Readers React: Saving the trees of Elysian Park

To the editor: I thought I was the only one that had noticed, so The Times made my day by bringing the plight of Elysian Park to its front page Monday. (“Recovery plan lies dormant as Elysian Park’s exotic trees die off,” Dec. 21)

This is a beautiful park that droves of Angelenos, including myself, enjoy daily. However, lately I find myself truly grieving for what has virtually become a tree cemetery. We cannot let this incredible gem wilt and become a dry landscape, condemning along with it the rich biodiversity it sustains, including coyotes, owls and hawks.

Where else can you find a park, five minutes from a major U.S. downtown, that makes you feel 100 miles from a city and, far from manicured, still in some places reflects the native landscape that once covered it?

But instead of treasuring this beautiful corner of Los Angeles, City Hall puts Elysian Park at the bottom of its list of priorities, judging by the article. The park’s restoration deserves to be taken seriously by local leaders.

Elena de la Cruz, Los Angeles

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To the editor: What ails Elysian Park’s trees echoes arboreal stress throughout L.A., including its core open space, Griffith Park.

Even before the drought, I felt frustrated and demoralized by the lingering inadequacy of the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks’ ability to maintain and sustain the urban forest and habitat of Los Angeles wisely and effectively. After years of reporting dead limbs falling from tall sycamores onto roadways, bridle trails and park fencing, this fall I watched crews felling ancient giants in nearby Bette Davis Park.

Native oaks have survived, and young ones should replace the felled trees, or huge swaths of parkland will roast without shade. Worse, the region will lack the oxygen these trees would have exhaled and suffer the erosion their root systems would have prevented.

Have city officials forgotten that parks are Los Angeles’ primary treasure? Park health is on life support, so hook up that 2006 recovery plan mentioned in the article.

Joanne Hedge, Glendale

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To the editor: A hundred years after well-intentioned citizens carpeted Elysian Park with exotic trees, we know much more about how the planting of native grasses, shrubs and trees fosters biodiversity and requires much less water for sustenance. Yet a plan that could make Elysian Park a national example of urban stewardship remains on the shelf.

There is hope for Elysian Park. The city of Los Angeles should adopt the draft master plan for Elysian Park and fund the crucial work required there: removal of the dead non-natives and the planting of natives in their place. I would think a visionary leader would involve local nonprofits in this effort.

And why stop there? The 2009 Wildlife Management Plan for Griffith Park addressed very similar issues, yet it too remains on the shelf, unadopted and unfunded.

Brad Rumble, Los Angeles

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