JUNE 23, 2008  THREE  SAN GABRIEL AREA PAPERS PUBLISH ARTICLE ON THE DEFENDERS VS. THE DEVELOPERS  

NATURAL DISPUTE

Groups battle over Whittier Narrows plan
By Mike Sprague, Staff Writer

PDF: Discovery Center Schematic Design Report
WHITTIER NARROWS - An environmental fight is breaking out over whether a proposed 19,000-square-foot San Gabriel River Discovery Center belongs in this natural habitat.
Supporters of the project say the Discovery Center will teach people about water resources, provide educational and outdoor experiences and be an educational resource to better understand the San Gabriel River.
But opponents say the building is too big and the project will wipe out a habitat that supports birds and other wildlife. They are mobilizing to block it.
The $27 million project would be built on the site of the existing 2,000-square-foot Whittier Narrows Nature Center, 1000 Durfee Ave., South El Monte, that takes up about 200 acres.
The building would include a museum area with exhibits, an outdoor classroom and a 150-seat conference center.
So far nearly $10 million has been raised from environmental groups, two water districts and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County.
The issue is expected to come to a head in September when an environmental impact report on the project is expected to be released.
The report was delayed after the discovery of the least bell's vireo, a bird on the federal Endangered Species list.

"We are for some kind of a Discovery Center if that's what you want to call it, but not in a natural area," said Jim Odling, president of the Friends of the Natural Area, the group fighting the center.
"It's a helluva price to pay to destroy a natural area when you have other options," Odling said. "This is not the way to do it."
But Belinda Faustinos, interim executive director for the San Gabriel Discovery Center Authority, said it's the perfect location.
"The reason is the environmental messages we're trying to incorporate," Faustinos said.
"The river is within walking distance of the site," she said. "It's a way for children and families to take a short, leisurely walk and use what they learned from the exhibits."
The Whittier Narrows Nature Center wasn't the only location considered, but other sites such as at Santa Anita and Durfee avenues or at the Whittier Narrows Equestrian site wouldn't work, Faustinos said.
The other two sites are in a flood zone, while the Nature Center isn't, she said.
Another issue is the number of people who will come to the area.
"They want to bring 140,000 people," said Ed Barajas, another member of the Friends of the Natural Area.
"It's only 400 acres," Barajas said. "Can you imagine? They're barely maintaining it at 50,000 (people) right now. The nature area is barely holding up. It's not a soccer field where they just water it."
Tim Worley, director of water policy for the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy that has contributed $3 million to the project, said he doesn't understand the concern about more people.
"We think it's important to get more people to enjoy and understand the environmental watershed and river," Worley said.
The Friends group received a boost when the Los Angeles County Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee voted 2-1 that the Discovery Center was not compatible with the area.
Faustinos said she doesn't believe the committee members had a chance to review all documents.
"We think they might have had a different position if they had all the facts," she said.
Faustinos concedes the project will have an impact on the area, but said it is an appropriate use for the area.
The project will be built in ways to make it have less of an environmental impact, she said.
Instead of using asphalt for the parking lot, decomposed granite will be used. Some trees will be removed, but others that are native to the area and attractive to birds and other wildlife will be planted, she said.
Still, parking will go from 15 to 150 spaces.
For the Friends group, they plan to continue their opposition.
They've already established a Web site, http://www.naturalareafriends.net
They also plan to write letters to newspapers, solicit signatures and speak at local city council meetings.
The Discovery Center also has its own Web site, http://discoverycenterauthority.org
mike.sprague@sgvn.com

(562) 698-0955, Ext. 3022

JUNE 22, 2008 THREE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY AREA PUBLISHES EDITORIAL (WITH CAVEATS) IN FAVOR OF BUILDING THE DISCOVERY CENTER ON TOP OF THE NATURAL AREA 

A jewel in the necklace

THE biggest problem with the San Gabriel River is that very few know it exists. So the unveiling of a 17-mile "Emerald Necklace" plan showing what the river could be -- new passive parks, restored streams and new trails in a loop of green space from Irwindale/Arcadia/El Monte to Pico Rivera/Whittier -- was a brilliant marketing move.

But the whole restoration effort still lacks some aspects that would really put a there there.

