El Dorado Nature Center needs Volunteers!

This was sent by folks at the Nature Center. They have wonderful projects going and are a Long Beach landmark.

Help Grow the Nature Center
Looking for a way to "give back" during the new year? Join the Habitat Stewards at El Dorado Nature Center. You can be part of a dedicated group of volunteers who plant, restore, and care for the Nature Center grounds. Make friends, learn planting and care techniques for native plants, and invest a bit of your time and passion by helping to restore and create new habitat. Three-part training takes place January 8, 22 and February 12, 9am-noon. Call (562) 570-1748 for an application or more information.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden Sunday

This coming Sunday, November 21st, we will be meeting in the Ralph's Parking lot at Marina Pacifica at 8.30am (I know, it's early for a Sunday) to get to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens in Claremont by 10am for a guided tour. The gardens are beautiful and an amazing demonstration of the unique plant life we have here in Southern California (http://www.rsabg.org/). We will be carpooling so please RSVP at Taylor@tidalinfluence.com and say whether you can drive or not. Admission is as follows: Members: Free; Adults: $8; Seniors (65+): $6; Students w/ valid ID: $6; Children aged 3-12: $4. We should be back in Long Beach by mid afternoon.

October Minutes

Minutes

October 28^th, 2010

The meeting was called to order by Taylor Parker at 7:10 p.m.

In attendance –

Tiffany Chen, Dorothy Kimmeny, Bruce Monroe, Mary Parcell, Chris Ward, Taylor Parker, Kerry Martin, Joe Weinstein, Jill Brennan,

Introduction

EcoLink—Taylor Parker

Discussion of field trip to Ortega Highway and next field trip to be decided. 2011 Planning meeting set for EcoLink set for November 15^th at Viento y Agua at 6pm.

ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Office of Sustainability—Jill Brennan

Discussion of planting of riparian plants along channel in El Dorado Regional Park. Discussion of Oktoberfest in El Dorado Park and its effect of cutting off bird access to the ponds.

El Dorado Audubon—Kerry Martin

Discussion of the stream restoration and upcoming nature center events, including “Out of the Wild and into Your Garden.” The Nature Center also has a lot of Native Plants leftover from their plant sale.

http://www.longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

El Dorado Audubon-Mary Parcell

Discussion of El Dorado Audubon activities. October talk is “Birds of the Eastern Sierra.”

http://eldoradoaudubon.org/

Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust-Mary Parcell

Discussion of Land Trust activities. Important Coastal Commission meeting is November 19^th in Santa Monica regarding the 2H land scraping in the Los Cerritos Wetlands conservation area.

http://www.lcwlandtrust.org/

CSULB Environmental Club – Tiffany Chen

Discussion of the club and the past week’s Eco Week. Details of EcoWeek: Panel to talk about Environmental Jobs & Issues, 30 vendors, screedned ‘Tapped,’ sustainability and politics conference, and a Belmont Shore cleanup on Saturday the 30^th.

http://csulbesp.blogspot.com/

GreenLB – Tiffany Chen

Discussion of GreenLB’s activities. Members Harvest Potluck - Sunday November 14^th at 430 1^st St. @ 5pm. Starting January there will be regular meetings to plan Green LB festival.

http://www.greenlb.org/

Surfrider– Bruce Monroe

Discussion of the Plan B 4.0. Discussion of Rise Above Plastic, a prototype project putting retrievable trash into the San Gabriel River to see where the trash goes and then alerting volunteers through various media after a large rain event.

http://www.lbsurfrider.org/

Green Party – Dorothy Kimmeny

Discussion of the Green Party activities and upcoming elections. Discussion of ‘No on 23.’

http://www.cagreens.org/longbeach/

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker

Discussion of community-based restoration.

lcwetlands.org

Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker

Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.

coloradolagoon.org

Next Field Trip: November 21^st – Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens

Photos from the Ortega Highway Trip!!

Here are some photos from the latest field trip, enjoy!


I think this is a Garter Snake but I didn't see any red on it and I am definitely not a herpetologist.


