Results tagged “parks”

One year ago this Thursday, the Freeway Complex fire broke out. The 30,305-acre fire destroyed 314 homes. Two years ago this past Sunday, the Santiago Fire ignited, eventually burning through 28,517 acres and destroying 14 homes.

Photographer and Manhattan Beach resident Jake Rome this morning let us know that officials decided to keep the popular park closed as city staff figure out how to solve neighborhood problems. In a comment, he writes: Just an FYI, the council decided to keep the park closed until they've developed and implemented a mitigation that discourages sufficient number of people from using the dune.

       

In early August, Manhattan Beach officials closed the popular Sand Dune Park for maintenance after a busy Summer with a high rate of visitors. About a month later, it was ready to be reopened, but didn't.

Keep your eyes peeled for the perfect spot--not to park your car but to park your butt or two feet in a comfy, welcoming, back-to-nature focused space meant to remind us that in all this concrete we need to have some green space. You'll find spaces all over town converted into mini-green getaways, complete with all manner and variety of benches, greenery, decor, motifs, and opportunities to socialize with people from the neighborhood. Hosted by citizens, groups, architecture firms and others, these once-a-year spots are worth checking out today.

It's that time of year again and one that we love. Tomorrow is Park[ing] Day, where citizens, groups, architecture firms and others take a city parking space and turn it into a park. Make sure to visit one of your local parks as it only lasts one day. There's also a bicycle ride touring many of the parks for those with the day off.

On Tuesday, the State Assembly passed Senate Bill 679, meant to protect the state park system and ensure that lands used as state parks cannot be used for non-park purposes without providing substitute lands. "The least we can do is not dismantle the system," explained Traci Verardo-Torres with the California State Parks Foundation, a sponsor of the bill.

Although no closure list has been handed out, this is the last weekend before many State Parks are expected to close. Faced with nearly $39 million cuts to its budget, State Park officials wanted to hold off until the last minute, hoping cities, nonprofits and corporations would step up and partner to save state parks. For every park saved by one entity could mean the another park saved with the department's dwindling budget.

In order to keep some--not all--state parks open, California State Parks will be increasing fees beginning next Monday. The move comes after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed nearly $39 million from parks last month in the state budget. Officials say that it is likely some parks will close, but are seeking to partner with communities and corporations to keep some open.

California State Parks director Ruth Coleman said that the agency faces a total of about $39 million in cuts after the new budget, which directly states a $14.2 million cut, was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today. Additionally, $2.4 million was siphoned from a cigarette tax fund because less people are smoking. Furloughs and salary cuts round out the large number (Note: a full budget fact sheet is embedded below).

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signed California's budget today, making additional cuts to fill a $1.1 billion gap left by legislators in their approved package. An additional $6.2 million was cut from state parks after an $8 million cut was proposed last week. That makes a total of $14.2 million, a number the Schwarzenegger's office predicts "will result in the closure of probably more than 100 parks."

Under the new drought rules banning sprinkler use--save for early mornings and nights on Mondays and Thursdays--city parks, especially those in the sweltering Valley, are turning brown. Now they want an exemption from the strict water rules so the public doesn't have to picnic and play soccer on brown fields. They claims they've reduced water consumption by 40% over the past two years and the LADWP Board of Commissioners seem to agree larger than normal properties such as parks, colleges and cemeteries deserve a break from the rule if they can show a 20% reduction in water. The City Council will consider that measure today in a meeting.

The deal to solve our state budget deficit has basically come to a conclusion, but it's not final yet and we still don't know what parks will close with at least $8 still million proposed to be cut. The California Parks Foundation, in an e-mail this afternoon, explains the latest: "The details are not yet in print, but several sources are confirming that $70 million of the park system's General Fund allocation will be eliminated, with $62 million backfilled by other funding sources on what appears to be a one-time basis. This leaves the state park system with an $8 million gap, and is expected to result in park closures. At this time, there is not a list of certain closures, we do not know how many or which parks may be closed as a result of the budget deal. Considering where we started just 8 weeks ago, this outcome is better for state parks than most people could have imagined. We are not finished - the Legislature still needs to approve the budget deal by the end of the week and more details need to come out regarding the parks that will close - but the fact that we're looking at a much more scaled-down version of park cuts than we started with is welcome news."

The behind doors budget deficit talks have been quite hush-hush leaving a big question mark on the latest for the survival of California's state parks. "There's not a lot of information coming out now about the parks issue," said Traci Verardo-Torres of the California State Parks Foundation who said environmental issues are rumored to be the subject of discussions today in the private budget meetings. What Verado-Torres does know is that 60,000 people have sent 128,000 letters to the Governor and legislators through their online advocacy system. Word on the street is that an additional 12,000 letters have been sent via other organizations to the Governor's office, too. Also, around 41,000 people have signed a the foundation's petition to keep the parks open. Since 80% of state parks were threatened to be closed, the foundation's Facebook page has ballooned from only a few hundred to over 40,000 fans.

Get ready to splash! Come Saturday, 34 pools will open to the public for the summer season, including the new family Aquatic Center at Jackie Tatum (Harvard) Recreation Center in South LA. Additionally, 16 year-round pools will begin their summer schedule.

