Seal Beach

At the EcoLink meeting last night, the open space that is slated for some development on First St in Seal Beach was mentioned as being a site for possible remediation because of the power plant that used to reside there. It reminded me of a photo of the old powerplant that someone gave me a long while ago....

Moving Planet Day - Photo!

On Saturday September 24th 2011, EcoLink participated in 350.org's Moving Planet Day. How did we move the planet? With paddles. Fifteen of us paddled from Leeway Sailing Center, where the gentlemen there were kind enough to let us borrow kayaks, to the mouth of the steamshovel slough in Los Cerritos Wetlands. Folks had so much fun that we're thinking of making this a regular event...Let us know if you have a group who wants to paddle.

EcoLink Meeting Tonight!

Tonight is September's EcoLink meeting at the Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton in East Long Beach. It will be at 7pm and we will talk about Moving Planet Day and the field trips for the rest of the year!

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Taylor

Field Trip August 13th

To the Devil's Punchbowl for a Full Moon Hike!!!

Meet at the CVS parkign lot at Bellflower and Stearns at 4pm. But please email Taylor beforehand if you plan on going: Taylor@tidalinfluence.com.

Field Trip to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden

Six of us travelled up the 605 to Claremont to visit Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden. It was a beautiful overcast day full of plants, flowers, lizards, snakes and Thai food. Check out the videos and photos:




The largest Opuntia prolifera I've ever seen.


An amazing wall of dudleya welcomed us into the gardens.

A couple huge chalk dudleyas.

The EcoLink Field Trip crew minus myself and a brother who was throwing something at me outside of the frame.

Events in May!!!!

May’s EcoLink Field Trip is to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens in Claremont! On Sunday May 22 at 10am, we will meet at the old Borders Parking Lot at Bellflower and Stearns in East Long Beach to carpool up to the Botanical Gardens. Garden admission is free for RSABG members; $8 adults; $6 seniors and students; $4 children 3-12. Also, they will be holding a sale of succulent, cactus and agave plants on the day we will be there plus they will have their butterfly pavilion for an extra $2. I, as always, suggest bringing your own sack lunch (or lunch money plus a good argument to grab lunch somewhere) and some extra cash to help out the driver of your carpool.

Oh, and EcoLink Partner Timothy Dunham of Somethings Creative is hosting a Conservation Arts Show at Viento y Agua on May 21st. Check out the attached flier for more information!

Also, EcoLink will be facilitating a Northwest Earth Institute “Sense of Place” reading circle. The reading material is $20. This reading circle is one of my favorites and definitely worth it. For more information on NWEI or Sense of Place check out their site: http://www.nwei.org/ and to sign up for the reading circle, please contact Chris Ward at crward947@hotmail.com. There is a limit of 20 people, so please RSVPsoon.

April Meeting Minutes

Minutes

April 28^th, 2011

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

In attendance –

Austin Parker, Bruce Monroe, Chris Ward, Taylor Parker, Kerry Martin, Whitney Graves, Sharon Hesse, Mary Parcell

Introduction

“The Movement with no name” - Bruce Monroe

5 minute brainstorm session to the benefit the discussion of The Movement with No Name. The motto of the movement is: restoring grace, justice and beauty in the world. If you divide the entirety of the world up by the amount of people on the planet everyone is responsible for 10 acres. The goal is to develop a token/ brand/ identity marker/ that identifies:

· ven diagram of earth elements

· deep ecology logo in a ‘tv’ screen

· tree of life within a circle

· seed concept somewhere because of the many implications of nurturing a seed

· mother and child within a water drop

· child superimposed upon a seed

· turtle symbol

Please give your input on potential symbols

El Dorado Nature Center - Kerry Martin— longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

· Discussion of activities at Nature Center

· Turtle show

· Madrona Marsh naturalists giving native plant discussion.

