Three years ago, our Audubon chapter created a new strategic plan, one that would make us a valuable asset to the greater South Bay community. We chose to put most of our program development where it would do the most good. Choosing the place was easy: Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. The work so far, though, has been hard—but very rewarding. Now, it is time to step back to see what we have accomplished, and where we can expect our vision for the future to take us.

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, at 230 acres, is one of the largest parks in the City of Los Angeles. It has the most diverse and valuable habitat in the region—lake, willow forest, marshland, vernal wetlands, riparian and upland habitats, as well as extensive lawns, A playground and A campground. The bird life is spectacular. The park is listed as an Important Bird Area, and more than 325 species are on the park's list. That this can exist in the heart of the highly industrialized and urban Los Angeles Port region seems almost unbelievable.

State Senator Debra Bowen discusses the needs of Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park with park recreation coordinator John Popoch.

The park serves a large, ethnically mixed community. This community is largely underserved. Nothing shows this better than to point out that there is no facility on site for park staff. The only buildings in the park are a couple of rest rooms, which may or may not work, a maintenance shed and an old boathouse with an abandoned life guard station. City funding for park operations and security are both grossly inadequate. The results are predictable: graffiti, habitat degradation, trash, unwanted pet dumping and worse.

For the last three years, we have been building Audubon programs to address these and other issues. First, we have taken an active advisory role with the City on park policy and management. Second, we have taken the lead on developing long-term planning for the park. Third, we have built an impressive set of education programs around the park's natural values. Fourth, we have begun doing the habitat restoration and enhancement work the park so desperately needs. Fifth, we have begun the crucial process of bringing local community members into Audubon. Finally—and programmatically the task that ties everything together—we have undertaken to build an Audubon Natural Heritage Center in the park. And the time to begin building is now!

I have lived so long with the idea of the Audubon Natural Heritage Center in mind, that is hard for me to think of Harbor Park without it. Perhaps the best way for me to say what I think it means for the future of Audubon and the community is to talk about it from the standpoint of each of the programs listed above. Each program is itself richly detailed, and carries its own promise of huge benefits for the future. Together, they offer a powerful synergism.

Let me not begin at the beginning, but at the end of the list. The Audubon Natural Heritage Center (ANHC) will be a major educational and cultural institution for the region. Its theme will be to show the ways in which many indigenous cultures have interacted with their natural surroundings. The lands that the Tongva inhabited were rich in wildlife and wetlands. These resources, and their uses, changed dramatically with the appearance of the ranching culture of the mid 19th Century. But those changes in resources and uses were no more drastic than those that occurred in the 20th Century. We do not know what the 21st Century offers—other than change. And the ANHC is the logical institution to guide that change.

However, the ANHC will not stand alone. It will be one of the cornerstone facilities in a network of Audubon Centers that is now unfolding across the nation. As such, it will be a draw for birders and others interested in wildlife who want to know the natural resources of Los Angeles. At the same time, it will be part of an extended consortium of LA basin nature centers which work together to see that local families and school children have a broad knowledge of all facets of the natural world—drawn from nature itself, rather than books and television.

Education is a centerpiece of our KMHRP work. Certainly, it has accounted for a large fraction of our chapter's budget. We have developed our programs along two principal lines. First is to build a youth group, the Audubon Naturalists, who are trained as docents to help our professional staff members teach. Second is to bring large groups of school children to the park so that they can learn how they relate to the natural world. Our programs today reach several hundred school children each year. Our goal is to bring tens of thousands—one in four children from regional schools each year. This cannot be done with present facilities, even if they are upgraded. We need the ANHC if we are to adequately teach future generations.

The ANHC is a critical need for many other reasons. Park security and adequate management will remain a dream until a place is provided for both in the park. Audubon has been deeply involved in the Park Advisory Board for many years, and it is clear that conditions in the park continue to deteriorate. The symptoms are many, but the cause is clear: the City has been unable to provide funds to hire enough staff to run the park well, nor enough police and park rangers to provide adequate security. Until both are stationed on site, conditions are unlikely to improve, and Audubon's energies will be spent maintaining the status quo.

For the last two and a half years, our advisory role has gone far beyond that of just sitting on the Park Advisory Board. We currently serve as principal advisors to the City on a $1 million habitat and wetlands management grant, which was obtained for the park by Senator Debra Bowen. We are developing three important documents that will figure in all future park management decisions. The first is a revision of the Park Master Plan, the second a Watershed Management Plan, and the third is a Design Development Report, which describes a number of important projects to be developed in the park.