As one of the advocacy tools to save most of state parks in California from being slashed from the budget is to have a weekend of support. Next weekend, the California State Parks Foundation is asking us all to camp, visit or otherwise bring attention to the state parks issue. While there, take a photo of you holding a sign and submit it so Sacramento can feel bad, or something. Meanwhile, the organization continues its 40 best state park trails podcast series. Recent episodes featuring Los Angeles area trails include Temescal Canyon, the river trail at Rio de Los Angeles State Park and La Jolla Canyon at Point Mugu State Park. You can listen to these three episodes below:

The state parks that are proposed to be cut are quite beautiful and very popular--still, if they close, it's not like there's nothing left. State parks make up 23% of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, leaving a good amount of acreage to the National Park Service and another state park agency local to Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (note that there is a considerable amount of private land within the Nat. Rec. Area, too).

North Hollywood: What do you do when the city owns a vacant lot that's being used by people as an unofficial trash landfill? Clear it out and make it into a park. On Monday, Councilwoman and Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel and others will make the first ceremonial dig on the Bellaire Pocket Park Project, located at the corner of Bellaire Ave and Strathern St.

The great thing about California state parks is that many of them have so much beauty, history and significance, they could be a National Park. In fact, sometimes state parks work in combination with National Parks like in the Redwood Forest and locally within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (check out this map of all the proposed parks to be cut here).

Since Californians overwhelmingly rejected his propositions last week in the special election, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his latest budget plan detailing $5.5 billion in cuts from a deficit estimated to be $24.3 billion by July 1 (that's higher than the $21.3 billion that was touted in the last few weeks).

While we await Cirque du Soleil's arrival to Hollywood & Highland, the group is heading to Santa Monica and Orange County beginning in October. First on the Santa Monica pier, where it's been 10 years since the group brought its Grand Chapiteau (big top), and then to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine in January. “Cirque du Soleil brings a global distinction to the Great Park," said City of Irvine Mayor and Great Park Director Sukhee Kang. "As we unveil each new component of this great metropolitan park, we feel that we are moving closer and closer to our vision as an unforgettable destination for visitors from all over the world. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Cirque.” Tickets go on sale via their website on June 15 for Cirque Club members and the general public the day after.

Over the last forty years, the California State Parks Foundation along with its 100,000 members has grown into a powerhouse advocacy group on behalf of keeping nature available to us. Now in their 40th year, they are celebrating by producing 40 short podcasts, each with a resident sharing their favorite trail.

Verdugo Mountain Park is now the 6th largest park in Los Angeles, thanks to Councilwoman Wendy Greuel's $2.7 million expenditure of Proposition K money to purchase 225 acres of open space, securing it from outside development. The park is located in the northeast Valley at the edge of northern Glendale and is home to an annual hike and trail run in November.

Casey Schreiner at ModernHiker trekked over to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this past weekend to see how the wildflower blossoms are doing: "While the wildflowers still aren’t out in force quite yet, there are a few areas in the north end of the park that are pretty colorful," he wrote. The park's website publishes a weekly wildflower report (scroll down) or you can call their wildflower hotline at (760-767-4684) for updates. Also: It's not just Anza-Borrego where wildflower blooms can be seen, check out bloom reports at Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, Mojove Desert National Preserve and the various high desert wildlife sanctuaries run by LA County. And the valley-based Theodore Payne Foundation runs a great hotline for local blooms that will begin on March 6th.

With the rain, even how relatively little there has been this year, comes wildflowers around Southern California. "We are seeing a few flowers already, but the best of the bloom will most likely be from the last week of February through the first two weeks of March," reads the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park's website.

Age does not preclude an eco-savvy lifestyle. That's at least for the seniors who will use the city's newest Senior Center for the East Valley, slated for Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park. The East Valley Senior Center just broke ground this morning and when it opens, it's sustainable design will include energy saving systems, waste recycling, and an environmentally friendly air conditioning system that should help the building fall under one of the LEED categories, according to Councilwoman Wendy Greuel's office. The building will also be efficient in another way: it merges programming and services from Recreation & Parks and Aging under one roof.

Plans to make all of Griffith Park a Cultural Historical Monument got an unopposed green light yesterday and heads next to City Council for approval. This could be a potentially big thing--at least in terms of size, since, according to the Daily News, "at more than 4,200 acres, it would be the largest cultural landmark in the city." It's also just a pretty cool thing to have happen, because Griffith Park plays an important--and interesting--role in our local history; the land was willed to the City after the death of the eccentric Col. Griffith J. Griffith in 1919.

       

Just 130 miles north of Los Angeles lies some spectacular desert scenery. Red Rock Canyon State Park, in Kern County bears the mark of prehistoric lakes, rivers and glaciers in the colorful striations on the cliffs and the rock formations that rise out from the forest of Joshua trees

The only legal spot along the South Bay coastline to smoke a cigarette has been put out. Redondo Beach City Council last night voted to ban smoking at the beach and in public parks. One councilman voted no saying police don't have the resources to enforce the law. But with that thinking, most everything shouldn't be a law. The next headline will be "Redondo Beach to ban stop signs."

blogdowntown is all over the parks in their hood making a special page dedicated to the event. Our favorite is the bike rack in a parking space, something that is not a stranger to the streets of Portland. Over at Curbed LA, a reader is disappointed in the Valley. Apparently, the Studio City and NoHo Arts District parks were no where to be found and one in the Northeast Valley was "was little more than a tent set up in the street with a few big tables." We're lucky the Sherman Oaks one was there as said. Phew!

       

For their Park[ing] Day LA project, Chattel Architecture, a planning and historic preservation firm, in Sherman Oaks took a spot in front of their Ventura Blvd. office and designed a simplistic homage to landscape architect Thomas Church. "With plot sizes shrinking after WWII, Church recognized the necessity of landscaping for small yards on limited budgets," their sign taped to a parking meter said. "Church designed 2,000 gardens in 40 years of practice."