Your votes in the November 5 statewide election can make a big difference in fulfilling the Chapter's goals of restoring Harbor Park's habitats and other key areas in the South Bay. Here are brief descriptions of two important propositions on the ballot. Both deserve your support and votes!

Proposition 50: The Clean Water and Coastal Protection Bond

Audubon California has endorsed Proposition 50 on the November 5 ballot. Southern California (including Harbor Park!) should be a major beneficiary of Proposition 50. This ballot measure will provide $3.44 billion for protection and restoration of wetlands and coastal watersheds and for clean and safe drinking water quality and water security. The bond will also provide funds for regional water management, including local water supply and water imported from the State Water Project and the Colorado River.

Environmentalists are supporting Proposition 50 because it will fund projects that protect the environment directly and indirectly. Business groups are supporting Proposition 50 because it ensures a more reliable, cost-effective supply of water in the future. Health-care professionals are supporting Proposition 50 because it will keep dangerous chemicals out of our drinking water. The bond also provides funding needed to help fix deteriorating water facilities. Farmers are supporting Proposition 50 because it will help provide reliable water supplies for California communities and agriculture. For more information on Prop 50, go to <http://www.prop50yes.com>.

Proposition 51: The Traffic Congestion Relief and Safe School Bus Act

Audubon California also has endorsed Proposition 51, which would allocate 30% of the state share of the sales tax on new and used motor vehicles to a new trust fund for transportation improvements around the state. This fund would generate approximately $910 million a year.

By establishing a permanent annual program to reduce the impacts of transportation, the proposition will enhance water quality, protect wetlands, other habitats and open space, improve air quality, and safeguard river parkways in a number of ways. For instance, Proposition 51 will generate $90 million each year for acquiring or enhancing open-space lands and key wildlife habitats such as wildlife corridors. The proposition also provides funds for the restoration of rivers and for bike and hiking paths along rivers. Environmentally-sensitive transportation programs such as public transit, clean-fuel school buses, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities will also benefit.

Proposition 51 has been endorsed by more than 200 organizations besides Audubon, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Planning and Conservation League, the Trust for Public Land, California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG), Sierra Club California, Endangered Habitats League, National Wildlife Federation, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association of California, and a cross-section of transportation, business, labor, health, education, and children's safety advocacy organizations.

More information about Proposition 51, including the full list of endorsers and complete text of the initiative, can be found at <http://www.voteyesonprop51.org>.

Hello! My name is Rebecca Holtz and I am a senior at San Pedro High School. I first became involved in Audubon Yes! when I joined San Pedro High's Earth Club in the tenth grade. My interest in Yes! activities grew and I earned the Audubon Yes! Award the next year. At about this time, I became involved in the Audubon Yes! Council, a group of leaders and Yes! Awardees from high schools and middle schools throughout the South Bay. The Yes! Council is on the verge of an exciting new year, and I am looking forward to spending my time with other young environmentalists on the Council.

As some of you may know, the Audubon Yes! Council frequently discusses the progress of the entire Audubon Yes! program. As an involved leader in Audubon Yes!, I'd like to share some thoughts with you. Last May, 54 students received the Audubon Yes! Award. Three earned the Audubon Yes! Council Award, and two received the 2002 Youth Conservation Award. (Even more South Bay students are working towards these awards at the present). Less than one month later, 24 committed young people attended the Yes! Council's end-of-the-year meeting.

The Audubon Yes! program is rapidly growing as more and more young people are finding a way to express their environmental values.

As members of the Audubon Society, you all share core environmental values. The fact that you are reading this newsletter demonstrates a level of concern for the well-being of our planet. Many of you may be all too familiar with the frustration of an environmental conscience, of knowing that there exist many thorns in Mother Nature's side, and of not knowing how to help pull them out.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by such thorns as we watch the news, read the paper, gaze at a smoggy sky, or walk along a trash-strewn beach. Yet hundreds of dedicated South Bay youths are nursing Mother Nature back to health every weekend by volunteering their time and energy.

