Chapter Events

In the San Gabriel mountain foothills, Dennis Arguelles with National Parks Conservation Association will lead a hike and discuss the proposed Rim of the Valley legislation that would expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. At the north edge of Glendale, Deukmeijian Wilderness Park features trails through chaparral & sage scrub, streamside woodlands and a historic stone barn converted to a nature center.

The park’s street address is 3429 Markridge Road. From Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta, go north on New York Ave. to the end, then another 400 feet on Markridge to the entrance. Park and gather near the stone barn nature center. For logistical questions contact Bill Neill at bgneill@earthlink.net. Rain forecast will postpone event to Saturday, October 24 or a later date announced by email.

On Saturday morning, Nov. 7, come to the Westwood Greenway at 10 am for some stewardship (invasives removal and pruning), followed by a tour at 11:30 of this ecological oasis. The Greenway (westwoodgreenway.org) will be about 6 years old and the biodiversity is increasing every year. A constructed stream provides a nature-based solution to urban runoff pollution with water pumped up from the storm drain year round. Locally native plants are habitat for over 550 species (see the iNaturalist page “Westwood Neighborhood Greenway”).

We will meet at the west gate of the Greenway, close to Westwood Blvd. Please look at the map for suggested parking locations and use 2HPF+QW3 for a GPS map pin. Permit Parking is in effect on Ashby and other streets but not generally enforced. Walking is level with a total distance about 3⁄4 mile, depending on where you park. Shade is limited; please bring your own water! We will provide gloves and tools or bring your own.

The Greenway is also available from the E (Expo) Line (Westwood /Rancho Park station) and the #12 and #8 Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and #3 Culver City bus. A Throne restroom is available at the Metro station.

Program description:
California’s diverse flora is closely connected to neighboring regions across state lines, and understanding those areas is key to conservation efforts within California. One such region, the Amargosa River headwaters in Nye and Esmeralda counties, Nevada, is the focus of an ongoing floristic inventory that highlights the urgency of documenting desert ecosystems threatened by rapid industrialization. Stretching from Pahute Mesa to Death Valley’s Badwater Basin, the Amargosa River supports remarkable biodiversity and endemism within a harsh desert ecoregion. The inventory has already added more than 160 plant species to the documented flora, including some previously believed to be endemic to California, offering new insight into the Mojave-Great Basin transition zone. California Botanic Garden researcher Chloe Novak will introduce this threatened landscape and the ongoing work to document its plants for conservation and science.

Presenter: Chloe Novak
Chloe is a masters student at the California Botanic Garden specializing in floristics and plant conservation in the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. With a background in political science, her botanical research and applied conservation interests are informed by the historical and political contexts that influence the diversity, abundance and distribution of plants, from colonization to climate change. She is currently conducting a floristic study of the headwaters of the Amargosa River in Nye and Esmeralda counties, Nevada—an area with rich biogeographic influences but little historical documentation of its flora that is facing unprecedented conservation threats from large-scale mining and other extractive industries.

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Program description:
Native species trees offer all the benefits of canopy to our urban environment; shade cooling for pedestrians, beautification, mitigation of urban heat island effect, but they also provide unparalleled support for biodiversity, evolutionary adaptation to local precipitation patterns, and a sense of geographical and cultural identity no non-native tree can supply. Why is it then that most municipalities in California continue to primarily plant the same 30 species of exotic trees used around the world for urban forests?

This presentation will explore the resistance to California native species as street trees, the challenges, both real and imagined, they face in adoption, and the Los Angeles Community Forest Advisory Committee’s (CFAC) creation of four pilot projects in Los Angeles planting native street trees. We will cover the obstacles the pilot projects have faced and how advocacy and coalition building has overcome them. Years prior to planting, CFAC began the process by putting together a list of over 90 native species that have potential as urban street trees. This list has been vetted by a group of experts and challenges the scientifically unsupported argument that California lacks sufficient native species options for a thriving urban forest. Three years into the endeavor, three of the four projects are now planted, resulting in several dozen native trees installed in some of the more challenging planting circumstances for urban environments. The list of native species features a number of trees with great potential for expanded horticultural use.

Presenter:Charles Miller.
Los Angeles Climate Reality Project, Los Angeles, CA, United States. CNPS – Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains Chapter, Los Angeles, CA, United States

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Program description: Through a photographic tour of a dozen or so Test Plots, Jen will reflect on lessons learned in the field, trace the challenges and opportunities that led to the project’s founding, and introduce the guiding principles that continue to guide its evolution.

