Don't call it a comeback.No, the Militant isn't referring to his recent return to blogging, which may or may not have come after a vacation to an unspecified far-off land, illness, a busy schedule, just plain laziness, or one or more of the above.
The Militant is talking about wetlands.
The original pre-urban Southern California landscape was once dotted with wetlands, swamps and marshes, which go down as far south as San Diego. Here in Los Angeles, wetlands live on mainly in the historical etymology of streets (i.e. La Cienega - "The Swamp") or, as one of the most well-known remaining wetland areas - the Ballona Wetlands south of Marina Del Rey.
Another well-known wetland is the Bixby Slough, an area near Harbor City and Carson, straddled by the 110 Freeway. Today it makes up Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, which contains Lake Machado, best known worldwide as the former home of Reggie The Alligator, who at one point was Southern California's most popular reptile, surpassing this guy for a time.
Today's Ken Malloy Park is but a tiny fraction of the size the original wetlands area was, but the Militant is glad to report that a recently-restored part of the Bixby Slough is making a return in the 21st century.
On Saturday, August 1, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District will open to the public the Bixby Marshland, a 17-acre plot of wetlands near the corner of Sepulveda Blvd and Figueroa Street (yes, they do intersect!) in Carson. The Sanitation District, which runs a water pollution control plant nearby, has decided to restore the marshland to support native flora and fauna to re-create the ecosystem once lost in the rush to industrialize the land.
You can't just walk in anytime, though, the Bixby Marshland will only be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month -- which means you'll only have today, September 5, October 3, November 7 and December 5 of this year to check it out.
The Militant may or may not be there today, but if you spot him (give it a shot, who knows?), raise a fist and he'll raise his back!
Is it part of Peck Park? High schools used to use that area for cross country....
ReplyDeleteOh, looks like we are missing the Historical Filipinotown tour:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.filipinoamericanlibrary.org/
Thanks Philpalm, the Militant was at the Historic Filipino town festival last year: http://militantangeleno.blogspot.com/2008/08/happy-birthday-historic-filipinotown.html and took the tour a few years ago. Apparently they do the bus tours at least twice a year.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better, man!
ReplyDeleteI used to travel by the La Ballona Wetlands every day on my way to high school in Playa del Rey. The swamp was located along side the Marina del Rey channel and the foot of the old Hughes Aircraft landing strip, next to Culver Blvd. There was nothing distinctive about it, and we avoided it as potentially dangerous. I'm glad they haven't drained it for development, because it's one of the few things in that area that hasn't been eliminated for yuppified condos or business parks.
ReplyDelete