- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Biologists believe a high volume of water flowing through the Los Angeles River this winter due to El Niño rain will favor native fish, reported Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times. Native species - who evolved in river systems prone to sudden torrents of water, mud, bolders and debris in winter and pools and damp patches in summer - main gain an edge when the river rages.
Currently, the fish population in the river is almost entirely non-native. Released as bait by anglers, dumped by the city to eat unwelcome species, and aquarium fish set free by their owners now populate the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Friends of the Los Angeles River organization is expanding its citizen science monitoring of fish in the Los Angeles River to additional locations, reported Carren Jao in KCET Columns.
Since 2008, the volunteers have been catching fish in Elysian Valley of the L.A. River and delivering them for analysis to three biologists, including Sabrina Drill, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension advisor in Los Angeles County. The biologists found that the fish caught here were healthier and...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A group of environmentalists spent a morning recently wading in the Los Angeles River in search of Southern California steelhead trout, reported Louis Shagun in the Los Angeles Times.
The endangered species hasn't been found in the LA River since 1938, around the time the waterway was lined with concrete for flood control. The volunteers hope to document a steelhead trout in the river in order to trigger greater scrutiny and perhaps tighter regulations to support the species.
"We would know that even though this river has been so heavily degraded, conditions are appropriate for the species' return," said
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Sabrina Drill, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Los Angeles County, natural resources, informed Topanga Canyon residents how to create defensible space around their homes by breaking up fuel ladders, identifying fire-resistant plants and spacing the plants appropriately, according to the Topanga Messenger.
Drill's presentation, which included information about maintaining the health of the wildland environment, was the third of four lectures sponsored by the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness.
Topanga Canyon is a tony Los Angeles County neighborhood nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The public television affiliate in Los Angeles County, KCET, has posted a series of videos in its Departures series featuring UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor Sabrina Drill.
Departures is part of the KCET's Youth Voices digital literacy program, which engages high school students through workshops to become multimedia producers.
In this latest series of five videos, Drill and Camm Swift, a fishery biologist with the Natural History Museum, are filmed on the bank of the Los Angeles River chatting about the significant impact urban...