OPEN SPACES: The area at the end of Rosemont Avenue in La Crescenta is a mix of private property, flood control access and now eight acres purchased by the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. (Jim Burns)
Saturday was a good day in La Crescenta, Calif., at least for those who care about open space in our congested Los Angeles basin.
The Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy officially opened its latest acquisition, the 7.75-acre Rosemont Preserve. The land is situated behind a gate at the mouth of Goss Canyon, which is then backed by an additional 300 acres maintained, according to conservancy press materials, as mostly wilderness over the decades by private landowners. The gate will remain locked to control access to the property.
Scheduled to appear during the fete was L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who spearheaded $350,000 in grant money to acquire the now-protected acreage. Donors made up the additional $100,000, which included contributions of $250 from assembly members Mike Gatto (D-43rd district) and $500 from Anthony Portatino (D-44th district). According to Gatto’s office, he also helped to raise $10,000 toward the purchase. The sale price of $450,000 was under market value. The real estate site Zillow estimates one home situated on over two acres at the top of Rosemont Avenue at about $883,000.
Preserving the land secures habitat for a range of wildlife, including mule deer, mountain lions, bobcats, bears, coyotes and Arroyo toads, as well as at least 31 bird species, according to the conservancy.
Although it is a win for the area’s wildlife and for groups, most likely school children and volunteers who can access the property through the conservancy, the location remains problematic, at least for neighbors who fear for their serenity because of the newly acquired access. Indeed,while early guests arrived, one resident whose home is next to the gate asked for reassurance from John Howell, executive director and general counsel.
‘X’ MARKS THE SPOT: Local heavies, volunteers and donors were on hand to inaugurate the Rosemont Preserve in La Crescenta Saturday. (Jim Burns)
“They are understandably concerned. It’s been shut off forever. They are concerned about just opening the gates, having it be an open space. It’s not, it will be controlled access,” he said during an interview earlier in the week. “But probably more telling, more significant than that in terms of having it be controlled access is that there’s a neighbor to the north who owns 212 acres.
“So the worst thing that could happen, you know, is announce it, here it is, then a week later she’s got people on her property. She’s got webcams. The first words out of her mouth when I first met her were, ‘I just want you to guarantee that nobody’s going to come on my property. Period.’ So, we’re going to try to turn that negative into a positive.”
Apparently, neighbors had a hand in nixing another plan for the property, to turn it into a school in 2005. The owners of La Canada Preparatory then eventually sold to A&FC during negotiations that first began in 2007.
The next steps for the conservancy, the neighbors and property owners in the area will be about public access.
” It’s a two-step thing: save it and acquire it, and then what do you do with it then?” Howell said. ” Steward it, husband it and have it be a resource to the community. So we’re going kick off something called the Rosemont Society, which will be (composed of) folks who want to participate on a volunteer basis to help us manage the property.”
Hungry trout are the draw for hundreds of fisherman to escape city life for the High Sierra on Opening Day. (Jim Ruebsamen)
By Jim Ruebsamen, Contributor
Saturday brought us another Opening Day. Real sportsmen know what Opening Day is. And it isn’t the start of the baseball season. No, Opening Day signals the beginning, not necessarily of spring, but of fishing season in the High Sierra.
There is no other day like it. It could be raining, could be snowing, could be 40 mile per hour howling wind. It doesn’t matter. This year Opening Day, fortunately like most years, was a mild, sunny, breezy 75 degrees of pleasure.
Getting out, getting away from the city and all that it normally offers, is what Opening Day is all about. Of course, catching a few hungry trout would cap the day. However, this year had a slow start. Fish were being caught, but there were a lot of fishermen and fisherwomen who dropped lines but reeled in only reeds and lake grass.
There are over 300 species of birds that make their home in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, including seagulls. (Jim Ruebsamen)
Some reported a day of what some would call frustration, returning to their motels at dusk with nary a nibble, let alone a bite. But they said it with a weary smile for there is always tomorrow.
Around 20 student volunteers from Santee School in Los Angeles pose after rounding up the muck during the 23rd Annual L.A. River Cleanup Saturday. (Jim Burns)
The Bad
Gnarly Stuff: a typical haul out of the river. It smells as good as it looks. (Jim Burns)
With the upcoming river cleanup happening Saturday, it’s an appropriate time to check in with California State Senator Kevin De Leon SB1201, a bill that could bolster efforts to open up the Los Angeles River for lawful recreational uses, such as fishing. For context and the finer points, read this excellent summary from Legal Planet, a collaboration between UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. The site defines itself as “providing insight and analysis on energy and environmental law and policy.”
As a fly fisherman, here’s my beef in a nutshell: I’m tired of being in a legal access morass as soon as I cast into the water.