The Watershed Management Plan has implications which reach far beyond park borders. Harbor Park drains a 20-square-mile area which is, itself, but a subwatershed of the South Bay's main watershed. Audubon has taken an active role in an emerging South Bay watershed management program to make sure that the park's natural resources receive the attention they deserve. Currently, the park often seems little more than the dumping ground for all the pollution that runs off city streets from surrounding communities. The Watershed Management Plan can change that, and the best way to monitor the status of projects built under the plan will be to have a water quality testing laboratory in the park as part of the ANHC.

Other science will be done at the ANHC, as well. The habitat restoration and enhancement projects being undertaken at Harbor Park call for regular monitoring and on-site plant nursery facilities. Even the relatively small restoration projects that we have begun, which draw dozens of volunteers each month, are made unnecessarily difficult because we have no storage and working facilities in the park. When one considers that current plans call for substantial increases in hands-on habitat work, it is clear that here is one more reason to build the ANHC.

If there is one part of the ANHC equation that is most important, it is perhaps people. The park is used by many parts of the community today. The largest event each year is the Pacific Islander festival, indicative of the large Philippine, Samoan and other island populations in Carson and Harbor City. On other weekends, families of Hispanic origin from Wilmington and San Pedro are likely to dominate the rich ethnic mix at the picnics and parties in the park. Nevertheless, the park in reality is virtually unknown in nearby communities.

We have begun the long process which will make the park a place of pride. Though small, our education program has brought many new people to the park. Our participation in park management has helped. But I think it is the outreach we do in creating the ANHC that will make a huge difference. The park needs the ANHC, for it will transform the park in every way. Harbor Park will be seen for the jewel it is and the natural resources it holds. The ANHC will bring new people to the park to see the displays and enjoy their heritage. It will provide the security, good management and habitat protection now lacking. It will be the center of natural history and environmental education for tens of thousands of neighboring residents. And it will serve as a center from which to run our chapter's program throughout the South Bay.

I say, let's get that Audubon Natural Heritage Center built!

On October 14, Martin Byhower's Second Sunday birdwalk at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park was different from previous walks.

State Senator Debra Bowen (left) and City Councilwoman Janice Hahn at Audubon's Second Sunday in the Park outing.

"We took a special walk this morning," said Chapter President Jess Morton, "because we have Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Senator Debra Bowen with us." After a brief tour of part of the park, led by Martin and Jess, the two legislators joined other walk participants in learning of the Chapter's current park programs and plans for the future.

Jess put the case for more support for the park. "Where can you find a park this size that has no facilities? It is a fabulous resource. No other 230-acre site in southern California can brag about a list of 328 species of birds."

"I think this is a great treasure that the City of Los Angeles has," said Councilwoman Hahn. "It's just unbelieveable that we have not raised it to a level of priority for money and staff."

Hahn acknowelged the hard work of Chapter leaders, of Audubon YES! Students, and of Audubon Naturalists at the park. "I really appreciate all of you volunteers who are so passionate and so committed to this area. Without you, the park wouldn't even be where it is today. Volunteers are priceless!"

In 1999, Senator Bowen secured a $1 million planning grant for the park and surrounding watershed. "We figured that we could use the money as a magnet to get people involved in looking at the watershed," said Bowen. "I'm now looking for other sources of funding."

Mitch Heindel discourses on the history and wildlife of Machado Lake, while tallying dozens of bird species seen or heard in just a few hours.

Jess noted that the City and the Chapter had just completed the first phase of the planning activities that were funded by the money secured by Senator Bowen. The Design Development Report for habitat restoration and improvement of Machado Lake's water quality catalogued the problems beseting the area as well as projects that would reverse the decline.

One major problem is street and stormwater runoff from the surrounding 20 square miles of the lake's watershed. This runoff, which supplies much of the water for the lake, is a constant source of refuse, garbage, and chemical pollution.

A near-permanent settlement of homeless in the willow forest at the north end of the lake has driven off the rich birdlife that inhabited that fragment of once-extensive willow forests. The homeless settlements also pollute the lake and create health problems.

The Design Development Report and a revision of the park's management plan will point the way toward addressing these problems and restoring the lake and the park to people and to wildlife.

Martin Byhower (third from right) prepares to lead his Second Sunday of the month walk at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park on October 14.

The day was not entirely devoted to the park's problems and the Chapter's plans. While a large group looked for birds along the south shore of the lake, Mitch Heindel was perched at the boat house calling out birds he saw or heard. As two egrets swung low over the lake, Mitch called out: "Snowy egret. Great egret. Perfect chance to compare the two." Then, Mitch turned to the blackboard and recorded the two species. As the morning grew late, the blackboard grew crowded with the names of dozens of species. By noon, Mitch had recorded 60 different species, amid interruptions and questions.

