Eastbay, Willows may be native to California but are not present naturally along Deep Creek. Rick and Andre believe that it is best not to introduce plants or trees that are not already present in the area. Since it is forestry land there may very well be some law making it illegal to plant something foriegn like a willow or even to plant anything. On the other hand, the miniature palms and a willow were planted by someone years ago as well as a pine tree that may not be native to Deep Creek. The forestry people don't appear to have a concern about this since all these plants or trees are still there. I've personally never heard a negative comment about these plantings and have heard many positive comments. Of course this doesn't mean that everyone sees it as a good thing as we have seen in this discussion of the new willow planting. Since we have lost some shade trees to people whose grey matter is not working right I think the planting of some shade trees would help this situation. When its 105 degrees out its nice to have some shade :-) Anyone planting non-native vegetation " might " see it removed by the forestry or others who dislike the new starts so I would lean toward sticking with things that grow in the area. I still like the willows, even at Deep Creek :-) The straw in bales, in roles and spread on the hillsides was unecesary in the area of the indian camp. The hills consist of alot of decomposed granite and there was no serious errosion problem. Is the forestry going to come back and remove all of this straw. The rest of the area around this small zone is recovering nicely and naturaly. I realize straw can be used as erosion control but in this case its just a mess and has made things look worse than if it was left alone. Besides that, the Arroyo toads said there movin on since the forestry people screwed up there homes with all of that straw! Put that on your list of reasons to close Deep Creek Hotspring :-)