Visit website for more information

Shipley Nature - Kerry Martin— shipleynature.org

· April 30^th – 9-2pm – Spring Festival

· Demonstration garden is in full bloom

Visit website for more information

EcoLink - Chris Ward– ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

· NWEI discussion Sundays starting June 5^th from 4pm-5.30pm

Contact Chris Ward for more information: crward947@hotmail.com

El Dorado Audubon - Mary Parcell - eldoradoaudobon.org / eldoradoaudobon@yahoo.com –

· Potential illegal lot line split with Marketplace Marsh discussion at planning department with the City of Long Beach

· Comment period for the Draft EIR has ended. Egretsnotregrets.com

· May 14^th 10am- Gum Grove Walk

· May 15^th 8am - Gum Grove Walk

· Hellman Walks every 2^nd & 4^th Wednesday off of PCH & 1^st

350.org – Taylor Parker– 350.org

· Discussion of “Moving Planet”

Community Organizer- Taylor Parker—ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

· EcoLink:

o Discussion of field trip to Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve.

o Discussion of field trip to next Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden``

· Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program: Discussion of community-based restoration: www.lcwetlands.org

· Friends of Colorado Lagoon: Discussion of activities: www.coloradolagoon.org

Next Field Trip: May 22nd –10am – Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden (meet at the Borders parking lot on Bellflower and Stearns at 10am)

Next Meeting: Thursday May 26^th – 7pm -Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton

Poppy Field Trip

We had a great field trip to the Antelope Poppy Reserve. Nine people braved the blustery day (we always have the weirdest weather for our trips) to explore the Reserve and see fields of flowers, beautiful vistas and a Mojave Green Rattlesnake. Check out the video of the snake at EcoLink's new Youtube Channel! A field of flowers: Owl Clover, Miniature Lupine, California Gold Fields, and several phacelias!

Part of the Poppy Adventure Team at Antelope Valley Butte Vista Point!

April Field Trip!!

April is a wonderful, wonderful month. There are a ton of Earth Day activities and people everywhere are finding creative ways to celebrate our home. The absolute best place to go for a great list of all the activities is the City of Long Beach's Office of Sustainability website: http://www.longbeach.gov/citymanager/sustainability/about/earth_2011.asp

One of the ways EcoLink is going to celebrate is to visit the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve this coming Sunday April 17th. The Poppy Reserve is a magnificent place with miles of color blanketing the valley floor and the slow rolling hills. I have heard that the immense colors of Poppies is less than usual this year but that means that the variety of wildflowers is up. Check this site out for photos: http://www.longbeach.gov/citymanager/sustainability/about/earth_2011.asp

We will be meeting this Sunday at the old Borders Parking Lot at Bellflower and Stearns in Long Beach at 10am sharp to carpool on out to Antelope Valley. This is going to be one of our longer field trips. It will be a 2 hour drive there, a bit of gentle hiking, a little picnic (bring a sack lunch!), maybe another hike, and a 2 hour drive back. We need drivers - please RSVP with Taylor@tidalinfluence.com if you can make it, if you can drive and how many people you can take if you can.

March Meeting Notes

Minutes

March 24, 2011

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

In attendance –

Mary Parcell, Austin Parker, Bruce Monroe, Chris Ward, Taylor Parker, Kerry Martin, Tiffany Chen, Elliot Gonzalez,

Introduction

El Dorado Audubon - Mary Parcell - eldoradoaudobon.org / eldoradoaudobon@yahoo.com –

· Discussion of Gary DeLong’s Lunch talk about 2^nd&PCH re-circulated EIR.

· El Dorado Audubon has a conservation committee. They are asking people to write their council members and express what they like about El Dorado Nature Center, El Dorado Park East and West. Whatever it may be that you enjoy about the park, please contact your council member.

“The Movement with no name” a continuation of Earth Day - Bruce Monroe - Go to Google Earth for details

· Having governments reduce their defense budget and allocate more of those funds to environmental concerns. Google has agreed to show what is being done for the earth through Google Earth ~ through international symbolic language. They will then allow individuals to pledge to multi-generational responsibility of a specific place on Earth.