I encourage you to follow their lead. I urge you to take advantage of the volunteer opportunities provided by Audubon, as so many people have already. The numbers of energetic young volunteers attests to the satisfaction and enjoyment that volunteering brings. I hope that we can help you find the same satisfaction.

See you at the next Audubon event!

Each summer, chapter leaders gather to review our long-term strategic plan and set goals for the coming year. In July, 17 Auduboners, including several young people, gathered at Whole Foods Market for a working session facilitated by Audubon~California's Jill Shirley, who came down from Sacramento to help out. The meeting was thought a great success by all, and several programs were identified for special attention during the next year.

Overall progress toward our principal long-term objective of building an Audubon Natural Heritage Center at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park was thought to be good. A number of administrative needs were identified which would be best served if we had a Harbor Park Program Coordinator. We will work to create this position using a student intern. It was also noted that Proposition 50, coming up on the November ballot, will be a great vehicle for funding park programs—it reads as if it were ALL meant for Harbor Park.

Audubon YES! has entered its ninth year, and the growth predicted a year ago continues. Most of the tasks we identified for the coming year are aimed at making the administration of the program manageable, improving public outreach for the program, and providing a venue large enough to hold our Audubon YES! Awards ceremony next spring. Although everyone who went enjoyed the Conservation Awards Banquet last May immensely, the cost meant that many Audubon YES! parents and siblings could not attend. But Audubon YES! is intended to be inclusive, not exclusive. Thus our plan is to hold our next awards ceremony at Torrance's Armstrong Theater, or an equivalent place, where we can invite everyone to come free of charge. Of course, we will need financial sponsors for the event, but are sure that can be arranged.

We will be moving forward this year with our plans to spread our conservation activism into more communities than we reach now. We have some voice in almost every one of the cities in our chapter's territory. But for too many of them, it is a voice limited to one or two issues and far from representative of the broad conservation concerns of those who live here. If Audubon is to be the effective grass-roots based environmental organization it aims to be, we must greatly broaden our reach.

In 2003, Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon will be 25 years old. We intend to celebrate in a big way. Over the years, we have achieved a great deal, and in the years ahead we will continue that tradition. All of our major activities in the coming year will be centered around our 25thAnniversary. We will start with the Great Backyard Bird Count, which we expect to turn into a grand weekend event for everyone, and go on from there. You will hear much more about our Anniversary plans in the next issue of Hummin'.

Of course, most of the work we do takes money. Although we have many wonderful volunteers who put in hundreds of hours each year in support of our chapter, there are always insurance, educational materials and office-related outlays. Then, too, our most labor intensive programs have to have paid staff. Virtually all of our funding is generated within the chapter. National Audubon does give us a little, but that is not enough even to pay for the newsletter members receive. Thus, I ask for your financial support. The money you give to Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon goes for local programs that meet local needs. Thanks.

The chapter nominating committee is accepting nominations for officers and directors before presenting a slate to the membership at the October 29 meeting. Elections will be held at the November 26 Annual Meeting (see calendar). If you or someone you know is interested in serving, please contact Jess Morton, 310-832-5601.

We are happy to report two recent legislative successes. In the June/July issue of Hummin', we reported on two bills introduced by local legislators. One bill, introduced by Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), proposed to reduce air pollution from diesel trucks in the port area. Riding a wave of concern over the impact of Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors on local residents, the bill moved through the legislature remarkably quickly. Amendments which made the bill more workable for the ports while maintaining protections for our lungs led to passage of SB 2650 on August 29. The bill now awaits the Governor's signature.

On July 22, Governor Davis signed AB 1493, legislation introduced by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) that calls for reducing greenhouse gases from new automobiles and light-duty trucks whose primary use is not commercial. The Governor signed the legislation in the face of a multi-million dollar campaign by special interests attacking the law.