Here is a view from the hill above the fire station/nature center.

And here is the lovely group looking at the creek below the San Juan Loop trail that we hiked. I believe we were trying to identify the insects quickly moving above the surface of the creek.

And the group of EcoLinkers posing upon granite bordered by sycamore and oak.

October Field Trip: Ortega Highway

This weekend EcoLink is supporting native plants! First, on Saturday is the El Dorado Nature Center's Native Plant Sale. From their website: "Event begins at 9:30 am. Current members of “Friends” get in early at 9:00 am. Come early for the best selection. For more information call (562) 570-1745 " The event ends at 2pm but I promise you most of the plants will be gone by 11am so get there early.

Sunday, is our October field trip to the Ortega Highway from San Juan Capistrano. We will be going into the Cleveland National Forest to explore the magnificent floral species on the 2.2 mile San Juan Loop, the great sycamores of Caspers Wilderness Park, a breathtaking view of Lake Elsinore and the legendary candy store. At 1pm we will meet in the standard EcoLink field trip meeting spot: Ralph's parking lot in Marina Pacifica. I expect we can explore the Cleveland and get back by sunset.

And remember EcoLink's monthly meeting is Thursday October 28th at the Unitarian Church on Atherton and Bellflower at 7pm.

If you have questions, feel free to contact Taylor: Taylor@tidalinfluence.com or 562.331.0226.

September Minutes

Minutes

Bike Count– Tiffany Chen

Discussion of City of Long Beach’s annual bike count. Volunteers are needed.

http://www.bikelongbeach.org/

Green Party – Dorothy Kimmeny

Discussion of the Green Party activities and upcoming elections.

http://www.cagreens.org/longbeach/

Aquarium of the Pacific– Bruce Monroe

Discussion of the Plan B 4.0.

http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/

Sierra Club– Michael Milroy

Discussion of the Sierra Club acitivities.

http://angeles.sierraclub.org/longbch/

El Dorado Audubon-Mary Parcell

Discussion of El Dorado Audubon activities. October talk by Erin Kellogg regarding her work with the BP oil spill. October 15^th Los Cerritos walk.

http://eldoradoaudubon.org/

Port of Long Beach – Patricia Sidoti

Discussion of the Green Port.

polb.com

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker

Discussion of community-based restoration.

lcwetlands.org

Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker

Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.

coloradolagoon.org

EcoLink—Christopher Ward

Discussion of 350.org’s ‘Get to Work Day’ on 10-10-10. Discussion of Hope walk on October 16^th

ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Next Field Trip: October 24t^th, 2010 –Ortega Highway/ San Juan Loop hike

Next Meeting: October 28^th, 2010 – Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton

New Tshirts!

EcoLink has tshirts! For Sale! For Fundraising! And they're cheap! $13!

Email Taylor for a tshirt! ~ Taylor@tidalinfluence.com

August Minutes

Minutes
August 26th, 2010

The meeting was called to order by Taylor Parker at 7:15 p.m.
In attendance –
Chris Ward, Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Joe Weinstein, Patricia Sidoti, Mary Parcell, Heather Altman,

Introduction
El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their upcoming activities.
longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

Shipley Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their upcoming activities.

Egrets Not Regrets – Heather Altman
Discussion of the Greener is Greater event on September 18th.
egretsnotregrets.com

El Dorado Audubon-Mary Parcell
Discussion of El Dorado Audubon. September 16th hummingbird talk.

Port of Long Beach – Patricia Sidoti
Discussion of the Green Port.

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration.
lcwetlands.org

Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.
coloradolagoon.org

EcoLink-- Taylor Parker
Discussion of 350.org’s ‘Get to Work Day’ on 10-10-10.
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Next Meeting: September 30th , 2010

Free Movie Showing on Friday August 13th

ECOLink and {Open} are partnering up to have a Free Movie Showing of HOME!!!

On Friday August 13th at 8pm, we are showing HOME for free at {Open} on 4th st.

We'll have EcoLink Tshirts for you to purchase and awesome music too! See you there!