"When I was a kid in `60s, this side of the lake was willows and mulefat," says Mitch. "There were wild trails through the willows to the lake. The willows on the north end of the lake are the last patch of closed canopy willow forest in the L.A. Basin. It's the real McCoy. Kids could be brought here in 30 minutes from all over Los Angeles and they could learn more than I know about all the critters here."

It's a dream that will come true, with some hard work and funding.

Holy vagrants, bird hunters! You'll be astounded at the list of birds found this fall! An incredible array of species (many of them big surprises) were detected by the diligent, amongst the thousands and thousands of birds passing through our area this fall. We don't have the south-facing finger-point advantage of Pts. Reyes (up north) or Loma (down south), but a west-facing thumbtip, which never-the-less, confuses birds enough to produce a respectable list each fall. We also don't enjoy the incredible thoroughness of coverage those sites do, with perhaps 5 of 50 greenspots actually checked on a good day here. Considering that, it's amazing what we come up with!

Way north in Humboldt Co., they had the first ever Lower 48 Common Greenshank, which must have flown past here on its way south! Another bird that certainly violated our airspace was a N. Wheatear in La Jolla! And Bolsa Chica had a Curlew Sandpiper! San Diego Co. reported 30 sps. of Warblers, about 9/20 to 10/20, mostly at Loma, whilst we only managed to muster a meager 22 sps. through 11/5. So, how `bout the bird word?

In order to save space, the First of Fall (FOF) reports I know of were: Eared Grebe 9/22; Western Grebe 9/23; Clark's Grebe 10/13; N.Shoveller 9/11; Ring-necked Duck 10/14; Canvasback 10/28; Lesser Scaup 10/31; C. Snipe 9/9 (!); Mew & Glaucous-winged Gull 11/1; Red-breasted Sapsucker 9/23; Flicker 10/2; Say's Phoebe 9/15; Ruby-crowned Kinglet 9/17 (!); Swainson's Thrush 9/15; Hermit Thrush 10/6; Audubon's Warbler 9/11; Myrtle Warbler 10/1; Savannah Sparrow 8/24; White-crowned Sparrow 9/20; Fox Sparrow 9/16 (!); "Oregon" Junco 10/4;

Amazing (besides being fogged in) on the LAAS 10/13 pelagic was: from San Pedro, out around Catalina, and back, only ONE Sooty Shearwater was seen, as was one Flesh-footed Shearwater, which was over Redondo Knoll, with lots of Pink-foots and Dolphins, about 12 miles off PV. Only 50-60 Black-vents were over the San Pedro Escarpment that day as well….

Some 110 White Pelicans were seen at the LAR heading west (toward and into the count circle) by Kevin Larson (KL) and Carol Selvey (CS) on 10/28. This probably constitutes the `modern record sized' flock in our area. Twice, Brown Pelicans undoubtedly lost in the dense fog occurred inland, which is extremely rare.KL and CS had 6 fly over Banning Pk. (BP) on 9/29, a new park record! Another departed Harbor Pk. (HP) on 10/17 when the fog cleared…Turkey Vulture and Merlin flew over HP 10/17 as well. An Osprey spent 9/23 to 10/28+ fishing at HP, often sitting in the willows on the west side of the lake. In the I-wouldn't-have-believed-it-if-I-hadn't-seen-it category was an incredibly early immature Sharp-shinned Hawk at Leland Pk. (LL) and an hour later up-canyon at Peck Pk. (PP), on 9/15. Sharpies are rare before October.

David Moody (DM) added a nice specimen to the Madrona Marsh (MM) collection with a Virginia Rail, which probably collided with wires, a short distance from the marsh, 9/18, a typical fall arrival date. A juvenile Solitary Sandpiper KL found at the LA River (LAR) 9/15, which I saw on 9/16, was believed by both observers to be of the nominate subspecies. Andrew Lee (AL) saw a tardy Semipalmated Sandpiper at LAR on 9/8. KL's count of 9 Baird's Sandpipers in the LAR in N. Long Bch. on 9/15 was impresive. Single tardy Baird's were at HP 10/14 and 10/21 (MH). The 54 Dunlin at LAR 10/20 was a good count too (KL); they are rare before Oct. I guess it was two different Ruffs KL found at the LAR, one there 9/1-16 (see last column) another 10/7-20.

As can be expected at this time, gulls and terns were unremarkable…other than the Sabine's Gull and Arctic Tern show in September, around the northern Channel Islands. Then too, this year there was a great showing of Long-tailed Jaegers with them…flocks in the water under the bow! The first MM Thayer's Gull ever was our FOF on 10/26 (MH, DM). A Kittiwake in the LA Harbor on 10/13 was a first summer bird, and likely one that had been there since last winter. As was one DM saw in Hermosa on 11/1.