In arguing for the Governor's signature, Assemblywoman Pavley noted that California, the fifth largest economy in the world, generates most of its greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Recent scientific studies warn that climate change may cause an earlier melt of the Sierra snowpack, and could increase smog in cities and valleys. The legislation's restrictions will apply only to vehicles manufactured for the 2009 model year or later.

First, about the botulism at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park...Many of the water birds' nesting cycles were shut down, abandoned, due to the botulism event. Surely many lost their young. Some renested, evidenced by late fledging dates. Most of the 300+ non-native ducks dumped there perished, fortunately. But do-gooders were promptly replacing them, by dumping more!! Unfortunately the 20+ dumped geese lived through it, except one Canada Goose.

There was essentially no replacement of waterbird populations, like Coot for instance, due to a complete lack of young this year. Ruddy Ducks numbered 72 on June 11, 36 on July 5, with only 22 left by Aug. 6. The difference likely died due to the botulism. Numbers of summering Gadwall and Teal collapsed similarly, with only a few young produced after the event. At the end of the nesting season, there are normally well over a hundred Coots instead of the less than 30 this year. That's less than the adult population we began the breeding season with! Fledglings of Ruddy Duck were 7/11 (3) & on 8/19 (6). A late Cinnamon Teal fledged 8/21.

Possibly record-early was the FOF (first of fall) Eared Grebe at Harbor Park (HP) 8/19 (MH-yours truly). Astounding was a near-alternate plumaged Red-necked Grebe nearby at Bolsa Chica 8/13-28+ (Jim Abernathy)! A Cookilaria (one of 6 similar species) Pterodroma Petrel on 8/24 was about 70 n.mi. WSW Pt.Conception (MH). Even better though was the first Streaked Shearwater ever documented south of Monterey, on 9/7, south of Sta. Cruz Isl. (MH). Two dozen on the LAAS pelagic trip saw it. In the vicinity of Redondo Cyn., on 6/28 Dr. Barney Schlinger had about 1000 Sooty and 250 Pink-footed Shearwaters. Mind blowing was a Boobyflying north past Pt.Vicente (Pt.V) on 9/1. It appeared to be an immature Masked to me, with white on rump and neck, and a uniform greenish bill.

At minimum 4 pairs of Least Bittern were on territory at HP this year, probably more. Scarce as of late, a Cattle Egret was at HP 8/20. Incredible was the only new bird added to the count circle list in a long time, a Tricolored Heron, found by Charlie Walker near the end of 22nd St. in San Pedro on 9/7.

Before the botulism event, Gadwall nested at HP raising a few young, but their survival was unknown. FOF Wild Mallards were at HP 8/22. The Redhead continued into July (packing lead?) at Alondra Pk (AlP) (David Moody-DM). The FOF Shoveller was at HP 8/19, with 4 present on 8/22. A Blue-winged Teal was there 8/19 also.

The FOF Osprey was on 7/27 at the LA River (LAR) (Kevin Larson-KL), then one at HP 7/29 (MH), and another 8/20 at HP. White-tailed Kite was at HP July, Aug., and Sept. The FOF Peregrine was at the LAR 7/13 (KL). Probably our earliest ever FOF Sora was 8/21 at HP. Most didn't notice the "Cootish" thing in the Daily Breeze HP picture early July, was a Common Moorhen, present all July, and a fledgling, likely from on-site breeding was seen 8/13 (MH).

Many shorebirds try to stop at HP. In Aug., some seen included Black-necked Stilt, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Spotted, Western, Least, and Bairds Sandpipers (8/5), Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's (5), Red-necked (up to 13) & Red Phalaropes(3 on 8/20)! Most drop down from the sky, find no safe place to land and after circling a few times the tired migrants must regain altitude, and continue south looking for acceptable habitat, because we've destroyed it all here. Again I plead for islet reconstruction, and a section of east-side shore allowed to be tule-free mudflat that is OFF LIMITS to people and dogs.

