LINKS

Special thanks to JunkEmailFilter.com for their miraculous spam-filtering service provided free to non-profits. Worth more than the weight of all the avoided junk email in gold - they’ve provided us with sweet relief from almost constant bombardment.

Friends of the Los Angeles River on Facebook

SPACE

Check out the FoLAR PSA, premiered at the Laemmle Theatres locations across Los Angeles last spring. Made with the generous support of Hammer Creative, narrated by our very own Lewis MacAdams. Now on YouTube.

SPACE

RIVER & WATER RESOURCES

• Go Green Expo - Join hundreds of other environmentally conscious vendors and aficionados at the biggest eco-friendly trade show in Los Angeles. 2010 Expo is from January 22nd-24th at the LA Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

• LA River Revitalization Master Plan - The City of Los Angeles’ ambitious plans to improve the 32 miles of River within the City of LA. This was approved in early 2007. The website has many other resources about the LA River and upcoming meetings that you can go to so your voice is heard!

• Departures by KCET - Juan Devis of KCET brings to life the LA River and the people who live with the River. Over 50 hours of footage are displayed in a beautiful online montage of images, interviews, and the stories of the LA River.

• Be Water Wise with Metropolitan Water District - Our water regulators here in southern California are trying to tell us something: we need to be very careful with our water use. Learn more about how to save water and money!

• Clean Water Act 101 - River Network hosts this amazing and FREE resource where you can learn all about the Clean Water Act, its application, and different issues that you can fight with Clean Water Act education.

• LA & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council - Created as a result of a landmark lawsuit success by FoLAR, this non-profit does regular education for public water resource leaders as well as other programs for the public about water usage in the broader watershed that encompasses both the LA River and the San Gabriel river.

• City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program

• Algalita Marine Research Foundation - Check out Marcus Erikson’s epic voyage to the floating plastic trash gyre in the Pacific on his Junk Craft! Algalita is a regular attendee at our River School Days, presenting on the variety of trash and the problems posed by the movement of trash from the streets and storm drains to the River and then the Ocean.

• California State Water Resources Control Board - In charge of regulating Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of pollutants in the River, the local branch of the State Water Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board has plenty of information about what’s going on in the LA River.

• The California Coastal Conservancy - Protecting California’s coastal habitats through education and outreach… check these folks out.

• Santa Monica Baykeeper - Another stalwart in the fight to keep our ocean clean and most specifically the Santa Monica Bay. If you’re not clear on the connection we might have with them, think about storm drains and water running downhill…

• The Los Angeles River Connection - An extensive collection of data on the LA River, funded by the EPA and the California Environmental Education Grant Program.

• Clean Up Rocketdyne - They used to test nuclear weapons in the San Fernando Valley!?!?? Yes. And the gunk is still around and seeping into our water systems… learn all about it. And go visit the new ACME museum!

• Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve - One of the largest natural preserves in Los Angeles, called the ‘Central Park’ of the Valley, there are bike paths and soccer fields and plenty of places to walk dogs and enjoy nature! Go visit, give yourself a break from the city!

• Arroyo Seco Foundation - One of the largest tributaries to the Los Angeles River, the Arroyo Seco is lucky enough to have the Arroyo Seco Foundation and community of Pasadena to thank for extensive projects to improve the Arroyo Seco. See what they’re doing to conserve water and return natural habitat for local flora and fauna.

• West Basin Municipal Water District - For southern LA County, the West Basin site has a number of resources and a ton of information about where our water comes from and what we can do to conserve water.

• The Village Gardeners of the LA River - A local group of residents and interested, caring individuals have revived a stretch of River in Studio City - creating a lovely Riverside Walk, even along a paved section of River. Maybe they have some ideas that you can copy in your River neighborhood?

• From Lot to Spot - Creating green spaces from vacant lots, and empowering neighborhoods to green themselves, one lot at a time.

• The River Project - A sister organization in the fight to realize a free LA River.

• FCEC Fish Contamination Website - The Fish Contamination Education Collaborative (FCEC) is the public outreach and education component of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) program to protect the most vulnerable populations from the health effects of consuming contaminated fish related to the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund Site.

• CalTrans “Don’t Trash California” - You can’t say it too many times: Trash on our streets is washed into storm drains, to the River, and out to the Ocean. Don’t be part of that! Check out the Cal Trans website for tips and information!

• Conserving California - A public education program set to educate the public about our state’s essential investments in land, water and parks.

LA RIVER ARTISTS

• Carole Garland’s Postcards from the LA River

• LA Yellow Box

• Liz Reday LA River Paintings

• Roderick Smith Paintings

• The Ulysses Guide to The Los Angeles River - This beautiful book about the LA River mirrors the mysterious and untamed nature of much of the River. The website is a very cool introduction…

• All the Way to the Ocean by Joel Harper - An engaging and sweet childrens book about the storm drain - river - ocean connection.

• LA River Bridges Photography by Kevin Break - Many people take photographs of the LA River and it’s bridges, and we wouldn’t want to compare them because we have seen so many talented artists work. However, our friend Kevin Break has an uncanny ability to capture the LA River Bridges in light and dark, exposing their unique and expressive beauty. Did you know about this side of LA?

• Urban Photo Adventures - The coolest and newest way to experience the River through your cameras lens. Mark Indig and Ken Haber, veteran photographers and location scouts have put together an unparalleled exploration of the LA River that runs over two days. Unique and stirring, you will be inspired and grateful to have seen this LA River.

RIVER BLOGS

• L.A. Creek Freak - towards healthy Southern California streams, creeks, rivers and neighborhoods.

• Nature Trumps - A Los Angeles blog about nature making its way no matter what.

• Urban Fly Fishing! A blog about fly fishing in Southern California (with a few good fighting carp stories from the LA River!)

• Chance of Rain - The journalism of Emily Green, and many resources on how to garden responsibly with our minimal water supply.

• Friends of Vast Industrial Concrete Kafkaesque Structures (FOVICKS) - The best LA River Photo Journal available online. And he says, “Many groups have formed in attempt to beautify or revert the “river” to a previous state. But I like it the way it is; a weird, massive flood control channel.”

• Green Me Up, JJ - Get environmentally friendly with Jenny Price, in her LA Observed advice column.