July Minutes

Minutes
July 27th, 2010

The meeting was called to order by Chris Ward at 7:15 p.m.
In attendance –
Bruce Monroe, Chris Ward, Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Michael Milroy, Dorothy Kemmeny

Introduction

El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their upcoming activities.
longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

Sierra Club – Bruce Monroe
Discussion of Surfrider initiative, beyond plastic, National Ocean Council and the Marine Debris Campaign.
sierraclub.org

NWEI – Christopher Ward
Discussion of new reading circle called Sustainable Systems.
nwei.org

LB Green Party – Dorothy Kemmeny
Discussion of the LB Greens. Peace and anti war vigil on August 15th.
cagreens.org/longbeach

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration that has begun.
lcwetlands.org

Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.
coloradolagoon.org

EcoLink-- Taylor Parker
Discussion of 350.org’s ‘Get to Work Day’ on 10-10-10. Discussion of movie showing (HOME) on August 13th at OPEN. Discussion of new tshirts.
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Action Items:
-Taylor: Organize field trip for August to Aquarium of the Pacific.
-Taylor: Create Graphic and make new tshirts for HOME Showing.

Next Meeting: August 26th , 2010

Photos from Newport Bay Field Trip

Check out the photos from the latest field trip! We had a wonderful time exploring Upper Newport Bay and the Peter and Mary Muth Center.

Next EcoLink Field Trip: Muth Center at Upper Newport Bay

This coming Sunday July 18th is our next field trip. We will be exploring the Peter and Mary Muth Center at Newport Bay - http://www.newportbay.org/muthover.htm

This will be a great, simple little field trip exploring the nature center, the marsh and the small native gardens. Meet the EcoLink crew at 2pm in the parking lot of the Ralphs in Marina Pacifica in Long Beach and we will carpool on down there. Contact Chris Ward for more info: crward947@hotmail.com

Help Keep Austin Weird

Just back from Tejas. A few days in San Antonio, bookended by 2 days in Austin.
For openers, The Alamo is much improved, no longer overwhelmed by postmodern junk, restored to some simulacrum of integrity. Good curation-signage teaches history w/o pain.
Re-enactors in authentic looking Mexican Army duds with all due accoutrements; silliest hats you ever saw. "Evolution of the Bowie knife" and so on. Good stuff. Bit heavy on the shrine aspect, but how could it possibly be Texas otherwise?
Revelation awaited us at the Austin Museum of Art; shocking visualizations of American Consumption of tobacco, of plastic bottles, of prison uniforms and mens' lives, of mammary implants and womens' lives.
Amazing, mind-blowing art by Chris Jordan. Art simultaneously beautiful and horrific.
Google him. Buy the book. Fly to Austin just to visit the Art Museum, carbon footprint be damned.

EcoLink June Meeting Minutes

Minutes
June 24th , 2010

The meeting was called to order by Taylor Parker at 7:15 p.m.
In attendance –
Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Joe Weinstein, Patricia Sidoti, Dorothy Kemmeny

Introduction

General Discussion of BP Oil Spill

El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their stream restoration. The stream and the entire walk are now open.
longbeach.gov/naturecenter/
LB Green Party – Dorothy Kemmeny
Discussion of the LB Greens
Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration that has begun.
lcwetlands.org
Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.
coloradolagoon.org
EcoLink-- Taylor Parker
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Action Items:
-Taylor: Organize field trip for May to Nix Nature Center in Muth Nature Center on June 18th

Next Meeting: July 22 , 2010

Field Trip to Nix Nature Center!

We had the largest EcoLink group to date visit the Nix Nature Center this past Sunday! We were led on a lovely tour by two of the Laguna Canyon Foundation's brilliant naturalists through the immaculate coastal sage scrub in the Little Sycamore Canyon. The following photos were provided by Patricia (thanks Patricia).

While we didn't see the incredibly rare Laguna Beach Dudleya (Dudleya stolonifera), we did see many beautiful Chalk Dudleya creeping out of the rocks......

HOME

The single most amazing film I have ever seen.