Two juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper were at the LAR 7/27 (KL). Andrew Lee had three there 8/17. Jerry Johnson saw a Stilt Sandpiper at Bolsa Chica on 8/17. Phenomenal was a Stint KL found at the LAR 8/25 which proved to be LA Co.'s first ever LITTLE STINT! (Todd McGrath, Guy McCaskie). It was not seen after 8/26. John Ivanov (JI) saw a Ruff there on 9/2.

A South Polar Skua flew south past Pt.V. on 9/2 (MH). A Heermann's Gull was at HP 7/31 (MB). Least Terns at HP were using the roosting platforms, with up to 4 juveniles on one platform, with a couple adults. They just needed a safe place to rest away from dog and people pressures! Two Black Ternswere at HP the afternoon of 8/8 (MB).

Amazing was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Manhattan Bch 7/20 which was emaciated and died despite best efforts (fide Bob Shanman & Anne Lynch). A female Broad-tailed Hummingbirdwas here at my hovel in Torrance 8/19. FOF Belted Kingfisher was on 7/29 at MM (DM); then 8/6 at HP (MH). After the previously reported Bank Swallow at HP on 7/5, another was at Torrance 7/30, and 2 were at HP most of August. JI saw 3 Purple Martin at the LA river on 9/2.

Unexplainable was a White-breasted Nuthatch at AlP on 8/22, found by guess who (DM). Then MB found 2 (!) at Chadwick on 9/3. Fire displacements? This was surpassed, though, by a Pygmy Nuthatch seen by Bob Beckler in his San Pedro neighborhood on 8/31. Two records in 20 years, both in August! A Phainopepla flew over mi casita on 8/30. An early Tropical Kingbird was at Pt.Fermin 9/1 (MH). The Byhowers found a Vireo at MM on 9/2 which DM proved to be a Bell's on 9/4.

I don't think Swainson's Thrush nested at the North-end Willows at HP this year; both of last years' territories are now homeless encampments. Wise use of resources, eh? Likewise fewer Yellow Warblers were present this summer than the last several, which I also attribute to the constant human presence, pressure, and consequent catastrophic habitat degradation.

On the flip side, two riparian obligate species summered, and almost certainly attempted nesting, but at the south end of the park, in a couple small, marginal, but UNDISTURBED patches of willows. A pair of endangered Least Bell's Vireos summered (since early May), one of which was still heard singing in August (MH 8-13). And a Yellow-breasted Chat still singing in late July, also present over 6 weeks, seems likely to have attempted nesting. Both are species high on the list of those we hope to entice to return to nest again, with restoration.

Fall landbird migration starts in late June with Ash-throated Flycatchers usually. By July a few things are moving, and late July can really have some action if one goes to look. By August you'd be amazed what is moving, IF you go look for migrant landbirds. Warblers, Tanagers, Buntings, Grosbeaks are all on the move by August. DM saw a `Western' Flycatcher at WP on 7/24, a Lazuli Bunting at MM on 7/27, and at AlP a Wilson's Warbler on 7/31. Then in August he continued at AlP with a Western Tanager 8/2, Nashville Warbler 8/8, Townsend's Warbler on 8/15, Hermit Warbler on 8/16, plus 7 Western Tanagers on 8/16 as well. GREAT JOB David Moody! I counted an unbelievable 30 Western Tanagers at Banning Pk. on 8/20, after a couple days of deep marine layer. MB saw an American Redstart at the old PV dump site 8/28.

Tricolored Blackbirds had a second fledging at HP, on 7/20, over 30 freshly fledged juveniles, with feather sheaths still present on their heads. Either they nested twice, or some early failed breeders renested. Hooded Orioles seem to be anywhere with a Washington Palm or two.... I had 3 juveniles together in my yard 8/25-30. I suspect the Grackles at HP were scavenging on the carcasses, since their numbers seemed to collapse after the big die-off too. DM reported an early Clay-colored Sparrow at MM on 8/31. Margaret Hoggan reported 2 female Lawrence's Goldfinchat her RPV feeders 8/8, and a male on 8/24. Always a good bird here locally; Margaret is the PV "Lawry" Queen.