Presenter: Jen Toy is a landscape architect and habitual weed puller. She leads Test Plot, a nonprofit that supports community-led landcare. Through design and stewardship, she partners with local residents and design firms to plant and care for experimental plots. Her work focuses on urban ecology, regenerative practices, and bridging the gap between neighbors and land managers. Previously, Jen taught at the University of Southern California, where she developed Test Plot’s curriculum. She also co-founded the award-winning international nonprofit Kounkuey Design Initiative. Earlier in her career, she worked as a park ranger in Yosemite and as a groundskeeper at the Morton Arboretum—two of her all-time favorite jobs. Jen graduated from Harvard College with a degree in the History of Science and from the Graduate School of Design in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. She grew up in the Bay Area, where her deep connection to the California landscape first took root.

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Program description:  This program will outline the environmental & health hazards of artificial turf installations & introduce attendees to the efforts of the SoCal Stop Artificial Turf Task Force, a coalition that aims to ban all new installations of artificial turf in Los Angeles & surrounding communities. In partnership with an LA City Councilmember the coalition drafted & passed a motion (CF 23-0602) as a path toward an eventual ban on artificial turf.

Presenter:  Dianne Woelke. Dianne’s co-advocate, Terry Saucier, has always been a passionate community and environmental advocate. In 2023 Terry’s concerns over the damaging impact of artificial turf inspired her to create the SoCal Stop Artificial Turf Task Force, a coalition whose aim is a ban on all new installations of artificial turf in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. In partnership with a local City Councilmember the coalition was able to get Los Angeles city council motion CF 24-0602 drafted and passed; the coalition continues to work with city departments and local organizations to garner support for a ban. She also serves as a board member of Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. and the Tarzana Neighborhood Council where she chairs its Outreach Committee and co-chairs the annual Earth Day Festival. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, and the Climate Reality Project’s San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles Chapters. In addition to her advocacy work, Terry is co-owner of a family-owned company that manufactures wheelchair accessibility products for the transportation industry.

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Program Description:  Dr. Kübler’s presentation will introduce us to the fascinating world of seaweeds and their importance to coastal California. Marine algae display great variation in physiology, morphology and life histories and are important to coastal ecosystems as indicators of ecosystem health. We are currently seeing increased threats to seaweed dominated ecosystems and increased interest in the cultivation and use of seaweeds globally.

Dr. Janet Kübler received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Maine & her B.A. in Biology from Johns Hopkins University. For 27 years, she has been a faculty member of the Biology Department at California State University, Northridge where her research is centered on how climate change effects algae, complex lifecycles of seaweeds and their cultivation. She is President of the California Seaweed Festival since cofounding the organization in 2019.

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Program Description: Learn about CNPS’s “Wildfire Community”, a relatively new volunteer-run group focused on the complex issue of wildfire.  Unlike CNPS committees, we are volunteer run, consisting of both CNPS volunteers with particular wildfire interest/knowledge from around the state, as well as several CNPS conservation staff. Meeting monthly by zoom, we discuss local/regional/ and state wildfire issues, share resources, address upcoming wildfire legislation and regulations, and in general work to keep each other up to date on this complex topic.  Most recently we proposed a new CNPS Wildfire Policy to the chapter council, which is now under review by chapters. Learn more about the policy, and how you can get involved in the Community.

Alice Cantelow lives in the Sierra foothills, where she has served in multiple board roles for her El Dorado CNPS chapter, including 8 prior years as president, and as a recent CNPS state board member.. She has also been actively involved with wildfire resilience while preserving native plants for over 10 years, including a recent focus on home hardening. She recently served three years as the Outreach/Education chair for the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council (EDCFSC), and gives frequent talks to HOAs, master gardener public talks, and associate fire safe councils on wildfire prep. Alice has attended innumerable wildfire webinars, as well as a private question and answer session with home hardening expert Steve Quarles, and a recent all day home hardening workshop in Nevada for building professionals.  She started and continues to produce the quarterly, county-wide “Foothill Fire Flash” to keep volunteers in the her county abreast of current trends in wildfire science. Alice started the CNPS statewide Wildfire Community in Spring of 2024 where she serves as chair.

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Program Description: In the recent past, the conservation work done by CNPS staff and members statewide has resulted in a growing number of wins-ranging from project modifications to favorable rulings in lawsuits to increased protections for public lands. In the first part of his presentation, Nick Jensen, will give an overview of the progress we have made at the local, regional, state and federal levels in recent years and will introduce a couple of new endeavors: Our Conservation Advocacy Toolkit and Advocacy Corps. These tools will be increasingly relevant in 2025 and beyond, given the daunting and emerging threats to our environment.
In the second part of his presentation, Nick will provide an overview of regulatory changes and executive actions that threaten to reshape the management and protection of public lands and biodiversity nationwide. He will emphasize actions that each of us can take toward conserving California’s irreplaceable flora and habitats.

