Quality of Life, Preserved

The cherry trees at Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area were at peak glory last weekend, snowing pale pink blossoms and making April fools of us all a week ahead of time.

A flotilla of grown men, radio controls in hand, commanded toy sailboats from the banks of the lake. Children zoomed along the paved pathway on bikes, skates and scooters. Couples ambled. Families picnicked. Everyone snapped pictures like mad.

As the 2000 census numbers come out, telling us there are 16.4 million people in Southern California, parks and open spaces seem more needed--and more at risk--than ever. The new Chatsworth Nature Preserve, open to the public today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for an Earth Day celebration, is a welcome addition.

Unlike Sepulveda Dam, or the Hansen Dam Recreation Area in the northeast San Fernando Valley, it doesn’t have soccer fields, picnic tables or paved paths for skateboarders. “Preserve” means just that: preserving this wild setting, right in the heart of the nation’s second-largest city, as wild.

What used to be the Chatsworth Reservoir has been a de facto nature preserve for years. The facility once stored water for the western Valley. It has stood empty since 1969, when it was drained for enlargement. The 1971 Sylmar earthquake put it out of commission for good after it was determined that the reservoir’s dam was unsafe and that is sat on a seismic fault.

Since then, its tangle of centuries-old oak trees and lush plants has been home to great horned owls, foxes, badgers and bobcats and to a migrating flock of up to 2,000 Canada geese. Although no longer used for water storage, the 1,300-acre site’s seasonal ponds make it a rare remnant of wetlands and an important stop on the Pacific Flyway.

City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, had long campaigned to keep the Chatsworth site the way it is in perpetuity. Not surprisingly, he ran into opposition.

In the overly developed Valley, this underdeveloped land was coveted for any number of uses, from housing to playing fields. As the population continues to boom, such needs are obvious. But needed too, and equally important to the region’s quality of life, are reminders of the Valley’s natural heritage.

Last fall, the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners agreed and voted to preserve the entire site as a natural area. The Department of Water and Power continues to oversee it and is working with Councilman Bernson’s office to find a nonprofit science or environmental group to help run the preserve.

Parks and preserves each play a role in keeping Los Angeles livable. Picnic grounds and groomed fields feed our need for community and play. A quiet nature walk, a chance to hear an owl or glimpse a fox, feeds our souls. Cherry blossom season may be ephemeral, but the effects of parks and open spaces on hearts and minds are not.