· What Google needs is you to contribute your design for symbols for global environmental causes

· Matriotism: Elliot Gonzalez’s term for a new shift from male-centric to female

· Global Climate Change map: geo.arizona.edu

Community Organizer/Office of Sustainability - Tiffany Chen– greenlb.org / catalyst.org / tiffany.chen@longbeach.com

·

April 2^nd – 3pm- 6pm : Catalyst Assembly at Art Expo in Bixby Knolls ~ catalyst.org

· April 9^th – Many Events:

o LBWD Earth Day Celebration at the Aquarium of the Pacific 9-4 ~ Green Long Beach and EcoLink are partnering to table together

o LB Solar Grand Prix ’11 – El Dorado Park

o Earth Day Art Show @ Catalyst Space - 430 E 1^st St. 6-9pm at Catalyst Space

· April 19^th & 20^th -10-2pm ~ Tabling at CSULB – Earth Week Fair

· April 13th – 4.30pm-6.30pm ~CSULB Sustainability Mixer – Topic: Sustainable Leaders – Speakers: Larry Rich of Office of Sustainability, Tiffany Chen of Green Long Beach, free to the public, free food,

· April 21^st – 2-5pm - Urban Farming in North Long Beach

· April 21^st – Screening of “No Impact Man” at CSULB

· April 22^nd 11-2pm- City Hall “all kinds of crazy” of Office of Sustainability Earth Day Programming

· Adopt a Berm Program

· Sustainability Conference in July at CSULB

Green Long Beach -- Elliot Gonzalez– greenlb.org

· Mission Statement for Green Long Beach: Green Jobs, Green Spaces, Education and Awareness, Green Festival

· June 11^th – 10am-8pm: 3^rd Annual Green Festival -Downtown Long Beach Promenade – tons of eco-fun. They are taking donations and have various sponsorship levels for paying for

·

City of Long Beach Sustainability Commission -- Elliot Gonzalez– sustainablelb.com / longbeach.gov /

· Driving the Sustainability Master Plan

· Greywater Pilot Program and Green Progress Report Presentation today ~ all commission meetings are available on the website

· Next meeting is the fourth Thursday of the month at 4pm in City Hall

El Dorado Nature Center - Kerry Martin— longbeach.gov/naturecenter/

· Discussion of activities at Nature Center

Shipley Nature - Kerry Martin— shipleynature.org

· April 30^th – 9-2pm – Spring Festival

Bolsa Chica Land Trust - Kerry Martin— bolsachicalandtrust.org

· Discussion of Mesa Restoration ~ portable nursery station

350.org - Chris Ward– 350.org

· Discussion of the McKibben’s Money Pollution: new campaign to attack the US Chamber of Commerce. Check 350.org for information.

IAM Union– Chris Ward- iam947.org

· March 26^th- 9am meet at Wardlow, 10am March to Pershing Square in support of public unions

Community Organizer- Taylor Parker—ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

· EcoLink:

o Discussion of Field trip to Palos Verde Peninsula Land Conservancy on March 20.

o Discussion of LCW Restoration Design Talks to create an informal space for community engagement regarding the upcoming LCW design.

· Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program: Discussion of community-based restoration: www.lcwetlands.org

· Friends of Colorado Lagoon: Discussion of activities: www.coloradolagoon.org

Next Field Trip: April 17^th –10am - Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve (meet at the Borders parking lot on Bellflower and Stearns at 10am)

Next Meeting: April 28^th – 7pm -Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton

Palos Verde Peninsula Hike! In the Storm!!

So apparently when you schedule field trips, that gives the mighty San Pedro Bay gods all the motivation they need to unleash a mighty storm. No matter; we were undettered. After the last three field trips succumbed to inclement weather, this trip was determined to occur. Due to our courageous leadership of Cris Sarabia, Stewardship Manager of the Palos Verde Peninsula Land Conservancy, we were led on an amazing tour one of their many restorations. This particular restoration involved the usage of goats as non-native weed killers. While the goats were hunkered down under the nearby shrubbery (as we might have been intelligent enough to do so were it not for stubborn perseverance) our 11 person crew was still able to see the many fine points of their work. Check out the photos below because it really was an exhilarating time! Also, be sure to check out the next EcoLink meeting this Thursday at 7pm at the Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton.