John Ivanov (JI) reported a Band-tailed Pigeon at Sand Dune Pk. (SDP) in Manhattan Bch., in early Sept., and MB saw one in Chadwick on 10/26. An imm. White-winged Dove was on my back fence on 9/10! A Eurasian Collared- Dove was here in Torr. on 10/22. There goes the neighborhood! Several Poorwills were seen. Lillian Light and Ollie Coker showed me one they found in BP, 10/2, on the ground (had to back up to focus)! DM found another at MM 10/6.

About half-a-dozen calling Chimney Swifts were in with hundreds of Vaux's at HP on 9/11 (MH). Another (different than any prior) Anna's x Costa's hybrid was at my feeders 10/8. Was it one very visible, or a veritable invasion, with four Acorn Woodpeckers seen this fall!? One in "early Sept." at SDP (JI), then KL saw one there 9/16, and he saw another at BP 10/6; finally another was reported from the Torr. Bch. area in mid October! An immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was a new park bird at HP on 10/28 (MH).

Late Western Wood-Pewees were at Sur la Brea Pk., Torrance (SLB) 10/18, and at LL 10/21. Lots of Willow Flycatchers go through in Sept., a few each of Hammond's, Gray and Dusky. But keep in mind, nine of ten Empidonax here are "Western" Flycatchers. Steve Sosensky and Jim Abernathy found an imm. female Vermillion Flycatcher at HP 10/26, which was still present 10/31. An expected couple each of Plumbeous and Cassin's (Solitary) Vireos were seen. One of the rarer birds of the fall was a Philadelphia Vireo thatMartin Byhower (MB) found on his "second Sunday" walk at HP on 10/14. I was able to confirm the bird a half hour later, watching it from 10' at eye-level sometimes. Also seen just as closely, and even rarer, was the Yellow-green Vireo I saw on the east side of HP on 10/25, a new park record.

Sixteen Violet-green Swallows at HP 9/26 was a high number for fall. Besides the four single Bank Swallows (in last column) 7/29 to 9/1, a single flock of six was at HP on 9/11, for a total of 10 this fall. MB continues to enjoy his resident Red-breasted Nuthatches at Chadwick. A Rock Wren was at SDP (new to the park list) on 10/11, Richard Barth (RB). Bob Shanman (BS) saw another at Ballona late Oct.! Maybe a "rock invasion." Irwin Woldman reported a Sage Thrasher from HP on 9/9. KL saw a very early lone Cedar Waxwing in Torr. on 10/1. A Phainopepla flew over my hovel in Torr., 9/6.

And here we are at Warblers…. Some 5 Tennessee's were seen 9/27 to 10/12, a little above normal. They were at Charles Wilson Pk. in Torrance (CWP), Wilderness Pk. (WP) in Redondo, SLB, and BP, by Jerry Johnson, KL, MH, Bob Beckler (BB), et.al.. [The third locally this fall,] DM had a Virginia's Warbler at MM 9/19-20 the third locally this fall. DM saw a late N. Parula at MM on 10/30. The loud call like a muffled Yellow alerted me to a Chestnut-sided Warbler outside on 10/25. Roberta Shanman reports a Magnolia Warbler in their Manhattan Bch. yard 10/21. AL saw an imm. female Black-throated Blue Warbler at WP on 10/7, a far less than annual vagrant here. I saw a bird I believe was a Pine Warbler there on 10/9, but it got away. The rarest warbler found was the imm. male Prairie Warbler at CWP in Torrance (MH) which didn't get away. It was seen by many (15+) observers from 10/9-15, a seven-day-stay! DM finally got us a fall Palm Warbler at MM on 11/5. Six Blackpolls was a good showing, from 9/16 to 10/6, at MM, HP, BP, Wilmington Drain (WD), by KL, DM, MH, BB, et.al.. I didn't hear of a Black and White Warbler, and only two American Redstarts, both sps. which seem down recently. The Redstarts were a male at SDP by Lori Conrad (LC) 9/9, and an imm. male at MM by DM 10/13-16. Besides the early August Waterthrush at MM, the only other one was a Northern at HP on 9/20 (MH). Nice was a Yellow-breasted Chat that RB found at MM on 9/24. It was an imm., like the usual one per fall we record.

