Category: Ecology

Ecology

The dog did it

Once of the best reasons to get down to the river is stories … most of the offerings from this blog come from hanging out along its walkways and shoreline, and listening. It’s wonderful, really, to have a place in L.A. where people want to talk and share experiences. Here’s the latest, which fits into the “accident with a happy ending” category:

OK, you're right, this is not the pug that got rescued, but he sure is cute. (courtesy Dooziedog.com)

I’m standing on a rock in the middle of the river, the temp hovered in the middle-80s, not bad for January. I had on wading boots and shorts. It had been relatively peaceful when all of a sudden two kids, about 6 years old, broke from their parents on the tree-lined trail above and made quick for the flowing water. They laughed and yelled, leaping their way incautiously down the riprap slope.

And … what’s a dog — in this case a black-and-brown pug — to do, but follow the kids down the incline, then overshoot the bank, bellyflopping into the water.

Most winters, isolated TV reports show the L.A.F.D. rescuing all manner of things that shouldn’t be in the river, from adults, to kids, to horses, to dogs, and, yes, I think there was a mannequin pulled from the water within these past few weeks. Luckily, the Glendale Narrows section flows only briskly along its mostly natural bottom, a far cry from the dangerous concrete sluiceways created by the Army Corps of Engineers both above and below.

“He can’t swim,” Dad’s friend cried, as he hustled down the slope. The kids thought the dog was playing around. The dog looked as if he thought otherwise, little paws unsuccessfully trying to find purchase on the bank.

Unfortunately, Dad’s friend couldn’t put the brakes on his Keds fast enough and dunked, feet first, into the same still hole as the pug, ripping the backside of his shorts in the bargain.

Happy result: pug rescued, shaking off the chilly water; Dad’s friend, feeling a bit foolish as he looked at me, but triumphant none the less, hoisted himself to the bank; and the kids, well, they got a talking to:

“Let me tell you about the water down here,” Dad said as they walked away uphill, a grim sermon about to take place. I’m sure the rest of the sentence wasn’t about river safety, but about unclean water.

If you have kids, you’d say the same thing today.

But some day, if everyone who loves the river continues to insist on change, parents won’t have to scold their children about water quality, and can get back to basic training: water safety; how to swim; how to kayak; how to fly fish.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology, Worth a thousand words...

Speaking of astacology

I never thought I’d see one of these critters on the river, but there he was this afternoon, feeling all full of himself, putting his mini-lobster claws up in a defensive posture.

Crayfish, crawdaddy or mudbug, whatever you like to call them, they're alive and well in the L.A. River.

What’s also truly wonderful about seeing crawdaddies in the river is that most species can’t tolerate polluted water. That means that sweet smell of treated water must be more than just a scent. True, we’d all be much better off without the toxic runoff that spills through the basin, but seeing these tiny creatures just adds to the hope — and to nature’s mystery — as a multitude of birds, and several different species of fish, continue to make the river their home.

If you haven’t been down to the river lately, make it a New Year’s resolution to go often. It’s a wonderful, free experience in the heart of our city.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology, Equipment

Batter up: Carp clubbing takes river to new low

Here’s a winter’s tale that should prove cautionary and more.

We decided not to visually bust this guy for carp clubbing. He's the one who got away -- for now.

My son and I went out last week for some fishing on the city’s river. As we were leaving the water, we came upon a couple of friendly gents who intimately knew the area. Both had on caps; both had on backpacks; both had good senses of humor; and one should have been arrested:

“You don’t need that rod to catch carp down here,” said the one.

How could you not ask?

“What you need? You need a baseball bat, a Louisville Slugger, that’s what you need — a bat!”

He then went on to tell us that he and a friend “caught” three white plastic bucketfuls of carp in an hour, and lugged them to a nearby Korean buyer who paid cash. He said that the next day — Sunday — he went by  the buyer’s church and there was a big fish grill, making everyone happy.

“I don’t have a lot to do besides hanging out and drinking beer. Imagine, me in that water with my pants rolled up,” he said with a grin. “Nope, you don’t need that. You need a baseball bat.”

We all nodded like it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard, but by the time I got home, I wasn’t laughing anymore.

I called a marine biologist with the California Deptartment of Fish and Game to get her perspective.

“There’s nothing legal about anything you just told me,” Carrie Wilson said.

She went on to detail the wrongdoing:

“First off, taking with a baseball bat is not a legal take,” she said. “And a carp is still a California fish. That means you have to abide by fishing regulations.”

Those regs include owning a fishing license (you can buy one online this year), as well as having a commercial fish seller’s license.

Then there was the matter of the baseball bat. According to Wilson, a bow and arrow is a legal method of fishing in some areas of California, and spearing might also be allowed, she wasn’t sure. But whacking fish with a baseball bat? Positively ghetto in the worst sense.

Finally, even though the FoLAR’s 2008 Los Angeles River Fish found low levels of toxicity in fish analyzed for the report, serving up a heaping plateful of river carp is insidious. Think of your guests, man!

So if you see anyone yelling, “batter up,” and then swinging for the fences, call the Griffith Park Rangers.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology, Events

Quick Mends

Yes, once again under the “shameless promotion” category, this time KCET Departures Story Share allowed me to tell my tale about fly fishing on the river.

Even if you can't see the river, these bird-loving signs point the way.

Question: is all black the best look for a happy, early afternoon interview?

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology, Quick mends

Quick mends

Even if you heard this piece last night on New Jersey’s Passaic River, check out the video in which NPR  reporter Art Silverman talks about the rise, and fall — and hopefully rise again — of a waterway that jump-started our new country back in the day.

“She is crying out to be saved,” says the urban sherpa.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology

Do you take plastic? L.A. County bans single-use bags in unincorporated areas

Hoorah for Hollywood and now let’s cheer the L.A. County Board of Sups as well … Remember all the way back two weeks ago, when Prop. 26 was defeated? Well, today the supers voted 3-1 to ban plastic bags, which is cool, but it will only take place in unincorporated areas of the county. Think Altadena. That means the ban, which begins January 1, 2012, will not affect cities.

As a fly fisherman, you know you’re sick and tired of seeing trash in the Glendale Narrows, especially after a storm. So it should be worth it to either take your friggin’ bags with you on grocery runs, or pony up the dime that grocery stores will be able to charge for green bags.

Read all about it on L.A. Creek Freak, a thoroughly entertaining blog about the river.

After the storm: LA Public Works corrals debris caught by booms from the L.A. River. (Courtesy Algalita Marine Research Foundation)

See you on the river, Jim Burns