February Minutes

Minutes

February 24, 2011

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

In attendance –

Tiffany Chen, Dorothy Kimmeny, Bruce Monroe, Chris Ward, Taylor Parker, Kerry Martin, Joe Weinstein, Patricia Sidoti

Introduction

Community Organizer – Tiffany Chen

Discussion of:

· Creative ReUse Day on Sunday February 27^th @ Creative ReUse Depot

· CSULB Sustainability Mixer – Topic: Transportation -March 2^nd

· CSULB Sustainability Mixer – Topic: City & Campus Initiatives - April 13th

· Sustainability Conference in July at CSULB

· April 9^th – Many Events:

o LB Solar Grand Prix ’11

o LBWD Earth Day Celebration at the Aquarium of the Pacific 9-4

o Earth Day Art Show @ 430 E 1^st St. 6-9pm at Catalyst Space

· 10-2 April 19^th & 20^th Tabling at CSULB – Earth Day Fair

Bruce Monroe – “The Movement” a continuation of Earth Day: A Having governments reduce their defense budget and allocate more of those funds to environmental concerns. Last Day of March: Beginning of PBS documentary of Plan B – 12 one show a week for 12 weeks. You can pledge to multi-generational responsibility of a specific place on Earth: Adopt-a-Natural Place. Go to Google Earth for details.

Global Climate Change map: geo.arizona.edu

Green Party – Dorothy Kimmeny

Discussion of the Green Party activities.

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

Port of Long Beach – Patricia Sidoti

Discussion of the 700 gallon oil spill at the Port.

El Dorado Audubon—Kerry Martin

Discussion of the stream restoration and upcoming nature center events. Increase in volunteer participation. Visit the calendar for more information:

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

350.org – Chris Ward

Discussion of the McKibben’s Money Pollution: new campaign to attack the US Chamber of Commerce. Check 350.org for information.

350.org

Community Organizer—Taylor Parker

· EcoLink:

o Field trip to Crystal Cove on Sunday February 27.

o Discussion of LCW Restoration Design Talks to create an informal space for community engagement regarding the upcoming LCW design.

o Discussion of creating an essay contest for local students to demonstrate reflection of the anniversary of the Gulf Oil Catastrophe.

o www.ecolinklongbeach.blogspot.com

· Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program: Discussion of community-based restoration: www.lcwetlands.org

· Friends of Colorado Lagoon: Discussion of activities and upcoming Port of Long Beach restoration event on March 12th: www.coloradolagoon.org

Next Field Trip: February 26^th – Crystal Cove (meet at the Borders parking lot on Bellflower and Stearns at 10am)

Next Meeting: March 24^th – Unitarian Church on Bellflower and Atherton

January Field Trip: Mt Wilson Observatory

Happy New Year Eco-Minded individuals! EcoLink would like to step into this year in a galactic way by visiting Mount Wilson Observatory on Sunday January 30^th.

We are getting a special tour, so, this means a couple things. First, there will be a nominal fee which will be 5 to 10 dollars depending on the amount of people who go. And I need to know who is going. There is a limit of 20 people so please RSVP by this Saturday January 15^th if you can commit to going (also, if you can drive). I am fronting the cash so if you bail on me I will hunt you down and give you a noogie; you have been forewarned. Second, weather conditions may abruptly impede access with very little warning. I may find out the morning of the field trip that we cannot go. If that is the case, you will be refunded and those who show up will most likely go to the Griffith Observatory. There are other concerns too, like parking and such but I will give you those details when you RSVP.

That is going to be a great field trip. To learn about the rest of the field trips and the state of the environmental community in our bioregion, feel free to attend the normal EcoLink meeting scheduled as always on the 4^th Thursday of the month at the Unitarian Church on Atherton and Bellflower at 7pm. Among other important issues, we will be discussing some exciting wetland news as well as EcoLink goals for 2011.

To recap: field trip on Jan 30^th to Mount Wilson but you need to RSVP by this Saturday the 15^th if you are going. Also, EcoLink meeting on Jan 27^th at 7pm.

Feel free to contact me at Taylor@tidalinfluence.com or 562-331-0226 for more information.

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