JI found a female Summer Tanager, probably an eastern rubra at BP 10/5 which remained to 10/12. KL saw one 10/27 at the South Coast Botanic Gardens (SCBG) that was probably a western cooperi race. A Spotted Towhee I saw at Angel's Gate on 10/8 had so little white above and in tail, I strongly suspect is was of the more migratory oregonusrace. Specimens are known from S. Catalina Isl., and surely it occurs at least rarely here. Clay-colored Sparrows were at BP 9/22 and HP 10/10 (MH). KL saw a Brewer's Sparrow at the LAR 9/22. Some 6+ Vesper Sparrows were noted, a very good showing. The incredible sparrow find of the season was a Large-billed (Savannah) Sparrow I called on a LAAS pelagic trip as we cruised the middle section of the harbor breakwater at 7 knots...the first irrefutable (35 observers) sighting in the harbor (where formerly abundant) of this saline specialist in half a century. It will probably winter there, is in the count circle, has never been recorded on the count, and would be my vote for most overdue unrecorded `species' ever on the PV CBC. It's legally still a subspecies, but should be resurrected as a speciesone day.

I saw 3 different Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, all at BP, 9/14, 9/20, and 10/14; MB added another there on 10/27, and the same day KL saw one at SDP. What looked like a hybrid Lazuli x Indigo Bunting was at BP on 9/17. An incredibly late Lazuli Bunting was at MM 10/26 (MH). I saw a lime-green Bunting that was certainly a Painted at the LAR 9/16. Then DM found an immaculate male at MM on 9/23! Without any compelling evidence to the contrary, both are probably best considered legitimate vagrants considering the timing (e.g., Septmember when their westward push puts them all over AZ). DM found a Bobolink at MM 10/13, which BB saw last on 10/24. Lots of male Tricolored Blackbirds hang out in the non-breeding season at CWP if you need an easy place to see and study them. A Common Grackle called as it flew over the hovel here in Torr., on 9/27. They'll be "coots" here in 50 years. LC found a male Scott's Oriole at SDP on 10/18, very rare locally, and a new park bird too! KL found a female Orchard Oriole at SCBG 9/23, `prime time' for them. LC found a Baltimore Oriole at WP on 9/30, and MB saw one at BP on 10/27.

In the "what do we make of this" category was the Caracara KL saw fly across the LAR twice on 10/20. While the Caracara may have been an escaped falconer or zoo bird, I think it may well have been a genuine wild vagrant just like the Black Vulture my dad saw in Long Bch. 30 years ago, and the Harris's Hawk invasion of the last decade. A large hurricane had just gone over Sonora, and AZ, about a week prior to this sighting. But when certain species, e.g., male Painted Buntings, get lost, and then are found in the city, it seems they areautomatically labelled escapees. Bird Record Committee logic, and yes that is an oxymoron!

So, there ya have it! An amazing avian autumn if there ever was one! At my "little big sit" on 10/14 at HP, without leaving a small circle at the edge of the boathouse dock, and while being asked questions the whole time, I recorded 60 species in less than four hours !!!! November is just as good as Sept. and Oct. for finding vagrants...the key is to get out and look! November is also when to start scouting your area for the CBC, as many (most passerine) winterers are in by then! The count is 12/23 this year, a Sunday, and the tally is back at SCBG, just like the old days! E-mail Ross Landry (rosscoz@earthlink.net) (or call him at 714-524-7701) or me if you can help. Also E-me with any birds you see, or stake out: birdfish@earthlink.net. See ya at the CBC !!!

And remember meanwhile to "Think global, bird local"!

In the name of national security, powerful voices in the administration and in Congress are pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as off the California coast. The House of Representatives has already passed an energy bill that calls for this and for building 1,300 new fossil fueled power plants, and for the increased use of nuclear power. The bill did not call for energy efficiency or for renewable energy. Now we face the difficult task of making sure that the Senate will take a different tack.

A group of us who feel that this national emergency does not require sacrificing the environment are organizing a new organization—the Environmental Priorities Network or EPN—to press for conservation goals. People from the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the Pacific Unitarian Church, other communities of faith, and interested individuals have joined EPN. We welcome all organizations and persons concerned about environmental protection to join us. Our next meeting will be at 7:30 PM on November 8th. You may contact Ed Hummel , 310-541 6986, Edjohummel@dslextreme.com, for information or to be added to our list of people who wish to be contacted about the conference and our other activities.

EPN is planning a conference to empower the activist community to work for conservation goals and to educate the public on the importance of discussion and debate on environmental issues even in these perilous times. The conference will take place at the Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, 26438 Crenshaw Blvd, Rolling Hills (near the South Coast Botanic Garden) on April 20, 2002 from 8:30AM to 12:30 PM.

We are hoping that State Senator, Debra Bowen, will give the keynote talk on Energy and Global warming. Don May, an organizer of the "California Earth Corps," has agreed to speak on Nuclear Power. The conference will end with a panel discussion on Globalization and the Environment. Participants in this panel will include Mike Dolan, Western Director of Global Trade Watch Public Citizen, Sandra Gonzales-Castro, community liaison of the Orange County Central Labor Council, and a third person from the local community who is well informed on how global trade can negatively affect the environment.