That's why the planned San Gabriel River Discovery Center is absolutely critical to the restoration of both the San Gabriel and the Rio Hondo rivers. This nature center would focus all eyes on the entrance to the necklace, and give hundreds of thousands of San Gabriel Valley and Whittier-area visitors who know little of nature a first-hand learning experience each year.

This project has been in design for several years and it has grown in size. Various water districts, along with the county, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Authority and the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy are part of a joint powers agreement working on raising money for, designing and building the center. They've chosen an excellent location, at the site of the existing Whittier Narrows Nature Center, just off Durfee Avenue and southeast of Legg Lake. Here, visitors can see flora and fauna as they walk with easy access to the San Gabriel River at one of its most lush. Fed by Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts' highly treated waste water, this portion of the river supports great blue herons, egrets, ducks and other water birds as well as migratory birds.

While the location has become understandably controversial in the eyes of some longtime volunteers from the Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area, we think the agencies involved got the location right. It is literally a gateway to various micro-environments that can tell the story of water and San Gabriel Valley history within a stone's throw of a new Discovery Center.

However, there are some issues that need more study. As we eagerly await the long-delayed Environmental Impact Report, we have some concerns.
First, the stakeholders must address the concerns expressed by the county's Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee. The building must have a minimum impact on mature trees and wild birds that nest in those trees. Better surveying for the endangered least bell's vireo and California gnatcatcher is a must.
Second, the project proposed at a whopping 18,230 square feet may be too large. While we see the need for two large classrooms to better educate school kids, we don't want to see this building become office space for water district and county bureaucrats. Also, we share the concern of the SEATAC, which said the 150-space parking lot is too big and needs better landscaping.
Third, there's no denying the charm of the clapboard cottage that serves as the existing nature center, which was moved from the river area decades ago. The EIR must address this potential historic resource, which would be demolished to make way for the modern building.
If built to the top "green building" standards as proposed, and if it is done without severe damage to the environment it is trying to beautify, the San Gabriel River Discovery Center could become the focal point of river restoration. It could even launch the dream of many working hard on a greener Valley, including Norma E. Garcia of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, who said: "We believe this will be a jewel for Los Angeles County."

JUNE 11, 2008.  RIO HONDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES VOTE TO SUPPORT THE DISCOVERY CENTER IN THE WHITTIER NARROWS NATURAL AREA. 

The student member of the Board of Trustees requested more study before a vote on the motion.  She was the only no vote.   Another Rio Hondo student attempted to ask for an alternate presentation on the project, but was not allowed to do so.

Belinda Faustinos, the Interim Executive Officer of the Discovery Center Authority presented for the motion.  She did not mention that one day earlier she announced another postponement for the Discovery Center because the Endangered Least Bells Vireo is documented next to the intended construction site (See Vireo photos in the column to the left.).  She does not mention that the LA County Regional Planning Commission panel of biologists, SEATAC, on May 5, 2008 declared in their negative vote that the Discovery Center project is "incompatible in a Significant Ecological Area".  

The motion is the first one that asks a body to not only support the Discovery Center, but to require it be build on the land of the current Whittier Narrows Nature Center. 

JUNE 10, 2008. POSTPONED AGAIN: RELEASE OF DISCOVERY CENTER DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT DELAYED UNTIL AT LEAST SEPTEMBER 2008 BECAUSE OF ENDANGERED SPECIES NEXT TO THE INTENDED PARKING LOT
Belinda Faustinos, Interim Executive Officer announces the postponement.  After eight years since the project began, the federally Endangered Least Bells Vireo, that the Discovery Center Authority said was a mile away, is in the area abutting the proposed construction site.  

JUNE 3, 2008.  EL MONTE CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO SUPPORT TO THE DISCOVERY CENTER. 

The motion that passed: It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council adopt a resolution supporting the funding development and operation of the San Gabriel River Discovery Center. (Punctuation error is in written motion.)  The city heard from the community and still voted for the Discovery Center.  The motion was tabled at the May 20, 2008 City Councl meeting. See the Update, below.

The vote illustrates the number one criteria, Favor Political Climate (page 4 of the Schematic Design Report), for locating the Discovery Center in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  See the June 3 meeting video for yourself. 

