Save Our Salt Marsh!

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewards has recently received close to $30,000 to involve the public in restoration efforts. They plan to build a volunteer database of 5,000 over the next year. A big clean-up is planned for September 19 to remove non-native plants and nurture the native plants as well as remove the flotilla of trash that washes down on the wildlife habitat from the San Gabriel River. The website does not have much information on how to sign up yet, but it does have a great projects page which highlights the oases of wilderness in the area and explains how they are connected.

Bolsa Chica Wants You!

I just got an email about a HUGE Earth Day event. Bolsa Chica Land Trust is calling on all concerned citizens to each donate $50 for the Bolsa Chica Project, the first step in the complete restoration of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. The group hopes to get 100,000 people involved, making it the largest single-day donation for an ecosystem restoration project. Their website has lots of information about the wetlands and the restoration project as well as a cool video. (Check out the monster reptile!)

My heart lies closer to home at the Los Cerritos Wetlands, but any success at Bolsa Chica can only be good for restoring Los Cerritos. What if in my lifetime, these two cradles of salt and freshwater wildlife were healed of the massive pollution and neglect they’ve suffered from for so many years? Yes, I can dream and so can you.

How Did I Not Know This? (An Ongoing Series)

Don’t blame me. I just don’t get out much any more what with the kids and the crabgrass and the kitchen to clean. I missed what sounds like a much needed discussion about the present state of the Los Cerritos Wetlands deal. Seems like the current cesspool that is the California budget may have sunk even deeper and thrown the shaky alignment between cities, counties and oil companies out of whack again. But not to worry, you can catch all the back-and-forth at Beer and Politics, a group that sponsors alcohol-fueled debates such as this every month.