Just days before the annual event to remove tons of trash from the river, Friends of the Los Angeles River got big news from California Department of Fish and Wildlife: rare endangered birds not seen along the river in years, known as Least Bell’s vireos, were nesting on the river and standing in way of the annual cleanup on April 15, 2023.
And that was a good thing.
A small gray bird, the Least Bell’s vireo winters in Baja California and other parts of Mexico, and migrates north to California in the spring. But the bird hasn’t been seen along L.A. River in years.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” says Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) Chief Operating Officer Dennis Mabasa of the return of the Least Bells vireo. “It tells us that we have a regenerating environment along the river. The return of this endangered bird is the resurgence of wildlife we’ve tried for, and pursued, for 30 years.”
The FoLAR cleanup event, in which volunteers pick up vast amounts of trash in and along the river, was quickly altered by FoLAR to a cleanup just along the trails, to avoid disturbing the endangered birds and their nests along the river.
The cleanup days, which continue on April 22 in certain locales, are part of the group’s 33rd annual event conducted on two dates at seven sites along the 51-mile-long river. The river begins in Canoga Park, runs through the San Fernando Valley, Elysian Valley, Downtown L.A., and Gateway Cities and empties into the ocean in Long Beach.
Mabasa says FoLAR learned of the return of the endangered birds just four days before the April 15 cleanup. “So we pivoted away from the river, instead cleaning up the river paths of their trash” at locations in Long Beach, Griffith Park and Van Nuys.
Mabasa called the Los Angeles River “an essential habitat, and our greatest climate-resiliency tool. It cleans our air, cools our temperatures and provides the habitat critical to our well-being.”
FoLAR CEO Candice Dickens-Russell noted in a press release, “FoLAR brings thousands of people to the river each year, and that’s something we’re really proud of.”
In 2022, volunteers removed more than 50,000 pounds of trash from the river, according to FoLAR’s website. They helped remove invasive species of plants, and they planted native plants on 95 acres of land during the group’s monthly “Habitat Restoration” days.
The second FoLAR cleanup is 8 a.m. April 22, Earth Day, at sites near the upper, middle and lower sections of the river. Registration is required for those who wish to volunteer. In the San Fernando Valley, volunteers can register for the event at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. Volunteers will remove trash and debris from trails, or they may remove invasive mustard plants at the Woodley Park archery range area in Van Nuys.
Details on the Friends of the LA River cleanup is here: folar.org/cleanup-2023-earth-with-us
Register in advance to volunteer at the site of your choice, here: www.eventbrite.com/cc/earth-with-us-the-great-la-river-cleanup-529099