HOME

It is an hour and a half. Watch it through the end no matter how hard it may be to do so. You'll understand once you watch it. You were going to watch a silly Romantic Comedy anyway, why not spend the same amount of time with this. It is as if the Planet Earth documentary and The Inconvenient Truth had a love-child and that off-spring learned how to speak like Obama. I watched a TED Talk by Yann Arthus-Bertrand last night and looked up this film. His project is spectacular - showing our Home in all of its majesty and giving us the product of his genius free to the world. Please watch this.

Responding to the Gulf Tragedy

Oil is still flowing from the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico. It started on April 20th and hasn’t so much as paused since. That is five weeks of continuous flow that has totaled somewhere between 18 million and 40 million gallons according to the LA Times Blog. The latest attempt to stop the flow is proving doubtful. The San Francisco Chronicle is saying: “It will take 7 years for the oil deposit below the Deepwater Horizon well to empty if left alone. On Saturday, BP acknowledged it may abandon its best chance so far to cork the well: the 'top kill.'” In the paper today: the government has been quietly investigating criminal charges against BP.

Charging BP with criminal charges is, of course, necessary. It is difficult to describe the tragedy as anything but criminal. Attributing criminal blame to BP seems reasonable and placing the cost of cleanup on their shoulders is also reasonable. But the blame is shared by the government at many levels who work with these oil organizations and also by us consumers who have been voting our complacency with our wallets as we continue to purchase petroleum-based products without question or complaint. In short, the blame for the extensive pollution, the impending die-off of myriad species, the horrible concoction of dispersant and crude that burns skin on contact, the travesty that will plague the wetland and marine life in that area (and beyond) for decades (if not longer) is all of ours, it is the system of consumption that has a life of its own. We all contribute to it, allow it and benefit from it and there is no easy way out of this system.

That doesn’t leave us as a species in a comfortable situation though. We are responsible for immense death and we can’t help it, not easily at least. We cannot just stop our role or we will have to give up, well, most everything. Everything that is not individually or community grown agriculture requires intensive use of oil, many medical supplies are plastic, all transportation (even walking – the comfy soles of your shoes are petroleum related somehow) is crude-oil linked. Food, health and transportation, not to mention entertainment, are much of what sustains us and they are oil-related. Life is oil-related.

Sadness, indignation, helplessness are the emotions I know I feel when thinking about this system. The Gulf situation is but a dramatic manifestation of this system and it is difficult to find a proper response— maybe because there isn’t just one. The poet Robert Bly suggests we grieve, that an appropriate response to all loss is appropriate grief. Bill McKibben suggests action. The Dalai Lama suggests meditation, kindness and lightness. Grief, action, meditation, kindness and lightness; I want these mindsets to replace the emotions I’m currently feeling and I am committing myself toward that replacement.

Articulating these mindsets means giving a foundation to respond appropriately from. Practically, it means spending time with people and places (especially nature) that you love, being creative with your community engagement, volunteering with local organizations that have positive and righteous missions, being very mindful of your consumption and how you choose to spend your money (which is voting for what you believe in), sitting quietly with your thoughts about your place in the world, smiling and smiling with others.

It was suggested at the last EcoLink meeting that the reason it has been five weeks and still no progress in repairing the flow is that BP didn’t want to lose their well completely, that they wanted to do all things possible to retain their investment in that expensive well. That is reprehensible. Tuesday, June 1st, is the start of a four month hurricane season that is expected to be busy. That is frightening. With such deliberate evil actions on the part of man and destructive natural forces that promise to exacerbate those actions, it is difficult to imagine focusing your mindset toward the positive, toward a response that involves, among many other things, smiling. But, as a close mentor of mine has repeatedly expressed, the future has always seemed bleak to every generation on the planet yet it still continues.

Gulf Oil Tragedy

Here is a link to a new perspective on the oil tragedy. It is very sad. Oil Video

Please come to the EcoLink meeting tonight at the Unitarian Church on Bellflower at 7pm to talk about this tragedy and how we can grieve together and appropriately respond.

Taylor

Bugs, way too many bugs

We had our field trip this past weekend. It was great.


We saw tarantulas.

And Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

And Christopher Ward.

And more bugs than I've ever seen before in my life. And butterflies too.

And I held a scorpion. I gave in to peer pressure and held a scorpion. Did I mention that I held a scorpion?

Our Far Flung Correspondent in Louisiana

Tim Anderson reported in from his Parish in Northern Louisiana that because his bayou enjoys an elevation of 187' above sea level, there is little to fear from direct contact with the catastophic oil gush in the Gulf.
Life however remains rich in irony. Returning home from an errand in the Parish Seat, Tim happened across a neighbor plowing under one of his fields. Stopping to greet the friendly farmer, Tim was asked to take over the tractor, while its owner ate the lunch his wife had just delivered. Tim paused a moment to consider how much tractors have evolved from simple mechanical workhorses to giant electronic multi-taskers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Nothing if not game, Our FFC clambored up into the air-conditioned, fully automatic, 60' wide beheometh, set the GPS and off down the soybean field he juggernauted. As he kept in constant radio contact with the amused farmer, Tim mused on all the different petroleum derived compounds neccessary to successful soybean farming in the twenty-first century. These included weed suppressants, seed coat dissolvers, growth acclerants, fertilizers, pesticides of various kinds, more weed killers and Monsanto knows what all to deliver the crop. And all the while, that self-same petroleum was now killing a very large swath of the Gulf Coast, including Tim's favorite barrier islands.
In the brief time the farmer required to masticate his sandwich and dill pickle and resume possession of his tractor, Tim had plowed under an incredible number of acres, belching diesel and seeding irony all the way.

May Field Trip

Bugs!!!!

Change o' plans. While we were planning to go to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens, I saw an ad for the Natural History Museum's Bug Fair and just could not resist. It sounds incredible: "Maybe you want to try to see what a bug tastes like or dance to bug inspired music? If so, be sure not to miss one of our many special programs, that happen throughout the Museum. Bug chefs and bug bands are just some of the special guests that we welcome each year. Learn how to pin an insect for a collection, make a terrarium for a new pet or check out ongoing bug related programming including live animal handlings and informational shows put on by our talented Museum performers."

So off we go. This Sunday (5/16/10) at 9am meet the EcoLink Field Trip crew in the Ralph's parking lot on PCH in the Marina Pacifica shopping center to carpool to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. We will leave promptly at 9:15am to get to the bugs as soon as possible. Admission to the museum is $9 for adults, $6.50 for students, seniors and children. This price plus carpool gas money and whatever spending cash for radical bug-gear sounds reasonable for 'bug inspired music' (whatever that may be).

If you are interested in going, please email Taylor at Taylor@tidalinfluence.com and be sure to include your ability to drive or not.

See you Sunday!

Minutes for April

Minutes
April 29th , 2010

The meeting was called to order by Taylor Parker at 7:20 p.m.
In attendance –
Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Mary Parcell, Joe Weinstein, Dorothy Kemmeny, Patricia Sidoti,

Introduction

General Discussion of last month’s field trip to Santa Rosa Plateau.

LA River Cleanup – La Gran Limpieza – Patricia Sidoti
Discussion of the upcoming LA River Cleanup on May 8th.
folar.org/?page_id=5

El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their stream restoration. The stream and the entire walk are now open.
longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
Discussion of all things Los Cerritos Wetlands, including the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday May 6 2010 re the Tank Farm issue and the 2nd & PCH development.
Lcwlandtrust.org

El Dorado Audubon
Discussion of Birdwalks at Hellman every 2nd and 4th Wednesdays @Hellman’s land off Studebaker and PCH and Guy Commeau speaking about California Parks and their flora and fauna on May 20th 2010.
eldoradoaudubon.org

LB Greens – Dorothy Kemeny
Discussion of Haiti Relief Fundraiser this past April and the Solar Electric Light Fund
cagreens.org/longbeach/

Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration that has begun.
lcwetlands.org

Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration and FOCL’s education program.
coloradolagoon.org

EcoLink-- Taylor Parker
Discussion of next field trip.
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Action Items:
-Taylor: Organize field trip for May to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens on May 20th
-Taylor: Write Letter against Development of the Tank Farm

Next Meeting: May 28th , 2010

Photos from the Plateau

Santa Rosa Plateau We finally made it to the Plateau! It was a great trip with the most people yet on our monthly field trips. We saw some Garter Snakes, some pools and an ancient oak tree (I climbed the lowest limb but then got scared). Check out the photos below from Patricia Sidoti - thanks Patricia. Oh, and we will be talking about our next field trip – where are we going? I don’t know - at our next meeting on Thursday April 28th at 7pm. See you there.

