By Marianne Love
Get your binoculars ready.
Put on comfortable walking shoes.
And then head out to spy for local birds and native plants at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley where San Fernando Valley Audubon Society keeps a watchful eye to maintain its vibrancy.
And for the tireless efforts of the Society’s 2,000 members and donors, the basin remains a destination for nature lovers who track white pelicans, geese, cormorants, herons and other birds in a 2,150-acre playground filled with native plants.
Because of the Society members’ relentless dedication and care, it has received the annual “nonprofit of the year” recognition award for the first time, bestowed on it by the San Francisco-based California Association of Nonprofits through the office of state Sen. Harry Stern.
“The award is really an acknowledgement of what a tremendously hard-working, talented and effective team we have,” said San Fernando Valley Audubon Society President Kathy Barton.
Barton said no one in the chapter remembers winning the award in the past two decades but finds it extremely validating and encouraging.
“This small but mighty organization deserves recognition for their impressive efforts, which have made a significant impact in the Valley,” Barton added. “We are passionate about our mission to protect our wildlife and we are grateful to Sen. Stern’s office for this honor.”
California Association of Nonprofits focuses on advocacy, education and research and is not involved in the selection process of the recognition award, according to a spokeswoman. It works with lawmakers, advocates and nonprofit leaders across the state. Each May, about 118 nonprofits attend the private recognition award ceremony on the front lawn of the state Capitol.
The Sepulveda Basin, at the intersection of the San Diego (405) and Ventura (101) freeways, is a rest area for thousands of birds migrating up and down the state and onto Mexico and Latin America at times.
“Having this place available for birds to stop and rest, is really important,” said Marianne Davis, a Society volunteer and member. “The Sepulveda Basin is our special baby. We have been involved since its inception — the design of the lake, the bird sanctuary in the middle of it, and all around it for decades.”
The San Fernando Valley Audubon Society has been also active with Los Angeles Fire Department, to protect the basin. Davis recalls last summer, when brush fires started every week.
“The homeless encampment didn’t help with that,” she said, “so we really got involved with (Los Angeles City Fire) Station 88,” she said. “They are the first responders when the basin catches on fire,” said Davis, adding that they chipped in to equip the department with tools for controlling wildfires. And they recently used a team of goats who grazed and ate flammable and invasive grasses.
The Society also supports the next generation of conservationists with scholarships, and advocates tirelessly for the basin’s protection as a resource for the community and for the wildlife.
The land in the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin is owned by the Los Angeles District Corps of Engineers, but more than 80% of it is leased out for recreational and agricultural uses. Sepulveda Dam, completed in 1941, is a dry-land reservoir, with the purpose of controlling runoff from nearby San Gabriel, Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains.
Besides the Encino and Balboa golf courses, the Balboa Sports Complex and the model airplane field, most of the basin was devoted to agriculture (corn and then sod farms). In the mid-1960’s, Burbank Boulevard was extended across the basin. In the 1970’s the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation built the Donald Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.
The Basin is also a playground for children and adults with climbing equipment and walkable space.