Friends of Ballona Wetlands recently appointed Andrew R. Henderson, Esq., to its Board of Directors. David Kay, President of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands Board of Directors, commented that “Andy has been associated with the Friends for years, beginning with his legal work on our behalf in the mid-1990s. We’re thrilled that he will bring his considerable conservation expertise to our Board, and we look forward to his input as we continue to advocate for the restoration of Ballona Wetlands.”

Mr. Henderson remarked that “I look forward to working with the Friends to advance the organization’s mission, particularly as we work with our stakeholders to ensure that the planned restoration of Ballona Wetlands proceeds in a scientifically sound fashion, one that will benefit Los Angeles communities and ecosystems.”

Mr. Henderson served as a public interest litigator from 1994 to 2002. In this capacity he provided legal counsel to Friends of Ballona Wetlands during the period in which the highly-acclaimed fresh water marsh at Ballona was planned, permitted, unsuccessfully challenged in the courts by detractors, and eventually completed. Since 2005, Mr. Henderson has served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Building Industry Association of Southern California, Inc.(BIASC), a non-profit trade association that represents nearly 1,000 member companies involved in residential community development in six counties.

Mr. Henderson graduated with honors in 1990 from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and also received a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California in 1981. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Henderson served on the City of Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission, which redrafted the city’s charter following 75 years of piecemeal amendments. He has argued cases in several California and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and advises BIASC and its affiliates on issues related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other local, state, and federal environmental policies and regulations.

Mr. Henderson helped to found and later became the President of the Society for Masonboro Island, which worked patiently to conserve a barrier island close to fast-growing Wilmington, North Carolina. Mr. Henderson also helped to found two other successful non-profit organizations, including, in 1996, Santa Monica-based Break the Cycle, Inc., which aims to educate teens about and prevent dating violence and other domestic violence.

Since 1995 Mr. Henderson and his wife Kristen have lived in nearby Mar Vista, along with their son Christopher.

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This past Thursday, May 30, our Executive Director Lisa Fimiani gave an interview to Warren Olney on KCRW’s Which Way L.A. radio show. You can find the interview here at 25:55 into the segment. Lisa and Warren discuss the degree to which the Ballona Wetlands have been degraded, efforts to restore their ecological functions, the science-based planning involved in restoration, and what the future of the restored Wetlands may hold.

Lisa’s interview is preceded by a very interesting piece by Jody Becker exploring the larger topic of restoring tidal wetlands. Jody’s piece focuses on the newly restored Malibu Lagoon State Beach, and can be found at 21:45 on the same segment as Lisa’s interview.

Please give both segments a listen—if you’re not aware of the history and promise behind restoration efforts at Ballona Wetlands these pieces will give you a great overview. We’re working hard to make sure that all stakeholders have enough accurate information to make informed decisions about this important process.

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Barbara Elliott (left) with Jean Brandt

Barbara Elliott, cherished friend and volunteer, passed away after a short illness on May 15, 2013. Lisa Fimiani, our Executive Director, said:

“I’ve known and admired Barbara for years, and she had been a fixture at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh since it was created. She regularly birded the marsh trail with other stalwarts on a monthly basis, tallying bird count totals at the end. I loved Barbara’s dry wit, and she was extremely knowledgeable about local birds. Barbara had only recently assumed leadership for organizing the count from Jean Pickus, another long time friend. We are so saddened by Barbara’s passing, and she will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.”

Barbara Elliott (left) with Jean Pickus

No memorial services were held for Barbara, but donations in her memory may be made to the Ornithology Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007, attention Kimball Garrett. Please note “Ornithology Department” on the memo line of donation checks.

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Bill Lansford, age 90, passed away on May 22, 2013. Bill was an accomplished author and screenwriter and a decorated World War II and Korean War U.S. Army and Marine veteran. More importantly, he was a dear friend of ours from our inception as a non-profit organization.

Bill’s wife, Ruth Lansford, fell in love with Ballona Wetlands in the early 1970s while raising her and Bill’s two young sons. Her passion grew into activism, and she founded Friends of Ballona Wetlands in 1978 to conserve this vital natural treasure. Bill stood with Ruth through all of her subsequent battles, from efforts to save the wetlands from developers to efforts to persuade the state to purchase remaining open wetlands. Bill became a fixture at our offices and events, as well as in the wetlands themselves, and we will always be inspired by his quiet dignity and strength.

You can read more about Bill’s life here. In lieu of flowers or other memorials, Bill requested that contributions in his name be made to the Obregon Medal of Honor Foundation.

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We’ve had a busy four weeks! As the weather warms our work at Ballona Wetlands begins to heat up as well, and we wanted to share with you a sample of what we’ve been doing.

We began on April 18 by holding our 4th annual Ballona Watershed Warriors Celebration. This year we honored the environmental efforts of Los Angeles City Councilmember Tom LaBonge, whose 4th district falls largely within the Ballona Creek watershed, and Ronald Smith, Director of the West Basin Municipal Water District and Vice Chairman of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. Over one hundred and fifty of our friends attended, and their generous financial support will help fund our educational programs and habitat restoration clean-up efforts well into the summer. Thank you again to all of our sponsors, and congratulations Tom and Ron!

Two days later, on Saturday, April 20, we held our annual Earth Day event. Close to 300 volunteers donated their time and effort to clean up trash along Ballona Creek and pull non-native weeds throughout the salt marsh, and we finished the day by witnessing members of South Bay Wildlife Rehab release a rehabilitated juvenile red-tailed hawk into the wetlands. Check out all the photos on our Facebook page, including Eddie the Great Horned Owl, one of South Bay Wildlife Rehab’s educational birds (and make sure to “Like Us” while your at it!).

One week later, on May 3, we sent a contingent of staff to the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project ribbon cutting event. We strongly support the restoration work done at the Malibu Lagoon, and the type of work done there represents what we hope can be done to restore Ballona.

Throughout it all we’ve held our regularly scheduled tours and clean-up events, and we want to thank all of our volunteers for their hard work and dedication. If you haven’t attended one of our events, please download our schedule and join us one weekend!

In fact, if you are in town over Memorial Day weekend we have a Freshwater marsh tour scheduled from 10A to 11A with one of our knowledgeable docents, located at Jefferson and Lincoln Boulevards, and in the Saltmarsh we have our regularly scheduled habitat restoration day from 9:30A – 12 Noon. Come on out for a nature walk or get your hands dirty doing restoration!

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