There exists very strong evidence that fires displace birds to PV. Especially those common coastal chapparal/oak species that do not normally occur here: Western Bluebird, Plain Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Acorn and Nuttall's Woodpeckers, etc., so look for these species in the months to come. Sept., Oct., and Nov., are usually the best three months for local birding, with the peak of fall migration bringing stuff to every green, or wet spot you can find. The key is to visit them as much as possible, since things change overnight. Mark your calendar for the CBC which is Sunday 12/22.

I want to personally thank everyone who supported this column, and therefore the chronicles of bird sightings around the PV/So.Bay area, the last 12 years. I have really appreciated it! Like the CBC, it is only a reflection of the good people who contribute! Thank you all! Please give Kevin Larson (cbirdr@attbi.com) all the support you have given me over the years, and report all your interesting stuff to him, so the tradition of chronicles of avian occurrences of interest in the PV/SoBay area, can continue.

If you like bird sounds and song, I can't say enough about the Orbitor, which will more than double your birding pleasure. Bob Shanman has them at his Wild Birds Unlimited store. I don't leave home without it. Listen to the hummer wings at your feeders, you'll be blown away! Be able to hear every chip and leaf rustle on the other side of the canyon! Remember to learn and use size, shape, and structure, to identify birds.

Peace, Love, and great birds and birding to you all!

For the last time, think global, bird local!

The Bush Administration continues its assault on the network of environmental protection that it took us years to construct. The Administration's most recent target is the backbone of environmental protection, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law in 1969 by President Nixon. This "Magna Carta" of environmental regulation requires the following. If a federal agency is thinking of taking an action or starting a program that could significantly affect the environment, it is required to draft an Environmental Impact Statement that identifies the impacts of the proposed action, considers reasonable alternatives, and identifies ways to reduce the harm. This information must then be made available for public comment.

Recently, the Navy prevailed upon the Justice Department and the Council on Environmental Quality to loosen NEPA protections. Under the new interpretation, no environmental review would be required before testing or deploying powerful sonar devices that could expose hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean to potentially harmful sound levels. Even though the Navy has identified sonar testing as the cause of mass strandings of four species of whales in the Bahamas, it is insisting that its program for developing sonar devices should not be subject to scrutiny under NEPA.

Jean-Michel Cousteau and Joel Reynolds wrote the following in the Los Angeles Times for August 22:

"If the law is weakened, however, this change would affect far more than the Navy. It would affect coastal communities, commercial and recreational fishing, beachgoers, scuba divers, and anyone else who depends on the health of our ocean resources for their livelihood, recreation, or quality of life.

"With depleted fish populations, endangered whales and sea turtles, growing ocean "dead zones," toxic algal blooms, and high-intensity sonar systems that can bombard ocean basins with sound, we cannot afford to dispense with the protections of the National Environmental Policy Act and the public accountability that it guarantees."

We hear about Administration attacks on NEPA from all sides, but the most serious blow is now being discussed in Congress. The President's cynically named "Healthy Forests Initiative" is being presented as a plan to reduce forest fires, when its true aim is to dismantle NEPA, eliminate the public's right to have a say in the management of their public lands, and remove safeguards that hold public land managers accountable for decisions that may threaten our wild forests, fish, wildlife, and water.

In an attempt to privatize our national forests, the plan authorizes long-term stewardship contracts that allow lumber companies and the Forest Service to log merchantable trees to pay for hazardous fuel reduction. Such an approach removes the larger, more fire-resistant trees, and leaves behind the smaller, more flammable material. It also creates a lot of highly combustible slash debris—branches and twigs from felled trees. In our travels through forests, we have seen all too many clearcuts covered with this kind of trash and debris. Removing mature trees reduces the cooling and shading by the forest canopy, creating hotter, drier conditions on the ground.

