NEW LAWSUIT FILED: COASTAL COMMISSION HELPS DESTROY WETLANDS

NEW HABITAT DESTRUCTION UNCOVERED: CEASE AND DESIST LETTER to SOCAL GAS

OUR SIDE’S LEGAL VICTORY, BUT THE FIGHT GOES ON: JUDGE INVALIDATES BULLDOZING PLAN

LAWSUIT FILED: “CALIFORNIA DEPT FISH & WILDLIFE DESTROYS WILDLIFE HABITAT“

ALLIES’ LAWSUIT FILED: CHALLENGING CALIFORNIA DEPT FISH & WILDLIFE

READ OUR 20-POINT PLAN: THE GENTLE ALTERNATIVE for BALLONA WETLANDS

STOP THIS

It’s a disastrous plan to destroy LA’s last remaining coastal wetlands ~ a mosaic of vibrant habitats ~ put hundreds of species at risk, and perpetuate our reliance on dirty energy.

JOIN US

More than a dozen prominent environmental, Democratic party and animal welfare groups oppose this bulldozing project that’s already cost more than $20 million just to plan.

SAVE THEM

More than 1,000 species of native animals and plants will be destroyed, displaced, or have their habitats obliterated if this project moves forward.

Help Us Save Our Beautiful Wetlands

For All of Us

The gas industry wants to destroy the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve! They plan to bulldoze this last remaining sliver of wetlands & associated coastal upland habitats on LA’s coast! And, in an Orwellian twist, they’re calling it a “restoration.” Don’t be fooled. This is a front. The fossil fuel companies have only one real agenda: to “restore” the crumbling oil wells and gas pipes that lie underneath the 640 acres of wetlands!

Watch a Message About Our Campaigns

Species Impacted

Public Money Wasted

An Update on the Campaign

“Why is the California Department of Fish & Wildlife overseeing a plan that is harmful to wildlife?”

Huey Johnson
Former Secretary of Resources, State of California

THERE’S STILL TIME TO STOP THIS OBSCENE DESTRUCTION OF LA’S THRIVING WILDLIFE RESERVE!

TOGETHER, WE CAN STAND UP TO THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY AND SAY: NO WAY.

JOIN US NOW TO DEFEND THE BALLONA WETLANDS.

The threat is to the last remaining sliver of wetlands in Los Angeles: the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in Playa del Rey. There is a plan to bulldoze the 600+ acre reserve, which is home to a myriad of threatened, endangered, and special status species including White-tailed Kite, Great Blue Heron, Burrowing Owl, Least Bell’s Vireo, Snowy Egret, and more.

Over 200 species of wild birds rely on the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve for their survival, but they’re not the only ones; Grey Foxes, Striped Skunks, Silvery Legless Lizards, and Slender Salamanders also call the wetlands home. Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions frolic and feed in the brackish water of the Ballona Creek channel, which will be collateral damage. More than 1,000 kinds of native animals and plants will be destroyed, displaced, or have their habitat obliterated if this project moves forward.

The Environmental Impact Report that describes the counterfeit “restoration” project, and includes comments from various agencies, can be found at: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/5/Ballona-EIR

Wildlife & Flora Threatened

The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is relied on by at least seven species that are so imperiled that they are either on the state or federal Endangered Species Lists. There are also dozens of species on the California List of Species of Special Concern. Bulldozing and demolishing habitat – home, shelter, nesting sites and food sources for these species would contribute to the extinctions that are happening all over the planet. Here in California, we know better.

Defendballonawetlands.org Launches Campaign To Save La’s Wetlands From Destruction!

SoCalGas Would Benefit from This Project

Beneath and surrounding the Ballona Wetlands is a massive methane gas storage facility. There are pipes and wells throughout the ecological reserve. This publicly-regulated utility wants to upgrade its fossil fuel infrastructure that would enable them to continue their operation on the LA coast for decades to come. It will likely shock supporters of Heal the Bay to learn that the organization is involved in promoting the destruction of this last chunk of natural wild habitat in Los Angeles. Heal the Bay has been bought by the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), which has made significant donations to Heal the Bay. Why else would they support such wholesale destruction of important wetland, coastal scrub and grassland habitat?

Don’t Bulldoze Ballona! Protesters Take To The Streets Over Disastrous Plan To Bulldoze Last Wetlands In Los Angeles!

Special thanks to photographers whose photographs are included in this website – including Jonathan Coffin, Rick Pine & Marcia Hanscom. These naturalists’ eyes & ears (& cameras!) inform us that the Ballona Wetlands and associated ecosystems are alive and worthy of defending. Also thanks to Robert Roy van de Hoek, whose research, science knowledge and historical & present understanding of the ecology of Ballona has informed us further.

© 2020 Defend Ballona Wetlands.

Public Records Show: NOT a restoration

Aug 11, 2020

Report below is part of the public record, contained in the FINAL EIR which is posted on the website of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Here is the link: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/5/Ballona-EIR Land Protection Partners Report dated February...

More Public Records Show: NOT a restoration

Aug 10, 2020

LAAS_Letter re DEIR-DEIS final Reduced The letter below is part of the public record, contained in the final EIR which is posted on the website of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Here is the link: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/5/Ballona-EIR Los...

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Bulldozers = Death for Wildlife

“When the bulldozers move in, where will these wild animals go?” asks Molly Basler, Founder of the Los Angeles-based Green Dream Campaign, and chair of the Wetlands Protection Committee for Climate Reality Project Los Angeles. “Ballona Wetlands is their home! They have nowhere else to go. It’s a classic case of paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.”

Don’t Bulldoze Ballona Wetlands! Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa Hearing Erupts In Frustration Over Explosive Plan For Development Of Massive Garage And Bike Paths!

Your Public Money Wasted!

“It is disgraceful that taxpayer dollars are being earmarked to build new fossil fuel infrastructure on the Los Angeles coast and ensure our reliance on dirty power for decades, especially given the urgency of the climate crisis,” stated Molly Basler, of Climate Reality Project/LA. “It’s the opposite of our stated public policy goals of moving toward a Green New Deal. The description of this environmental catastrophe as a ‘restoration’ is a cynical and insidious form of doublespeak.”