World trade rules can have pervasive effects on people, wildlife, and wild places. That is why Congress needs to be able to revise trade treaties negotiated by the Bush administration so that they include environmental safeguards. The Bush administration wants Congress to pass fast track legislation to expand NAFTA across the Americas in a trade deal called the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Current bills would give the president authority to negotiate trade agreements that lawmakers would then have to approve or disapprove without the opportunity to make changes that would protect the environment. In this way, The bills ignore the need for provisions that would support American and global safeguards for clean water, clean air, and habitat protection. They also do nothing to make trade negotiation and dispute procedures more open, democratic, and accountable, since many of these trade rules are made and enforced without the benefit of public scrutiny or comment.

NAFTA has opened the door to many lawsuits against environmental protections. For instance, when Governor Gray Davis announced a ban on MTBE, a toxic gasoline additive that has contaminated wells and groundwater throughout the state, Methanex—the Canadian corporation that manufactures MTBE—sued the United States in a NAFTA court for $1 billion, saying the ban was in restraint of trade. In another case, a California company won $19 million in a NAFTA lawsuit against Mexico after a state government there blocked the company's plans for a toxic waste dump.The draft trade treaty for the Americas contains the same kind of corporate lawsuit provisions. The draft treaty also does not provide protection of labor or human rights.

We need to urge our representatives to oppose fast track legislation, even if its proponents are calling it a necessary economic stimulus, and are "wrapping the bill in the flag." We cannot let them call protection of the environment and democratic accountability unpatriotic.

Contact your representative and urge her or him to reject any fast track legislation like the Thomas Trade Promotion Bill (HR3005). You can call your representative toll-free at 800-393 1082 or you can use the addresses below.

--Congressperson Jane Harman ,229 Cannon House Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20515.

--Congressperson Juanita Millender-McDonald, 419 Cannon Bldg, Washington, DC 20515.

--Congressman Stephen Horn, 2331 Rayburn Bldg, Washington, DC 20515.

A principal focus of the Chapter's strategy for Harbor Park is to increase appreciation for the park among children and adults from the surrounding communities of San Pedro, Carson, Wilmington, Lomita, and Harbor City. For the last three years, the Chapter's Education Director, Debbie Baker, has organized education programs in the park that have reached hundreds of children. These programs began in 1999, when Debbie and Holly Gray organized four one-week summer education camps. With the support of L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks, 42 students from eight local elementary, middle, and high schools learned about wetlands and the flora and fauna of the park. Students also team up to paint a wonderful mural on the boathouse. The camps were so popular that Debbie and Holly had to start waiting lists for future camps.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn encourages several of the Chapter's young Audubon Naturalists.

For Summer 2000, Debbie and Holly expanded the summer camps into two-week sessions in order to allow more study of biodiversity and bird identification. The 50 students from 13 schools also participated in habitat restoration by planting mulefat and other beneficial plants. Through group picnics, students spread the word about the park to their families.

As the season and year changed in Fall 2000, the Chapter focused its efforts on restoration of plants on the hillside above the boathouse. With funding for plants from Tosco, supplies from the City of Los Angeles, and tools collected by students at Long Beach City College, the Chapter sponsored five monthly work parties. In 800 volunteer work hours, participants planted 300 native plants.

Early in 2001, Debbie and Holly began developing a new program, called "A Day in the Park." The goal of the program was to introduce school groups to the park. The Administrtion of Normont Elementary School was pleased to find a program that enabled students to learn a precious resource in their own backyard—Harbor Park. Using precious "school-bus" funds, the school transported 45-50 students at a time to the park for a 1-1/2 hour introduction to the mammals, birds, and plants of the park. By the end of the program, 200 students from grades 3 to 5 participated.

Drawing on this experience and the enthusiasm for the program, the Chapter decided to create a regular program for school groups. But to meet the expected demand, Debbie and Holly needed help and turned to the students who had participated in past summer education camps. Assisted by L.A. Recreation and Parks staff John Popoch, Debbie and Holly developed a program to provides additional training about the plants, animals, insects, and history of the park to 16 middle and high-school students. During this intensive training seminar in June, they also provided guidance about being a role model and leader. During the Summer of 2001, these new "Audubon Naturalists" helped introduce 400 local students to the wildlife and habitats of the park.

"I love teaching the little kids," said Bryant Muniz, an Audubon Naturalist from Dodson Middle School. "But you have to be patient, of course."

CBC 2001 has been set for Sunday, December 23. Come help make history with the Palos Verdes Peninsula CBC. Nationally, this year's CBC is the 102nd nationally, and the 36th locally. Once again, Ross Landry is handling the managerial duties. To register for the CBC, contact Ross at 714-524-7701 or at rosscoz@earthlink.net.