In the June 3 video are El Monte Councilman Jay Gomez, is also a county appointed designee on the board of the Water Conservation Authority speaks for and votes for the motion.  Sam Pedroza who is both from the Discovery Center board of directors and the Los Angeles County Sanitation District speaks for the motion.  The Sanitation District in 2006 had a sewage spill that contaminated the beaches of Santa Monica Bay.   $2.2 million of the fine for the spill went to Water Conservation Authority of Mr. Gomez, which is the owner of the Duck Farm, for the construction of the Mr. Pedroza's Discovery Center in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  The Duck Farm is one of three alternate sites for the Discovery Center.   The Watershed Conservation Authority is administered by the Rivers  and Mountains Conservancy, whose Executive Officer is Belinda Faustinos, is also the Interim Executive Officer of the San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority, and who spoke today and presented for the Discovery Center on May 20.  

MAY 29, 2008 READER TO WHITTIER DAILY NEWS: DISCOVERY CENTER PROJECT TOO BIG

Re "Your View," "New window to nature":

Belinda Faustinos says that conservation is important and I agree, especially the conservation of natural area habitat open space.

However, I do not agree with her that the destruction of over 11 acres of this natural area habitat in order to build the current proposed Discovery Center project at Whittier Narrows Nature Center is perfectly acceptable and is the correct message to send to our children. This project would partially consist of an 18,230-square-foot museum, which would have a 150 seat auditorium (why?), classrooms (the children already have classrooms at school), and an oversized gift shop. It would be approximately the size of a football field with a 150-space circular parking lot.

Faustinos then states that bulldozing over the 11 acres of indigenous trees (over 50 mature trees) and plants, hawk and owl forage area, and bird nesting area then planting new indigenous plants is "habitat restoration and enhancement." Huh? And I can only assume that the purpose of the outdoor classrooms would be for the children to use for outdoor exploration, since there would be little, if any, natural area left on the site for a child to explore.

Other sites are available on which to build this project. None of the alternate sites would require the destruction of a significant ecological area which is the designation that has been given to the Whittier Narrows natural area.
The only educational service this mammoth project would provide is a lesson in what not to do to conserve our limited remaining open space.

The original concept of the Discovery Center was site appropriate with an approximately 2,400-square foot building for the water-related exhibits and would have left the needed natural habitat that the birds and wildlife require. That would have benefited the area without having to destroy it. It has now turned into a McMansion-sized wish list for its proponents. Let's return it to its original concept. That would benefit the community, the natural area habitat, and also save the taxpayers millions of dollars.

Anadel Miller

Whittier

MAY 20, 2008.  EL MONTE CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO TABLE RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF  THE  DISCOVERY CENTER DEVELOPMENT UNTIL IT HEARS COMMUNITY COMMENT IN OPPOSITION.

The vote is postponed until June 3, 2008 City Council meeting at which time the council will hear community members about the impacts of the Discovery Center water mega project development in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.   

The tabled position by the promoters of the Discovery Center development:

It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council adopt a resolution supporting the funding development and operation of the San Gabriel River Discovery Center. (Punctuation error is in written motion.)  See for yourself.  The Discovery Center presentation begins at 2:41:00.

A similar resolution was tabled by the City of Pico Rivera on September 11,  2007.  See the Update, below.  The resolution was not reintroduced. 

May 5, 2008. SEATAC:  "DISCOVERY CENTER IS INCOMPATIBLE FOR A SIGNIFICANT ECOLOGICAL AREA." 

Today the Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC) of the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning voted against siting the San Gabriel Discovery Center in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area, a Significant Ecological Area.  Their decision is advisory.  The Discovery Center developers intend to ignore the advise of the panel of trained and experienced biologists.  The developers will move to issue an Environmental Impact Report in spite of the negative decision of SEATAC.  The SEATAC decision came after one year in which four hearing were heard on the development.  

APRIL 25, 2008.  ON MAY 5, 2008 THE DISCOVERY CENTER  TRIES A FOURTH, AND UNPRECEDENTED, HEARING WITH SEATAC, THE SIGNIFICANT ECOLOGICAL AREA TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.  PLEASE ATTEND.  SEE FOR YOURSELF.

