Volunteers gather in Altaadena to launch Climate Week; California Volunteers announces 10,000 paid positions statewide

At an event in Altaadena, a presenter said more than 100 volunteers gathered to kick off Climate Week in Southern California and to begin removing non‑native plants from local habitat.

The presenter said the effort is part of an initiative led by the Department of Parks and Recreation of Los Angeles County (CES) to prevent wildfires by removing plants that do not belong naturally to the ecosystem. The presenter described these plants as harmful to animals and the landscape and warned that their seeds "if left more than a year" can reproduce quickly.

During the event, the California Volunteers service corps announced the opening of 10,000 paid positions across the state, with more than 3,400 expected to be available in the Los Angeles area. Organizers described several program tracks intended to match different age groups and educational levels: a Service Corps for adult participants, a College Corps for college students, a Youth Corps for younger volunteers and a Climate Corps focused specifically on environmental work.

Organizers said the paid positions are intended to support community restoration and climate‑resilience projects, including vegetation removal and other wildfire mitigation tasks. The presenter framed the Altaadena gathering as part of a broader week of climate activities across Southern California.

The event combined hands‑on volunteer work with program announcements; no formal vote or policy decision was recorded at the gathering.