written by Sophia Todorov on Feb. 24, 2020
On the morning of Saturday, February 22, 2020, ERA board and general members traveled to the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and volunteered in a restoration event held by Friends of the Ballona Wetlands.
Totaling 16 people, ERA got our own section of the habitat to work on for the few hours we were there, separated from the numerous other volunteers who also came to the event.
Historical Background
This natural area was previously inhabited by the Tongva and Gabrielino people. However, after the Americas began becoming colonized, agriculture, urbanization, and population increases led to the decline of the many native ecosystems across the country, including the southern California wetland habitat. Located near highly developed areas like Marina Del Rey, Venice Beach, and Playa Vista, the habitat was officially declared a reserve in 2003. From then on, Ballona Wetlands were permanently under protection from development.
The sensitive dune buckwheat, accompanied by circle of intact invasive grass
Type II fun turned to Type I!
Although there was a forecast for rain, ERA still showed up strong! As the event was beginning, the clouds rolled away to reveal the California sun; volunteers basked in the warmth of unexpected sun rays while weeding invasive grasses.
Patrick Tyrrell, the Manager of Habitat Restoration and Upper Education, began the event by giving us brief directions, as well as a background of the habitat and why it is vital to restore it. The El Segundo Blue Butterfly, the species of focus during our event, is an endangered butterfly species that is endemic to southern California coastal habitats; they have a close relationship with the plant Eriogonum parvifolium, also known as coast buckwheat or dune buckwheat, on which they lay their eggs. Our goal was to pull the nonnative grass that was crowding the dune buckwheat; however, we had to make sure to leave all the grass that was growing directly under the buckwheat intact, as the butterflies could potentially drop their eggs into that grass.
The 2 ½ hours spent yanking invasive plants were accompanied by great conversation among ERA members; topics ranged from our ideal apocalypse teams to our most admired female conservationists to which classes we enrolled in.
Giant Panda-Sized!
By 11:30 am, it was time for us to finish pulling our last handfuls of grass. We collected all of the natural material into several large bags, which were first taken to the scale before being disposed of. We were notified by staff that we had weeded the weight equivalent of an adult male Giant Panda in invasive grasses! (That’s above 300 lbs just in grass!) Great job ERA!