This Sunday! We're trying The Plateau again!

We're determined to enjoy Santa Rosa Plateau. This Sunday April 18th we are going to the Reserve near Murrieta. The reserve at the Santa Rosa Plateau consists of 8,400 acres and is home to increasingly rare Vernal Pool habitat. We will meet in the Ralphs parking lot in the Marina Pacifica Shopping Center on PCH. We will leave Long Beach at 2pm, meet at the SRP Nature Center at 3pm, and should be back by 7pm. Space is limited, fee is $2.00 for parking and day access plus gas money for car-pooling - drivers are needed. For more information or to RSVP contact Taylor@tidalinfluence.com. Please RSVP by April 15th.

March Minutes

Minutes
March 25, 2010

The meeting was called to order by Christopher Ward at 7:20 p.m.
In attendance –
Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Christopher Ward, Mary Parcell, Joe Weinstein, Jill Brennan

Introduction
El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their stream restoration. The stream and the entire walk are now open .
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust & Audubon – Anne Dennison
Discussion of the Land Trust & Audubon activities. After hiring Mark Massara to represent LCWLT at the Santa Cruz Coastal Commission, the Commission decided the Land Scraping deserved a full hearing.
Lcwlandtrust.org
Office of Sustainability – Jill Brennan
Discussion of Earth Week and presentation of the Earth Week poster.
Sustainablelb.com
Egrets not Regrets – Taylor Parker
Discussion of Heather Altman’s blog and the 2nd and PCH development.
Egretsnotregrets.com
El Dorado Audubon – Mary Parcell
Birdwalks at Hellman every 2nd and 4th Wednesdays @Hellman’s land off Studebaker and PCH.
Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration that has begun.
lcwetlands.org
Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration and closing of FOCL’s education program.
coloradolagoon.org
EcoLink- Chris Ward
Discussion of next field trip.
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Action Items:
-Taylor: Organize field trip for April to Santa Rosa Plateau

Next Meeting: April 29th, 2010

Anza Photos from This Weekend's Trip!

This weekend was beautiful! Check out the photos. Make sure you come to the EcoLink meeting this Thursday at the Unitarian Church at 7pm. We'll talk about the previous trip and the upcoming one in April!


A beautiful Bigelow Monkey flower (Mimulus bigelovii)

Water, in the desert.

A view from the roof of the nature center.

Beavertail flower(Opuntia basilaris)!

Lunch break!

Creosote Flower (Larea tridentata)!

Naturalist in Flip Flops Ignites Fascination with Brittlebush

A word to the wise: next chance you get to go on a little nature ramble with Taylor Parker...grab it with both hands.
As we ambled down the sidewalk that threads its way from the Anza-Borrego Visitors Center to the Campground, looking for the Borrego Palm Canyon trailhead, Taylor introduced us to various blooms that bedecked the harsh terrain; Chuparosa (blossoms taste a bit like cucumber), Brittlebush showing off scores of yellow flowers, Barrel Cactus, Apricot Mallow with its incredbly delicate eponymously colored blossoms, among many others. Each identification came enriched with tidbits of delightful lore, Latin taxonomy available upon request.
Never pedantic, Taylor neverthless teaches while he delights and helps others to delight in the Spring spectacle. A self-proclaimed minimalist, he strides along tirelessly on stork-like legs, equipped with a pint of water and a small, seldom-employed camera, thinking, musing, enjoying, sharing his pleasure, like some latter-day secular incarnation of Gerard Manley Hopkins.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden.-Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid's child, thy choice and worthy the winning.
G.M.H., written in Spring of 1877

Anza Field Trip Saturday!!!