In terms of the number of species seen, our CBC is usually in the top 25 in the nation, and almost always the top count in LA county. Last year, 58 observers recorded 166 species on count day. That was a little short of the highest count of 185 in 1994, but well above the mean of 157 species. The only other time that the Palos Verdes CBC recorded 166 species was on the very first local CBC in 1966. Last year's rarities included Red-necked Grebe, Snow and Ross' Goose, Hooded Merganser, Gray Flycatcher, Hermit Warbler, American Redstart, MacGillivray's Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Baltimore Oriole.

Machado Lake in Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park is the largest remnant of the extensive wetlands that once stretched across lowland areas from Torrance to Long Beach. The dramatic wetland destruction that occurred in the last century obscures just how rich an area this was. Indeed, the area was so rich biologically that people lived for thousands of years around presentday Machado Lake.

Humans have occupied Southern California for upwards of 12,000 years. Over the course of millennia, native peoples developed a sophisticated understanding of local resources, developed means of exploiting those resources, and carried out regional trade. When Spanish explorers first reached the Los Angeles basin, the largest, wealthiest, and most politically organized villages were near Machado Lake. Suangna was the most important village in the area, and was surrounded by a number of other villages including Masaungna, Munikangna, Xujungna, Kingkingna, Ataviangna and Tsavingna.

Why was the area so prosperous in the time before written records? How did the people live? Unfortunately, there is little information from research specifically in the modern park, but there have been a number of archaeological excavations in the general area which complement early historical accounts and oral histories to provide a picture of the area's past.

The earliest indigenous people, so-called Paleo-Indians, appear to have arrived in California at the end of the last Pleistocene Ice Age, when the Los Angeles Basin was filled with rich, diverse flora and fauna. The Paleo-Indians were hunters mammoths, mastodons, giant bison, giant elk, giant beaver, giant ground sloth, and other megafauna. However, the combination of human hunting, and a change in climate to a drier and more seasonally variable regime, led to the fairly rapid extinction of the big game.

These changes triggered a new set of subsistence strategies, collectively referred to as the Archaic tradition. Since inland areas of California became increasingly desert-like, most Indian populations shifted toward the coast. They subsistence pattern came to combine the gathering of plant foods—particularly seeds and nuts—with hunting of smaller animals such as deer, pronghorn, and rabbits. Over time, Archaic people added fowl, shellfish and fish to their diet.

During this period, California Indians learned how to leach the tannic acid from acorns to make them palatable. Since oak trees were abundant in California, acorns became a staple of the diet in most regions. Other new technologies like weaving and basketry aided in collecting, storing and cooking acorns and other foodstuffs. By the end of the Archaic, around 4000 years ago, the hunting tool kit included a variety of spears, atlatls (spear throwers), traps and snares, as well as weirs, tridents, hooks, and boats for fishing. Archaic Southern Californians also used their boats—the only plank-constructed boats in the New World—to explore and settle the Channel Islands, and to maintain ongoing trade with coastal communities on the mainland.

The final cultural phase, often referred to as the Late or Formative period, was marked by a gradual shift from the wide-ranging foraging of the Archaic period to increasingly intensive exploitation of a shorter inventory of key resources. During this period, new settlers from the arid expanses to the East arrived in the area. The original inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin seemed to have been Hokan-speaking people, members of the same language family as the historic Yokuts and Chumash, north and west of Los Angeles, and the Ipai/Tipai/Kumeyaay to the southeast. Around 3,500 B.P., Shoshonean-speaking people began infiltrating the Los Angeles Basin. These new peoples, whom the Spanish calledGabrielinos (from their Mission San Gabriel), and whose descendants refer to themselves as Tongva, adapted the subsistence strategies of the already-established population. By the time the Spanish began settling the area in the 18th century, the Shoshonean-speaking people had become dominant.

Although coastal Southern California Indians did not domesticate plants or practice agriculture, they did develop a sophisticated system of land management, incorporating strategies such as controlled burns. These burns stimulated the production of seeds and germination, improved forage for animals, and reduced pests and parasites.

In coastal areas, grass seeds were harvested intensively and ground to produce porridge. Plants such as milkweed, yucca, and nettle yielded durable fibers for cordage and weaving, while marshside rushes and grasses were used for basketry. Cold weather robes were woven of deer, rabbit, otter, or even bird skin, cut in long strips somewhat in the way we peel long strips off an apple or potato.

As exploitation intensified, trade grew between different areas. This growth was also assisted by the development of a form of cash economy that used processed shells as currency. By the time the Spanish arrived, shells processed into discoid or tubular forms were used also as status markers and as decoration. The most widely used types of shells were abalone (Haliotis), clam (Tivela), mussel (Mytilis), olive (Olivella), scallop (Hinnites) and whelk (Kelletia).

