Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area

Welcome to the website of the Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area. We are a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the 419-acre natural area, a historic wildlife sanctuary, a center of environmental education and an important community resource located on the San Gabriel River between the Montebello and Puente Hills. (Map)

One of our most significant efforts currently is our campaign to protect the Whittier Narrows Natural Area and Nature Center from a costly, unpopular and environmentally destructive project, the San Gabriel River Discovery Center. The proposed Discovery Center would replace the current community-focused nature center and the acres of habitat immediately around it with a massive meeting place, 150-car parking lot and other unnatural features intended primarily to benefit water district executives and government bureaucrats. The project would put at risk some of the very species the wildlife sanctuary has protected for its more-than-70-year history, and it would open the rest of the natural area to further development.

Please explore our website to get a sense of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area as wildlife habitat, outdoor classroom and open space for our diverse communities—and to get a sense of the threat posed by the Discovery Center. Once you’ve explored our site, we urge you to explore the natural area itself. Share it with your family, your friends, your neighbors and educators in your community, because together we can preserve the natural area for generations to come.

Whittier Narrows Natural Area

The Whittier Narrows Natural Area is a 419-acre wildlife sanctuary that is important endangered species habitat and community open space. (Map)

Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area
P.O. Box 3522
South El Monte, CA 91733
(626) 286 3850

Click here for our contact page.