Thousands of scientific reports have documented the long-term environmental damage associated with extensive commercial logging, including seriously increased severity of forest fires. Such analyses point to drought as a primary cause of this summer's out-of-control fires, and blame global warming. Not only is our government taking no action against global warming, but it hindered world consideration of such action at the Johannesburg Summit.

Can funds generated from the sale of commercial timber pay for the necessary fuel reduction? According to the General Accounting Office, the Forest Service consistently spends more money on managing timber sales than it actually receives from sales. Environmentalists have long complained about hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies, much of it used for road-building in our forests. The Bush plan would increase these subsidies.

We must contact our Senators and Representatives in Congress and urge that they

• Oppose any legislation that suspends environmental laws or limits public involvement in forest or ocean management decisions. There is no need to weaken environmental laws for emergency purposes, since necessary provisions already exist.

• Oppose authorizing stewardship contracts that would allow logging of large fire-resistant trees to pay for removal of hazardous fuel.

• Make community protection from fire the top priority. The Forest Service should allocate funds for the removal of hazardous fuels in the critical zones near communities.

• Prevent a rapid and destructive increase in commercial logging of our most sensitive and important national forests, and stop logging in all roadless areas.

We must do more than write our congressional representatives. We must organize to protect our environment and our planet. The forces arrayed against us are formidable. Life on earth is at stake.

Those of us who care must be more proactive! Join the Chapter's conservation committee. Contact me now to see what you can do to help our environment to survive the assaults on the environment by the current Administration. I can be reached at 310-545-1384 or lklight@aol.com. If you sign up with Audubonaction@audubon.org or jklement@audubon.org, you will receive action alerts that will enable you to try to stop the present overwhelming attack on the laws protecting our earth.

Your planet's survival is worth fight for!

The Central Valley Bird Club is hosting the Sixth Annual Central Valley Birding Symposium on Nov. 21-24 at the Radisson Hotel in Stockton, CA. Speakers include Kevin Karlson, Shawneen Finnegan, Ed Harper, Jon Dunn, Kimball Garrett, Joe Morlan, and others. There will be field trips, workshops, classes for beginning and advanced birders, and a "Birder's Market" with vendors and artists selling birding related items. You will find more information at the symposium's website (http://cvbs.org).

Migrate to one of the country's pre-eminent birding spots and join the Morro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) for the 7th Annual Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival on January 17-20. Morro Bay, an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, is recognized worldwide for its diversity of both resident and wintering birds with more than 200 species identified during past Festivals. This event is sponsored by MCAS and gives you the chance to join local and national birding experts on a variety of field trips and workshops.

For more information about the Festival, check out the MCAS website at www.morro-bay.net/birds, which is updated on a regular basis, or call the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce at (800)-231-0592. The registration deadline is December 31, 2002 and early signups are encouraged as the most popular events fill up quickly.

This summer, our Audubon chapter instituted a student intern program. Three of the interns assisted Holly Gray and Debbie Baker with the Summer Education program at Harbor Park. Their job was to oversee the volunteer work of the Audubon Naturalists and help make sure that none of the school children from Normont Elementary School who attended the program strayed from where they were supposed to be. Two of the three, Viri Nava and Irma Velzaquez, are graduates of the Audubon Naturalist program and Audubon YES! Award winners. Our third intern, Banning High Junior Arturo Garcia, was new to the program. All three proved to be exceptionally capable young leaders from whom we can expect much in the coming years.

Two other interns, San Pedro High's Rebecca Holtz and Peninsula High's Ellen Zuckerman, carried out other tasks for Audubon. Rebecca, also a YES! Award winner, put together a database of chapter members and began the process of interviewing chapter members. Over the next few months, we plan to build a profile of our membership so we can better gauge needs and interests. Ellen has been putting together the Audubon YES! web site, which will play an important role in making Audubon YES! accessible to the broadest possible participation.

Why so many articles about Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park? One reason is that your PV/South Bay Audubon Society has made Harbor Park our Number 1 priority for preservation, enhancement and development of educational programs. Take the following quiz and find out more about the challenge and opportunity of our park!

