Trail Building and Planting in the Santa Monica Mountains
By Staff Writer
While people around the world celebrated Earth Day yesterday, the Sierra Club is still busy celebrating Earth Month and wants to remind everyone to explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
As part of this celebration, earlier this month Sierra Club – the nation’s largest and most effective grassroots environmental movement – worked with Mountains Restoration Trust to build a new bird-dedicated hiking trail in the Cold Creek Preserve. The trail will become a self-guided bird walk, which will allow visitors to see the unique biodiversity of the Santa Monica Mountains firsthand.
The area traverses through five different habitats (coastal sage scrub, chaparral, grassland, riparian and oak woodland habitats), and is home to hundreds of local bird and plant species, including Wrentits, Acorn Woodpeckers, Cooper’s Hawks and the Peregrine Falcon – which can reach speeds of up to 200 MPH.
On May 4, as part of Bird Day LA, renowned bird scientists, Dr. Tom Smith and Dr. Brenda Larison from UCLA, will guide and educate visitors along the trail. Binoculars will be provided.
The trail is open to the public now, though signs with various bird and habitat identifications will be installed later in the summer. With all the rainfall earlier in the year, the area is lush, vibrant and ready to be enjoyed.
