UPDATE from Lisa Fimiani, Friends’ Executive Director:

When so little is left, hang onto what you’ve got.

A tiny strip of woodlands habitat may go the way of the plow, if the LA County Department of Public Works doesn’t change their plans to dredge an Oak and Sycamore Grove in Arcadia.

This familiar scenario is playing out all over the world, decisions about removing native mature habitat are happening in the blink of an eye – and the consequences are devastating to flora and fauna. Audubon has written volumes on the decline of birds, which are indicator species that our habitat is deteriorating. We are left with patches, and it is those patches that very well may save species from extinction down the road – frighteningly, something that could happen in our lifetimes.

So as our founder did 32 years ago, we ask that you consider this an opportunity to give your voice to the fight. Ruth Lansford did it with a handful of homeowners and local university professors back then, filing the first lawsuit to save the Ballona Wetlands. Now we have a fleet of like-minded non-profits and ordinary people who value whatever remnant is left of what was once wild in California, from “wetlands to woodlands” – it’s all the same, really, it’s value is just as important.

Take a virtual walk through the Arcadia Oak Woodland courtesy ArcadiaPatch, and ask yourself whether you would like to see it demolished and turned into a sediment dump tomorrow. Kind of a no-brainer, yes?

Learn more about the Arcadia Oak Woodland at LA CreekFreak, Chance of Rain, and Wild Suburbia. Sign the petition here!

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