LA’s Hillside Habitat Must be Shared

PRESERVING WILDLIFE-The “hills” of Los Angeles are a coveted location for those that aspire to live in cantilevered houses perched on precarious outcroppings. There are sweeping views of nature, enjoyed in the privacy of a singular canyon lifestyle -- in what architectural critic Reyner Banhamidentifies as one of the four “ecologies” of Los Angeles living. His “ecologies” are, by the way, the beach, the freeways, the flatlands, and the foothills. 

These hills -- ranging east to west across our city -- are also the habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species that must share nature’s rapidly shrinking footprint with the human cliff dwellers. 

Bobcats, mountain lions, hawks and coyotes also have a “home on the range.” The humans who share their space -- and others who wish to encroach on it by adding to the built environment -- must do a better job of understanding, respecting and perpetuating it. 

This hillside blend of architecture and ecology is becoming more fantasy than fact. As much as residents might feel like they are living in a superior way, surrounded by nature, they actually are not. The ratio of man to animal on the hillsides and in the canyons is rapidly changing, and with that looms an ecological crisis as the wildlife population dwindles and the human population densifies. 

Some call this imperfect balance “progress, expansion, growth, and densification” -- all terms that developers refer to in their mission statements.  

Hillside homeowners rarely understand that green wildlife corridors were carved up to make way for their shiny new neighborhoods. 

Human development is pushing wild creatures into what the group Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) calls “habitat fragmentation.” This is what occurs when various species are cut off from the natural habitats (where they live and breed) by housing developments. This leaves the affected wildlife in isolated zones. 

A birds-eye view shows that the Santa Monica Mountains, as the “hills” are officially known, cleaves our city in half. On one side is the vast basin and on the other side, a vast valley. That same view shows how densely packed the hills are with houses. But what we cannot see is where the wildlife live in these same crowded hills. 

What can be done about this ecological imbalance? How do we honor, enjoy and preserve nature while simultaneously making the hills a habitat that man and wildlife can share? 

One solution is creating and preserving “wildlife corridors”: a protected green habitat that, as CLAW defines it, “connects wildlife populations separated by human activities such as roads, fences or structures…a stretch of land across which animals travel to feed, seek refuge and migrate between seasons.” 

Simply stated, residents must develop a way to share the hills with wildlife. 

“Without a wildlife corridor,” warns CLAW, “animals can’t get to the food, shelter and mates they need to survive.” Suddenly, sharing becomes a matter of survival. Humans must urgently and creatively take the lead. 

This may be best accomplished through private and non-profit enterprise. Due to political indifference, government intervention might be hard to accomplish. One noble effort made by Councilmember Paul Koretz has been difficult to realize. His motion, “to prepare and present an ordinance to create a Wildlife Corridor in the eastern area of the Santa Monica Mountains,” has not successfully made it out of the City Council’s Planning and Land Use committee (PLUM) so it can go before the whole City Council for a vote. 

Here’s the motion, Council File 14-0518: Eighteen months after submission, City Council’s official motion-tracking record still shows it as “pending” in the PLUM Committee. 

The chance of this motion being sent to the full Council for a vote, let alone enacted as an ordinance, appears as endangered as the wildlife it’s designed to protect. However, since CF-14-0581 does not expire until April 23, 2016, there’s still time for political courage to materialize. 

This delay has happened despite the fact that Councilmember Koretz enlisted Councilmembers Bonin, Huizar, LaBonge and O’Farrell as co-signers to his motion. And apparently, equally insignificant to the PLUM committee were the community impact statements supporting the motion submitted by several neighborhood councils in public comment, including Hollywood Hills West, Studio City, Bel Air-Beverly Crest, Encino, and Foothill Trails neighborhood councils. Each of these communities have wilderness as part of their districts. 

The Koretz (et al) wilderness ordinance motion that went to PLUM was tabled by inaction. This committee is often influenced by developers whose fortunes depend on the approval of their plans by this very powerful council committee. Animals may be a man’s best friend, but LA wildlife cannot claim the same friendship with developers. 

What can be done when politicians either run out of resolve or run into developers that usurp the birthright of wildlife? 

In one case, the vacuum has been partly filled by an alliance of Laurel Canyon residents and wildlife advocates that wants to buy a mountain ridge containing a 17-acre parcel of LA's urban wilderness. They call themselves the “Laurel Canyon Assn. - Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife”, and they’ve branded their $1.6 million campaign, “Let's Buy a Mountain.” 

In addition to preserving the land from developers, this purchase would insure preservation of a natural wildlife habitat. Hedging their bet politically, the coalition has enlisted CD4 Councilmember David Ryu, in whose district the proposed purchase sits, as an ally with a pocketbook. Ryu has committed to a fundraising match up to $15,000 -- a good start toward a lofty goal. 

But the group requires so much more. There is little understanding of the urgent need for wildlife corridors. It’s possible that this group will help raise awareness and encourage others to join the movement. 

Next time you see the startling image of a wild bobcat, like the infamous P-22 (pictured above) that roams the hills around Griffith Park, you can be sure he is not looking only for food, water and shelter. He’s also searching for company, possibly a mate to procreate and keep his species alive. None of that will happen unless we give P-22 and other wildlife the same resources as humans enjoy -- routes to roam…unfettered by the built environment.

 

(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

-cw                

  

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 87

Pub: Oct 27, 2015