The Discovery Center goes back for its (unprecedented and outside of Guidelines) fourth hearing on Monday May 5, 2008 at 1:15PM.  Please arrive by 1:00PM so that the SEATAC staff can select a room of an appropriate size.  It is a public meeting and can be recorded.  There is validated parking.  Read the meeting announcement, including parking detail, here.

For more information on the Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory meeting please read its Procedures and Guidelines

Carpooling is at noon from the Whittier Narrows Nature Center parking lot at 1000 N. Durfee Avenue, South El Monte.   

For a history of SEATAC hearings see Updates, below, for April 25, 2008; April 7, 2008; March, 24,2008; January 31, 2008.

APRIL 15, 2008.  WILL THE DISCOVERY CENTER PROPONENTS LISTEN TO EXPERT ADVICE FROM TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED BIOLOGISTS?

Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC) minutes from January 14, 2008 are now approved and available.  The committee of biologists have more  questions than they had in May, 2007.  Questions from May 2007 are still unanswered eight months later.  Compare the minutes: January 2008  to May 2007 

APRIL 7, 2008.  DISCOVERY CENTER FAILS TO APPEAR A SECOND TIME FOR A FOURTH, AND UNPRECEDENTED, HEARING AT SEATAC MEETING. 

The SEATAC Guidlines and Procedures provide for a maximum of three hearings for a project.  The Discovery Center developers insisted on returning for the fourth hearing at the third hearing in January 2008.   See the January 31, 2008 Update, below.

APRIL 4, 2008:  SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CHAIR:  CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND IMPROPER USE OF SIERRA CLUB NAME REGARDING THE DISCOVERY CENTER

Mike Sappingfield, Chair of the Angeles Chapter of  the Sierra Club on April 4, 2008 writes  to  the chair of the chapter's Central Group: 

I have  received your letter of March 24, 2008 raising two issues: Conflict of Interest and the Use of the Sierra Club name without authorization.  These are not new issues.  They came to the attention of the Conservation Committee and me last spring.

Action was taken immediately to advise Mr. [Jeff] Yann that his employment as a consultant with the San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority was a conflict of interest and that he could no longer represent the Sierra Club on issues relating to the Discovery Center Authority.  To my knowledge, he has complied with that directive since receiving it. 

He was, in fact, authorized to represent the Sierra Club as the stakeholder at the time that the paper was prepared.  However, shortly after that we discovered his conflict of interest and removed that authority.  Again, to my knowledge, he has not violated that action since being notified.

These issues were discussed in the Conservation Committee at that time.  Therefore, I consider this a closed issue. If you have questions on this matter, please let me know or contact Judy Anderson.

Sincerely,

[signed] Mike Sappingfield 

Chair, Angeles Chapter.

Note:  The Sierra Club Conservation Committee meeting described in the letter as last spring occurred on May 16, 2007.  One day later, on May 17, documents of San Gabriel River Discovery Center Board Meeting show Mr. Jeff Yann was the Discovery Center's Project Manager, not just a consultant.  At the Conservation Committee meeting Mr. Yann withdrew his attempt for the Conservation Committee to endorse the Discovery Center when members of the committee confronted him with documentation of his conflict of interest.  The Discovery Center board materials for June 2007 show that Mr. Yann's status changed from Project Manager in May 2007 to consultant in June 2007.  Mr. Yann continues to be paid by the Discovery Center Authority developers for his unspecified consultant work.  If you care to see for yourself contact the Discovery Center authority at sgrdca@rmc.ca.gov.  Ask for the board materials for June 2007, or for any other month.

March 27, 2008 Whittier Daily News. Pico Rivera resident asks why fund Discovery Center destruction while social needs go unfunded.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/rds_search/ci_8708784

RECONSIDER [DISCOVERY] CENTER

A recent Whittier Daily News, along with television news, reported the sighting of a bald eagle along the Rio Hondo River. A few months ago, tracks of a mountain lion were photographed and recorded at the Whittier Narrows Nature Center. As we all know, there are people losing homes, we have high gas prices, food prices are also rising, and let us not forget those without health-care insurance.