Join EcoLink in the second of our monthly Field Trips! Borrego Palm Canyon sounds pretty wonderful.

Some delightful words from Anza enthusiasts:
"Hundreds of noble palms...water splashes over boulders, delighting all the senses."
"You can learn more about the California desert flora on this 3.0 mile round trip trail than anywhere else around Anza-Borrego."

This Saturday March 20th we are going to carpool to Anza Borrego to check out the wild flowers and hope to catch a glimpse of some bighorn! This is going to be a full day excursion. We will meet at Hof’s Hut on 2nd and PCH for breakfast at 8am and head on out at 9am. If you don’t want breakfast, meet us in Hof’s Hut parking lot around 9am. Bring some food for yourself for the day and some cash for gas money for car-pooling. Drivers are needed so please tell me if you can. For more information, contact http://us.mc365.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Taylor@tidalinfluence.com. We’ll be back in the evening Saturday sometime.

Griffith Observatory

The trip to Santa Rosa Plateau was cancelled due to rain. But Plan G! Griffith Observatory!

Here are a couple photos. Enjoy, and look forward to info of our next Field Trip soon.

February Minutes

Minutes

February 25, 2010

The meeting was called to order by Christopher Ward at 7:30 p.m.

In attendance –
Kerry Martin, Taylor Parker, Christopher Ward, Mary Parcell, Joe Weinstein, John Zapp, Patricia Sidoti

Introduction
Port of Long Beach – Patricia Sidoti
Donation of Port prizes for Fundraiser on February 27th
Sierra Club – John Zapp
Discussion of the Sierra Club and their meeting with Mayor Bob Foster
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sierra-Club-Long-Beach-Group/170271531536?ref=mf
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust & Audubon – Mary Parcell
Discussion of the Land Trust & Audubon activities.
Lcwlandtrust.org
Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program – Taylor Parker
Discussion of community-based restoration that has begun.
lcwetlands.org
Friends of Colorado Lagoon-Taylor Parker
Discussion of restoration.
coloradolagoon.org
El Dorado Nature Center – Kerry Martin
Discussion of the Nature Center and their stream restoration
EcoLink- Chris Ward and Taylor Parker
Discussion of planned Field Trips for 2010, new blog & Gallery Fundraiser on February 27th
ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

Action Items:
-Taylor: Organize field trip for March

Next Meeting: March 25th, 2010

Together We Can

Stopped by the 4th St. Gallery tonight.
Eric Zahn and Taylor Parker and various friends have set up an exhibit of wetlands photos and videos to encourage the rest of us to get involved and help save the precious remnants of those few wetlands still extant in our beleagured City.
I watched Taylor, then Eric, struggle with a laptop/TV interface to get the video presentation up and running. A dollop of creative cursing under one's breath and "Voila", success!
I chatted with old friends Gordana and Joe from Surfrider, signed up for the silent auction, admired Timothy's photos of Los Cerritos Wetlands.
The main event is Saturday evening with an 'opportunity drawing' (that would be a PC raffle), the aforementioned 'silent auction', snacks, grog, a chance to do a little good.
See you there, fellow salt marsh lovers. Drop by to benefit Los Cerritos Wetlands Landtrust, Friends of Colorado Lagoon and Eco-Link.

First Post!!! Field Trip Announcement!!

EcoLink is hosting a field trip to the Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve:

Join EcoLink in the first of our monthly Field Trips! On Sunday February 28th we are going to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta. The reserve at the Santa Rosa Plateau consists of 8,400 acres and is home to increasingly rare Vernal Pool habitat. We will be led on a 1 1/2 hour walk by Santa Rosa naturalist Kay Madore. We will leave Long Beach at 11.15am and should be back by 7pm. Space is limited, fee is $3.00 for the tour and day access plus gas money for car-pooling - drivers are needed. For more information or to RSVP contact Taylor@tidalinfluence.com. Please RSVP by February 20th."