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ANNOUNCEMENTS

TOYON is now the official native plant of Los Angeles!

Click HERE to listen to KCRW interview of horticulturist Lili Singer.

Los Angeles County General Plan Update 2035 – Revised Draft Available!

The General Plan Update will guide growth and development in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County through the year 2035. It provides a framework of goals, policies and implementation programs centered on the theme of sustainability – or meeting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their economic, social and environmental needs. Major policies include:

 Expanding Transit Oriented Districts (TODs) to focus growth in areas with existing infrastructure and access to transit choices.
 Promoting Mixed-Use to encourage higher-density commercial/residential development along identified major commercial corridors within proposed TODs.
 Expanding Significant Ecological Areas to ensure long-term biotic diversity in the County without precluding development in those areas.
 Creating Employment Protection Districts to ensure that valuable industrial land remains available for quality jobs-producing industries and businesses.
 Protecting Agricultural Resources by recognizing the importance of local agriculture and protecting it from incompatible surrounding development.

Links/Resources

Revised Draft General Plan and Land Use Policy Maps incorporating comments and feedback received over the last year are available online at http://planning.lacounty.gov/generalplan/draft2012.

GP-Net: Look up any parcel in the unincorporated areas to find out its current and proposed land use designations and other related information at http://planning.lacounty.gov/generalplan/maps.

Implementation – Draft Zones: As part of the General Plan Update’s implementation program, new zones will be created and the mixed use and manufacturing zones will be revised to carry out the goals and policies of the General Plan Update. You can review them at http://planning.lacounty.gov/generalplan/zoning. Please direct any comments or questions regarding the draft zones to our Ordinance Studies Section at (213) 974-6432 or ordstudies@planning.lacounty.gov.

Your Support is Important

The General Plan Update is lengthy and comprehensive in scope. If you’re looking for particular information, please feel free to let us know and we’ll be happy to connect you with the information you need. Your support for the County’s General Plan Update is important to us and we welcome your comments and questions.

Thank-you,
The General Plan Update Team
(213) 974-6417
genplan@planning.lacounty.gov

LA NATIVE
An ecofriendly future for light rail stations
  www.lanative.org


Our goal is simple: get the MTA and Expo Authority to use native species for the station landscaping in phase two of the Expo light rail line.

The site is still being fine-tuned, but the basic concepts are all there.  This grassroots movement needs help from each of you in spreading the word on this long-overdue change in the way we use plants in our public projects.  Under the Resources & Links section of the website, you will find copies of both our colorful Brochure (for interested stakeholders) and our White Paper (for media and government).  Please feel free to distribute both documents to anyone who will read them!

The website also includes a link to our petition on this matter.  Please sign the petition, if you will.  You can link directly to the petition via:
http://m.ipetitions.com/#petition/la-native

LA NATIVE WHITE PAPER
To find out why the Expo Line Phase 2 should utilize
mostly native plants, click HERE.

Supervisors tentatively approve first phases of Newhall Ranch
Final battle to save the river looms


While many homeowners continue to struggle with falling home prices and under water loans, and commercial vacancy rates in the SCV are at an all time high, the County’s answer to the problem was to approve an additional 5,500 additional housing units and 2.5 million more square feet of new commercial space. These first two phases of the Newhall Ranch project obtained tentative approval this month in spite of the approximately 10,000 existing approved but unbuilt units already in Santa Clarita.

Sited along the Santa Clara River west of the I-5 freeway in one of the most sensitive wildlife areas in Southern California, these projects received intense opposition from SCOPE and other environmental groups as well as members of the community. Downstream farmers and property owners expressed concerns about chloride pollution and flooding. Unanswered questions remain regarding the recent water supply well closure and possible spread of the ammonium perchlorate pollution plume.

SCOPE (Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment) will not give up the fight to save the Santa Clara from this massive auto-oriented suburban sprawl project. The last free-flowing river in Los Angeles County should not be channelized. And the County should provide housing options that do not contribute to increased air pollution and greenhouse gases.
SCOPE will not give up, but needs your help.

Please make a donation.
www.scope.org

SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
WATERSHED COUNCIL MEETING
May 24, 2:30 - 5:00pm.
Location TBD

There are plans for three more watershed council meetings this year – the first one was held on behalf of the Malibu Creek Watershed Council in January. That group decided that it made sense to expand its horizons and become a part of the larger Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council.
Funding is in place to hold three more Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council meetings this year. The next one will be on Thursday, May 24, 2012 and will focus on reviewing and revising our initial watershed planning efffort. For more information contact Melina Watts [malibucreekwatershed@gmail.com].

Cal-IPC's 2012
Wildland Weed Field Courses and Habitat Restoration Workdays!

