Whole Life Magazine

April / May 2016

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Photo by Lina Shanklin, Great blue heron nest N esting great blue herons. En- dangered least terns that fl y from Guatemala each spring to lay their eggs in the beach sand. Rare Orcutt's yellow pincushion wildfl ow- ers. An autumnal roost of hundreds of monarch butterfl ies fi nding nighttime refuge in a wild and mysterious euca- lyptus grove where great horned owls nest. It all sounds exotic, but these won- ders of nature are found on our very own L.A. coast. Some of our treasures of wildlife sce- nic areas include Del Rey Lagoon, Ballo- na Lagoon Marine Preserve, the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, Grand Canal Lagoon, Kenneth Hahn Regional Park, the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, Ballona Creek and the Venice Least Tern Preserve. Never heard of them? Don't feel bad; most people haven't. Our stretch of Pacifi c coast needs more awareness of its incredible biodiversi- ty—including 10 species on the endan- gered species list—which can happen through better public access and shared information. This spring Congressman Ted Lieu (33rd District) is expected to introduce legislation that could lead to either ex- panding southward the boundaries of the Santa Monica Mountains Nation- al Recreation Area, or determining if a stand-alone L.A. Coast National Recre- ation Area might be more appropriate. The new designation could be modeled on San Francisco's Golden Gate Nation- al Recreation Area, which has embraced Alcatraz and brought federal funds to eco-tourism related amenities, such as Wonders of nature that are meant to be shared city of angels SECRETS OF THE L.A. COAST 12 wholelifetimes.com

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