Nick Jensen oversees the CNPS conservation work of staff and volunteer advocates statewide. This includes presiding over litigation, participation in coalitions of environmental organizations, media relations, and supervising a team of talented conservation professionals. Nick earned his BS in Environmental Horticulture at UC Davis, and completed his Ph.D. in botany at California Botanic Garden/Claremont Graduate University, and is a Switzer Foundation fellow. As a graduate student Nick produced the first Flora of Tejon Ranch, California’s largest contiguous piece of private land. He also studied evolutionary patterns in perennial Streptanthus (jewelflowers). Nick previously worked as a Vegetation Program Assistant and Rare Plant Program Director for CNPS. He has also worked as a botanist or ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, U.C. Davis, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the private consulting industry. In addition, he has been teaching botany classes for CNPS, California Botanic Garden, the Jepson Herbarium, and Theodore Payne Foundation.

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Program Description: The work taking place in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve represents both restoration and reimagination — the careful rebuilding of native ecosystems in one of Los Angeles’s most altered landscapes. Our current planting efforts focus on introducing a greater diversity of species from the sage chaparral community, which are well-suited to the site’s elevated slopes, limited water availability, and sun-exposed topography. By incorporating native shrubs and trees that have been missing from this landscape for decades, we’re helping to create a more resilient and ecologically balanced habitat — one that reflects what this region may have once supported long before modern development…
Groups such as the California Native Plant Society (Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains Chapter), Friends of the Los Angeles River, TreePeople, and scouting organizations have joined forces with the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area Steering Committee to restore and care for this urban refuge. Together, these collaborations have removed invasive species like mustard, castor bean, and yellow starthistle, while reintroducing native plants that support pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.

Greg Stewart is a member of the CNPS LA/SMM chapter and a Certified California Naturalist living in Los Angeles. Working with fellow CNPS volunteers, Greg has gradually expanded his knowledge and understanding of California’s native ecosystems and plant systems, practicing horticulture, habitat restoration, and community organizing to help restore the natural ecosystems in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.

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Program description: Where does LA’s Water come from? We turn on the tap and magically, there it flows! What is the history and consequences of our regional water sources, and what is the future of LA’s water story? Learn where we have been and what has been done today, and the part we can all play to ensure water resiliency and thriving, healthy watersheds.

Bio: Amanda Begley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Community Environment and a Master of Arts in Urban Sustainability, both from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She serves as Watershed Coordinator in the LA County Safe, Clean Water program for the Santa Clara River Watershed, working between communities and agencies to develop multi-benefit  stormwater management projects. In addition, Amanda worked on project development through the CA Department of Water Resources WaterTalks program, also known as the Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Involvement Program. She serves on the Friends of the LA River Board of Directors, LA Metro Sustainability Council, and Climate Resolve’s Advisory Board. You can also catch Amanda on Netflix’s John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, Episode Two, “Palm Trees.”

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Program Description:  The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area helps protect Southern California’s unique Mediterranean ecosystem, tremendous biodiversity, and several key historical sites, yet faces increasing threats from development, invasive species and climate change.  As habitat connectivity is lost throughout the region, the park is becoming increasingly isolated, threatening its long-term health, raising the threat of wildfire and putting at risk the survival of numerous native plant and wildlife species. The proposed “Rim of the Valley” expansion of the park’s boundaries offers a promising solution, but what are its prospects in the current hyper-partisan and divisive political environment?

Biography:  Dennis Arguelles is Southern California Director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a 105-year-old organization dedicated to the protection of our natural and cultural treasures and a thriving National Park system. He works with a variety of partners, advocates and communities to protect and expand existing parks, preserve new landscapes and ensure our parks tell the stories of all Americans. This includes engaging policy makers, organizing park supporters and bringing attention to threats faced by our public lands. He has been involved in successful campaigns to oppose destructive extractive activities and development and currently leads efforts to expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and to create a Cesar Chavez National Historical Park.  He is based in Los Angeles.

Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve
Van Nuys

Thursdays 6:30am – 9:30am (New Day)
Saturday, Sept. 26 7am – 10am
Saturday, Oct. 24 7am – 10am

Help remove non-native plants.
To sign up and get meeting place details, contact George Waddell at moiraw@earthlink.net.

2598 Westwood Blvd., LA 90064
See westwoodgreenway.org for more information.