Our upcoming field courses and habitat restoration workdays trains natural resource managers and restoration volunteers on all aspects of invasive weed management.

Registration and course details at www.cal-ipc.org/fieldcourses/index.php.

Idyllwild - June 5-7
James San Jacinto Mountains UC Natural Reserve

    Tuesday, June 5 -
Strategic Approaches to Invasive Plant Management
    Wednesday, June 6 -
Invasive Plant Biology & Identification
    Thursday, June 7 -
Invasive Plant Control Methods

Registration Fees:

Cal-IPC Members: $155 per field course
Non-members: $175 per field course, this fee includes a 2011 Cal-IPC Membership
Restoration Volunteers: $55 per field course
   In 2012 Cal-IPC is able to offer a special discounted rate for restoration volunteers! You qualify as a restoration volunteer if weed management is not part of your professional work and you volunteer for an organized restoration effort.

Click here to register for field courses now.


THEODORE PAYNE FOUNDATION CLASSES

To register for classes, call (818) 768-1802 during business hours. Visit TPF's online calendar for details on these and other classes and events at www.theodorepayne.org

An important advance in systematics of California plants:

The Jepson eFlora is now on line.

See http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html

The Jepson eFlora initially parallels the second edition of The Jepson Manual, Vascular Plants of California, which is the work of 300 authors and editors being published by the University of California Press. 

The eFlora includes all of the taxonomic treatments of the print Manual and has in addition treatments for taxa that were excluded from the print Manual because of doubts about naturalization status. Interactive distribution maps linked to specimen data from the Consortium of California Herbaria are included.  Words that were abbreviated to save space in the print Manual have been expanded.  Keys are linked to the treatments to which they refer. Accepted names and synonyms can be searched for.  The eFlora is linked to the Jepson Online Interchange, and from there to numerous electronic tools.


The Jepson Herbarium will work with the treatment authors and users to keep the eFlora in sync with advances in California botanical knowledge.

ECOVISIONS YOUTUBE
INVASIVE PLANT VIDEOS

Ecovisions has produced a series of YouTube videos about invasive plants, specifically English ivy, brooms, yellow starthistle, pampas grass and more. Find them at http://www.ecovisions.org/video.html.

A NEW OAK WOODLAND CURRICULUM ACTIVITY

 

 


 

     


FIELD TRIPS


SAT 5/19 - 8:45am
Santa Monica Mountains
La Sierra Canyon Restoration

SUN 5/20 - 8:45am
Topanga State Park
Lower Topanga Park Restoration

SUN 5/20 - 9:00am
Griffith Park
Wildflower Walk

SAT 5/26 - 9am to 4pm

Temescal Canyon Park
Weeding in the City Park



Rare Plant Field Trips
Sponsored by CNPS
Click HERE for Event Calendar

Check out our newsletter for details.

TUESDAY EVENING PROGRAMS

June 12  ·  7:30 - 9:00pm

Title: Wild By Nature:
Sowing Seeds for Spring Wildflowers

Presenter: Genevieve Arnold

Genevieve Arnold is the Seed Program Manager for Theodore Payne Foundation. Previously she served as the Seed Conservation Program and Research Plant Collections technician at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.
Genny has been working with California native seeds for 9 years. She enjoys viewing California native plants and flowers in their natural habitats on the trails of southern California. Come and learn how to use California wildflower seeds to create and maintain a stunning native plant garden around your home! Hear tips for successful sowing.


Location: First United Methodist Church,
Santa Monica


First United Methodist Church
1008 11th Street, Santa Monica
Click Here for Map



July 10
  ·  7:30 - 9:30pm

Title: TBA

Presenter: TBA

Location: Sepulveda Garden Center, Encino

Sepulveda Garden Center
16633 Magnolia Blvd. Encino
Click Here for Map

Programs and Events are free to the public unless otherwise specified.

LA/SMM CNPS has its own
facebook page!

 If you have a facebook account, "Like" us to show your support; receive updates on events, workshops, and programs; share your native plant thoughts or questions; or just to say hi! Search for California Native Plant Society - Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains.

Click HERE to go to facebook

General Information about CNPS

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a statewide non-profit  organization of amateurs and professionals with a common interest in California's native plants. The Society, seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve this rich resource for future generations. Membership is open to all. Our members have diverse interests including natural history, botany, ecology, conservation, photography, drawing, hiking, and gardening.

TOYON , our chapter's bi-monthly newsletter, features a calendar of events, news about local conservation issues, and matters of interest relating to the southern California flora. (If CNPS members from other chapters would like subscribe to the Toyon, please email David Hollombe.)

Updated 05/15/2012