Protect Ballona Wetlands & Grasslands

Thank you, Argonaut, for publishing news that is factual, and not just running greenwashing ads by SoCalGas. We are grateful for the story and the photos. Click on this link to read what's going on at the Ballona Wetlands: https://argonautnews.com/opinion-gov-newsom-shouldnt-bulld/

To change the subject, just a bit...have you signed this petition to Governor Newsom? We’re over 7,000 signatures now, and yours and your friends’ & family’s will get us to 10,000. That’s our goal. Please sign and share! https://www.change.org/DefendBallonaWetlands

BREAKING NEWS: Watch as environmentalist Molly Basler is accused of trespassing to prevent her from documenting new destructive activity by SoCalGas at Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve. This took place during a press conference to protect the wetlands! Action item: CALL and EMAIL three different people who can put a stop to what is going on at Ballona with the gas field. Tell them to STOP the work at the Ballona Wetlands until adequate environmental review and permits are ...completed (9 permits have been issued by CalGEM only - Playa del Rey gas storage facility). Federal laws need to be followed and the CA Coastal Act. Endangered birds have been documented within feet of the site where VIDOR 5 work is being done. Tribal consultation is also required for this site. 1. Alice Reynolds Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office Senior Policy Advocate for Energy [email protected] (916) 445-6212 2. Wade Crowfoot Secretary of Natural Resources [email protected] (916) 653-5656 3. Jack Ainsworth Executive Director California Coastal Commission [email protected] (415)-904-5202 Thanks for your help to defend Ballona Wetlands: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=425562891754911

Today's hearing at the State Coastal Conservancy re: Ballona Wetlands. If you find 40 minutes to listen to this, I hope you will! You will learn some of the details about why the proposed project that would excavate more than 2 million cubic yards of soil and move it all around is NOT a good idea! You will not hear the amazing and talented actor & comedian Lily Tomlin, because she had to assert herself and speak up during an earlier item. I think someone did record it, but it...'s not posted yet because it was during an earlier time on the agenda. They didn't like it, but she kept speaking - it was really Lily Tomlin! The Board members were all smiling, as her voice is unmistakable. They might have been thinking about "9 to 5" - a great movie with an important message! Lily suggested they all need to get educated about what is really happening at the Ballona Wetlands, and she registered her objection! She HAS gotten educated - and she does NOT Support the bulldozing project. For the rest of the public comments that were made about the Ballona Wetlands, you can hear them here. They would not show the members of the public, and Sam Schuchat even turned off the chat, mid-meeting. He's the one who we learned had investments in offshore oil - and he's the main staff person of this agency pushing a destructive, harmful bulldozing project at Ballona - a project that will benefit who most? SoCalGas - and the contractors who would be (and many of whom already!) working on this 9 year construction project. It's NOT a restoration.

Outrage is growing over the misguided and cynical plan to bulldoze the Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve, 640 acres that is teeming with wildlife and plants, some threatened and endangered, LA'S LAST COASTAL WETLANDS! In Defense of Animals' Virtual Town Hall hits the HUGE NEW developments: the lawsuit filed by nationally recognized environmental attorney Bryan Pease to stop this environmentally destructive boondoggle. And, Heal The Bay's new vow to stop taking money ...from SoCalGas! Green Dream Campaign's Molly Basler moderates the panel with these amazing speakers: * Bryan W. Pease, Attorney at Law * Marcia Hanscom, Ballona Institute * Rick Pine, Ballona Naturalist * Mary Beth Trautwein, Protect Playa Now * Jane Velez-Mitchell, Journalist and Author The plan, which state agencies falsely call a restoration, would do the opposite, spending 270 million dollars and 9 long years bulldozing the entire reserve, LA’s last remaining coastal wetlands and a landing spot for migratory birds. Over 40 environmental and animal welfare organizations have voiced opposition to this project. Proponents claim this restoration will provide more public access. The truth is, again, the opposite. Access is currently being denied to the public by the very entities that purport to want to provide it. There is literally a locked gate that stops taxpayers from accessing the wetlands. State agencies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars improving an area where the public is locked out. All they have to do is unlock the gate! Instead, they want to destroy the entire reserve. If the big bulldozing project proceeds, a well-used, beloved bicycle path through the heart of the Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve, would be demolished, thus removing a really important public access trail that exists today.