Again, actress, activist and entrepreneur Victoria Principal comes to the rescue of Southern California’s forests. And again, it’s just in time. Although this week is unseasonably cool, the moment it gets hot again we’re in for some serious fire danger. In fact, Los Angeles County’s Fire Chief calls this summer and fall “probably the most volatile fire season that’s projected based on our 100-year history.”

Thankfully, doing our part is now as easy as sending a text message.

No, really. TreePeople has in place new mobile technology—funded by Ms. Principal—which enables all of us to participate in critical fire prevention work by simply texting. By texting TREE to the number 80888, you can donate $10 to TreePeople’s fire prevention and restoration efforts, payable through your mobile phone billing. And for those wishing to sign-up as volunteers in TreePeople’s hands-on efforts in our local mountains (nearly every weekend in the Santa Monica Mountains this summer and fall), it’s as simple as texting TREE followed by your full name and e-mail address to 51555. Get the whole story here.

And like I said, this isn’t the first time Ms. Principal’s stepped in to save our mountain wild lands. For more than 20 years, she has been one of the most generous individual donors to TreePeople’s wildfire recovery efforts. Following the 2009 station fires that burned 144,000 acres, the largest fire in Los Angeles County history, Ms. Principal gave a lead gift to help restore the Angeles National Forest, as well as provided funds for the restoration plan for Griffith Park after the 2007 fire.

Victoria Principal‘s commitment to urban parks and national forests is an inspiration. Now we can do our part to preserve and restore our precious mountain ecosystems so they can sustain all the life that depends on them.

So let’s grab our phones and get to it, shall we?