1. Lake Machado (a.k.a. Harbor Lake) was formed by:
1. an oxbow bend along a former path of the LA River,
2. humans, or
3. drainage from the surrounding areas.

The answer is "a." The lake has existed a long time, even though the LA River has changed course many times. Unfortunately, the lake is currently sustained only by "c", which consists almost entirely of low-quality storm street runoff.

2. It was once possible to:
1. Row a canoe from the estuary adjacent to the salt flats of Redondo Beach to Lake Machado,
2. See clapper rails, yellow billed-cuckoos, grizzly bears, timber wolves along the shores of the lake,
3. Stand on the bluffs above Lake Machado while, for minutes at a time, the sky went black with ducks and geese, as you quickly unfolded your parasol, or
4. All of the above.

The answer is "d", although you probably would have had to make do with a willow bough instead of a parasol.

3. Harbor Park and the surrounding lands have been a:
   1. Trash dump,
   2. Source of drilling muds for the oil industry,
   3. Part of a larger plain, flooded seasonally with brackish water from the ocean,
   4. An example of one of the richest and most biologically productive ecosystems on earth,
   5. A Native American village, Spanish land-grant rancho, and flood control retention basin,
   6. A dumping ground for unwanted pets, or
   7. All of the above.

   Once again, "all of the above." (Are you getting the hang of this?)

4. Harbor Park hosts:
1. A day-labor pickup site,
2. A boy-scout camp,
3. A popular nature education site for local schools,
4. A site for weekend parties by clubs of low-riders, or
5. Habitat for more than 200 species of birds, with a historical record of more than 300 species. (More than anywhere else regionally!)

"All of the above", again! Pretty schizophrenic place, eh? Or is it called "multiple use" these days?

--Martin Byhower

Here's one last question in our quiz (see previous page) about Harbor Park:

5. Harbor Park is likely to become:
1. A chronically-polluted swamp, then grassland, as sediments from Palos Verdes combines with local polluted street-runoff to choke the lake out of existence,
2. What it has been in recent years--a neglected, under-funded and mismanaged park plagued by crime, vandalism, avian botulism, mosquitoes and the impacts of more than 100 homeless people.
3. The crown jewel in the LA City Parks system, possessing:
• A Regional Audubon Center, hosted in large part by your local Audubon chapter, with demonstration gardens, exhibits, a library, staff offices, and a range of educational and recreational programs for the entire community,
• A wildlife rich community of several habitat types, including a thriving freshwater lake, with seasonally-flooded wetlands; a healthy willow-riparian forest with boardwalk trails; a rich coastal sage scrub habitat; and a network of safe trails providing access to all of these, and
• A regionally-significant wildlife resource with educational programs for local schools and rich opportunities for use and enjoyment by campers, birders, picnickers, walkers, bikers, photographers and scientists, among others.

The answer to this last question depends in large part upon YOU! If you are interested in learning how to make this dream a reality, please read on.

Your PV/South Bay Audubon Society, along with the Park Advisory Board for Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, has been playing a pivotal role in creating the future of the park. The Chapter and the Advisory Board are committed to a park that is the crown jewel in the Los Angeles City Parks System and hosts a Regional Audubon Center, a rich community of wildlife, and a center for educational programs.

Our long-overdue Master Plan for the Park, first released in 1994 but never officially approved, has been updated. Soon, local Councilwoman Janice Hahn will usher the plan through city agencies and the Los Angeles City Council. When approved, the plan will serve as a blueprint for management and improvements to the park.

The changes that will make the Park what we hope it can become are varied. Most of these changes cost money, and some are quite expensive. However, staff in city agencies and the Chapter are all working to acquire funds for many of the projects.

Many of the problems at the park came to a head this summer_vandalism, avian botulism, degradation and fires caused by homeless encampments, and mosquito outbreaks. Many of these problems reflect the low priority given the park by the city and the lack of routine management.

