoration requires constant labor, care and attention.”

Robinson echoed that sentiment.
“The ‘test’ in Test Plot initially was just, ‘Can we plant and keep the plants alive? Can we start to do restoration work with communities in our public lands? And can we get people to come out and do this on a regular basis?’”

Planning for the Future

Test Plot has received new grants, including from the Water Foundation, to expand its work. Next up is Puente Hills Regional Park — a former landfill undergoing a multi-million-dollar conversion set to open in 2027.

Toy says the nonprofit treats each site as an evolving experiment.
“We have permission to fail,” she said. “When you talk about urban restoration projects, there’s a lot of pressure. There’s not a perfect solution. For me, the test is really about just trying to be agile and be fluid — really just be on the ground constantly, having fun out here.”

LAist’s Appeal to Readers

As LAist covers initiatives like Test Plot, it faces the challenge of a $3.4 million loss in public media funding. The newsroom is calling on readers to sustain its mission to inform, inspire and engage.

“No matter where you stand politically, press freedom is at the core of a free and fair nation,” LAist’s leadership said. “Reader support will determine how strong our newsroom is going forward.”

For LAist, the stakes are high: continued watchdog reporting on elections, climate, the economy and homelessness depends on a new model of public support — just as Test Plot depends on volunteers to keep its native plants alive.

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