“We want to see legal access to the river for kayaking, fishing, and swimming. This won’t be the panacea that changes the river over night, but it will create a legal basis for people to come down to the river, FoLAR’s Lewis McAdams said to the wonky The Planning Report late last month.
“Fishermen have been ticketed. The City just uses a loitering ticket because they don’t have any L.A. River tickets. Of course it usually gets thrown out, but people have to spend the day downtown dealing with it. We want people to feel that the river is open. When I started Friends of the Los Angeles River, my first official act was cutting a big hole in the fence, declaring the river open. It’s only taken 25 years to get to this point. We’re at the point where the river is about to be opened, and we’re pushing the door gently open wider.”
Participants carry a large traditional carp-shaped wind sock called "Koinobori" at a parade demanding a stop to all nuclear power plants in Japan as part of an event for Earth Day in Tokyo. The carp banners are flown in Japan from April to early May to wish for the good health of children. (REUTERS)
… instead, sign up for FOLAR’s 23rd annual L.A. River clean up, Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. until noon. Check the link to find which of the 15 locations is best for you, then … sign up!
If you were wondering if today’s weather in the low 60s would stop the spring spawn, the answer’s a definite “no.” Unless it’s raining tomorrow, considering going to the river to see one of the coolest things we’ve got going on in L.A.: spawning carp running up the river. We watched dozens and dozens and dozens of beautiful gold and sometimes rust fish going absolutely nuts.
Anyone who’s fished the spawn know that it’s not easy, but here are some tips:
— don’t go after jumping fish. They won’t strike.
— do get those egg flies out. Tie a bunch in chartreuse. That’s the color.
— don’t expect the fish to strike in fast, running water. Look for the slow pools.
— do let your egg hit bottom, in front of the fish you’ve targeted.
— don’t let your line foul under seaweed. You’ll get broken off (happened today).
— do get excited that you can fish the L.A. River right now.
— don’t play the fish too tightly(happened today as well!). This is not a San Gabes trout. These are big, frickin’ fish.
— do bring your camera. It’s that amazing.
See you on the river, Jim Burns
Oh man, nothing like springtime carp fishing! (Jim Burns)
If you think the only “boil” happens with calico bass in the Pacific, get down to the river, right now. (Jim Burns)
Tie up some extra-fatty egg flies in chartreuse. And don’t forget to use sexy red No. 6 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks. (Jim Burns
Could this sign soon include "national recreation area"? (Courtesy Forest Camping)
Darn, you must be saying to yourself, I loved paying $30 a year for the right to park my car on public lands to go fishing. Well, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times, the unpopular fee is about to join such other relics of the past as the Edsel, 8-track tape players and the same newspaper’s Food section (Today was its last issue …).
In other words, California fly fishing just got a little bit less expensive!
About a hundred attended the City of L.A.'s River Update event Thursday evening. (Jim Burns)
“The River Study is moving. For the first time, it made it to the President’s budget,” Carol Armstrong said to a group of about 100 participants at the River Update event, held this evening at the L.A. River School.
Armstrong, the point person for the city’s many river projects, went on to explain how Councilmember Ed Reyes, Nancy Steele of the Council for Watershed Health, Lewis MacAdams of Friends of the Los Angeles River and others went to Washington to talk to legislators about the important of funding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers L.A. River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study. The study is key to virtually all future plans to restore the river to a more natural state. Begun in 2006 with the city as the local partner, it looks at the 10-mile stretch of soft bottom that stretches from Glendale Narrows, plus Headworks Reservoir in Burbank, through downtown to First Street. This area, part of which is across from Griffith Park, is the most popular with fly fishers looking to hook carp. Besides having a soft bottom – as opposed to concrete – it contains what the Corps calls “ecological value” and has the most water in it year around.
Although only $100,000 will come from the 2013 federal budget, the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power contributed $1 million, as did the leadership of the Army Corps, committing $350,000. When completed in 2013, the study will have cost almost $10 million.
In 1995, political restoration activities began with the county, which led to the City Council’s approval of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan in May, 2007, created with $3 million from the Department of Water and Power’s deep coffers. The plan contains many items, including revitalizing the river, greening adjacent neighborhoods and creating value through economic opportunities
As Josephine Axt, the Army Corps lead planner told the audience, don’t expect any real result until June, 2013. Still, the funding was good news for river advocates.
With the upcoming river cleanup happening Saturday, it’s an appropriate time to check in with California State Senator Kevin De Leon SB1201, a bill that could bolster efforts to open up the Los Angeles River for lawful recreational uses, such as fishing. For context and the finer points, read this excellent summary from Legal Planet, a collaboration between UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. The site defines itself as “providing insight and analysis on energy and environmental law and policy.”
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