Over the years, soil and debris carried by uncontrolled runoff from surrounding areas, including the Palos Verdes Peninsula, have nearly filled the lake. As the lake has become shallower, tules and other vegetation have overgrown. The expansion of the tules has reduced the diversity of wildlife in the park and created breeding habitat for mosquitoes. Cutting the tules, as is now occurring, can help restore balance in the lake, but it consumes time and money, and is only a short-term solution.

Although dredging the sediments from the lake is quite expensive, it is the only long-term solution to the problems created by tules. Dredging also is key to restoration of habitat in the lake and for reducing the risk of future outbreaks of avian botulism. The construction of a catch basin upstream from the lake would also help reduce the amount of sediment flowing into the lake in the future. The dredged sediments also can be used in constructing nesting islands for birds.

The quality and distribution of water in the lake are big issues, also. We are searching for a source of continuously flowing water, such as water recycled, that would ensure better quality water. With a continuous supply of water, as well as a system of weirs, it would be possible to control the level of the lake. In this way, park managers could flush pollutants from the lake and increase suitable habitat, such as wetlands, for shorebirds and waterfowl. Raising water levels can also increase the opportunity for Gambusia fish to find and eat mosquito larvae.

Another important part of our vision of the park is linking the beautiful (and poorly-named) Wilmington Drain to the park, perhaps by a pedestrian bridge over Pacific Coast Highway. This channel is now the principal source of water for the lake. Trash and overgrown non-native plants hinder full appreciation of this area just north of the park. However, this lovely and wildlife-rich cienega can be restored to its former grandeur, as the California Department of Fish and Game intends to do.

The Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department has a new General Manager, Manuel Mollinedo. Mr. Mollinedo is known improving conditions for animals at the Los Angeles Zoo. The once-degraded zoo now is among the nation's finest. Mr. Mollinedo regards management of Harbor Park as a high priority. Among other things, he has committed to acquiring an office for full-time staff at the park in the near future.

Full-time staff at the park can address a critical problem at the park: park users' ignorance of appropriate activities, such as picnicking, jogging, camping by permit in the campground, catch and release fishing, and wildlife study. Feeding and dumping wildlife, running dogs off-leash, driving vehicles off-road through habitat, vandalism of fences and habitat-restoration areas, and applying graffiti are inappropriate. Yet these inappropriate activities occur regularly in the park.

You, dear reader, are also a critical part of our plans for the park. A small corps of activists can achieve a great deal. But they need broad support and a continuous infusion of energy and ideas. We need informed park-advocates making sure our public servants keep the park at the top of their priority list.

We also need a large and engaged membership to show that we truly represent a wide community of park users and supporters. We need attendees and volunteers at our monthly bird walks, habitat restoration parties, Park Advisory Board and Audubon Board meetings and more. We need people with motivation and experience to help with publicity, fundraising, planning and designing our Natural Heritage Center and education programs at the park, and coordinating volunteer activities.

Photo by Dave Rydman

Harbor Park has been called a diamond in the rough. While standing at the dam in the early morning, listening to a Least Bell's Vireo, watching Least Terns teach their young to feed on fish, catching a furtive glance of a Least Bittern scooting from one patch of reeds to another, and seeing a flock of Tricolored Blackbird pass noisily overhead, I have come to love the park and visualize what it once was and, more importantly, what it can become. You may get the same feeling by watching children delighting in the crayfish, mosquitofish and dragonflies along the shoreline. Or maybe experiencing the serenity of the breeze across a lake of blue and green, in the heart of a park-poor region. To know Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park is to love it, and I encourage you to come to know your park, and the Audubon Chapter that is dedicated to its preservation, even better!

For more info on how to become involved:

• Ensure that your membership in PV/South Bay Audubon is current
• Come on the Second Sunday bird walks and the third Saturday habitat restoration parties (see Calendar)
• Contact Jess Morton (310-832-5601 or jmorton@igc.org) or Martin Byhower (310-374-7473 or MBinRBC@aol.com).

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.

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