Local people also heavily traded steatite or soapstone goods, including symbolic figures and cooking vessels. Steatite was cut from quarries on Santa Catalina Island, fashioned into "consumer goods," and then traded to coastal villages, both in the South Bay and along a northward trade route to Santa Cruz Island and the Santa Barbara coast. From the coast, these goods were sold or traded with inland settlements in exchange for obsidian, acorns, and other goods.

Another distinctive feature of the Gabrielino/Tongva culture was a religious cult focused on a figure rendered by the Spanish as Chingichnich or Chinigchinich. This cult seems to have been associated with ritual use of the Datura plant (also known as Jimson weed or toloache), and possibly with polychrome rock paintings..

In the final centuries before the Spanish arrival, local communities became more settled and grew larger, eventually reaching as many 300 members. As communities increased in size, they became more complex, as formal positions of civil and religious leadership emerged. As these settled communities relied increasingly on intensive use of local resources, territoriality grew together with property claims over important areas. Differences in the size of dwellings, and in the quantity and quality of grave goods reveal growing inequalities in wealth, status, and power.

As the Audubon Society works to restore the degraded habitat of the park, it is appropriate that we also recognize the human legacy borne in the landscape.

The building of the Audubon Natural Heritage Center at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park is probably the largest single project that Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon has ever tackled. This means that it will require a great deal of planning and assistance from Audubon's members and the entire community to make this vision a reality. In the first stage, Audubon will be working with local community members, groups, and government leaders to identify needs, ideas, and goals for the Center. Audubon has recently received a grant from the Homeland Foundation to hire an Outreach Coordinator to organize and oversee this process. The Outreach Coordinator will begin to identify local community members and groups who MAY wish to become involved in the Center development process. Audubon members will attend meetings of local community groups to inform them about Audubon and to help them identify suggestions and priorities for the Center. As the community becomes more aware of the project and THE issues facing the park, Audubon will host a variety of community events, designed to further clarify goals for the Center. Audubon also welcomes input from individual community members, and will be working with State and local government leaders to coordinate the process.

In the second stage, the Outreach Coordinator will work with Audubon members and community members to compile this information and decide upon a final design and plan for the building of the Center. It is then that all of Audubon's hard work will finally come to fruition. Throughout the construction and preparation of the Natural Heritage Center Audubon will be hiring a variety of staff members to operate programs and to oversee the running of the Center. Upon completion, the Natural Heritage Center will offer a range of community and environmental programs unlike anything else in the South Bay.

To get this important project off the ground, Audubon needs the help of its members. Audubon is currently working on a massive fundraising project to support all phases of development. Audubon is working with foundations, corporations, and private donors to raise the estimated $5 million that we will need to be ready to open our doors. If you would like to make a donation please send it to

• Natural Heritage Center Project
• Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society
• P.O Box 2582
• Palos Verdes, CA 90274

Audubon will also need volunteers to make presentations to local groups, and later to assist in hosting community events. If you have any questions regarding donations, would like to volunteer, or would like to recommend a community group which might be interested in participating, please contact Heather Morton at (310) 418-5866.

Restoration of South Bay Habitats: We can use your energy and some more equipment! If you are prepared to dig and pull and plant, join PV/SB Audubon's restoration of PV Blue Habitat (every first or second Sunday, 9-noon, at the Defense fuel Support Point, 3171 N. Gaffey, San Pedro). See Calendar for details. We also need shovels, rakes, hand trowels, and clippers. For more information, call Debbie, 722-7777.

Sharing Nature with Children: Spend one Saturday a month, 8:30-12:30, as a docent at Wilderness Park, 1102 Camino Real (near Prospect) in Redondo Beach. Docents help an expert on nature introduce youngsters, ages 6-12, to the park's meadow, woodland, streamside, and marsh habitats and to wildlife and habitats throughout the region Docents help lead the children in games, walks, and crafts designed around each month's special theme. For more information, call Lillian Light at 545-1384.

Audubon YES!: If you are already active with a school or youth group in the area, consider becoming a chapter liaison with Audubon Yes! Audubon Yes! students are the backbone of local restoration projects, and assist with Sharing Nature with Children. They attend Audubon field trips and walks. Students with 50 hours of service receive an Audubon Yes! award. Volunteers encourage participation in Audubon's youth-oriented programs.

You can now search Mitch's columns on line for references to any species or group of birds seen during the last several years. By going to Audubon'sweb site <http://www.LMconsult.com/pvaudubon>, you can use Webmaster Lewis Morton's unique BirdSearch engine to hunt up every reference to the bird you select.

This page is part of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society website.