My question is, with all these critical needs, why are we spending millions on the building of a river nature center? Especially the proposed building of the taxpayer funded Discovery Center to replace the Whittier Narrows Nature Center. This new building is supposed to cost $30 million - perhaps more. It will also bring about the destruction of both the bird sanctuary and the connection to the larger Puente-Chino Hills Corridor.

At this time we have homeless, jobless and hungry people who would better benefit from this money, instead of pouring millions into this project. I think it is time to re-think this Discovery Center project.

Henrietta Correa Salazar
Pico Rivera

MARCH 26, 2008.  DISCOVERY CENTER SCHEDULED FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED FOURTH HEARING BEFORE SEATAC ON APRIL 7TH at 1PM.

(Discovery Center developers cancel this one too.  See April 7 note, above.)

JANUARY 31, 2008.  CANCELED (until March 2008?) Discovery Center's fourth hearing at SEATAC on February 4, 2008.

Today the coordinator for the Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee called attendees of the January 14, 2008 SEATAC hearing.  He inform them that the promoters of the Discovery Center mega development had not submitted materials for the February 4 meeting and had now canceled the out-of-guidelines fourth hearing. 

At the January 14, 2008 SEATAC hearing the Discovery Center promoters insisted that the Discovery Center be on the agenda of February 4 in spite of also being out of guidelines for not providing adequate advance submission of materials.

The SEATAC coordinator said he expected the Discovery Center to be on the March 4, 2008 SEATAC agenda.

January 28, 2008.  The Rivers and Mountain Conservancy Board of Directors voted today unanimously to hear the organized opposition to the Discovery Center at their next meeting on March 24.

Please mark your calendars to attend.  For meeting information and agenda go to: http://rmc.ca.gov/board/next_meeting.html

January 17, 2008.  Discovery Center Authority puts all bets on the big box mega center.

At the Discovery Center Authority board meeting today it was reported that all the expenses for alternate projects to their Preferred Alternative will be much less.  Why?  Because they are not going to provide less environmentally damaging alternate projects as requested by the biologists of the Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC).
It was also announced that the Discovery Authority's architect firm would meet with the County Department of Regional Planning on Tuesday January 22, 2008.  Belinda Faustinos, Executive Officer of the RMC, reported that they were going back a fourth time on February 2, 2008 to meet with SEATAC.  With whom in Regional Planning Commission are the Discovery Center architects meeting on January 22?  SEATAC is a committee of the Regional Planning Commission.
The SEATAC guidelines say three, not four, (really two with the decision at the third meeting) meeting reviews is all that a project applicant deserves for their submitted Biological Restraints Analysis.
And the SEATAC guidelines and procedures say that 25 days is the deadline for project materials to be submitted before the SEATAC hearing.  Even if the Discovery Center had submitted materials on the day of the January 14, 2008 SEATAC hearing of the Discovery Center, it would have already missed the deadline for the February 4 , 2008 meeting.
SEATAC Procedures and Guidelines: http://planning.co.la.ca.us/doc/plan/SEA_proc_guide.pdf
At the meeting the authority said they will not go to the CEQA Environmental Impact Report process until "we complete SEATAC".

 

January 14, 2008. The Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee postpones Discovery Center decision again.  For a third time the biological restraints report is sent back to its authors for changes.

The Los Angeles County Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC) met today for the third time to discuss the project.  The members of SEATAC continued to express grave misgivings about the proposed development project.  Although SEATAC Procedures and Guidelines provide for three hearings, a fourth hearing will be held in February or March 2008.
Based on comments from the Technical Advisory Committee and the public, the authors of the project could make significant changes that are truly protective of the natural area.  However, no alternative to the mega project, including the Least Environmentally Damaging Alternative (LEDPA), requested by the biologists at their May 7, 2007 meeting, was presented.  Belinda Faustinos, the Interim Executive Director of the Discovery Center Authorities, directs the panel of biologists that is time to "move on" and approve the huge project on the natural area.
The Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area are continuing to make significant progress in opposition to the huge "Discovery Center" developments with all of its planned buildings, parking lot, etc. in the natural area.
Join Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area next Sunday January 20 at 1:00 p.m. in the Natural Center's picnic area for more information and updates.

 

Important! SEATAC hearing rescheduled to January 14, 2008. See meeting detail, below.  The meeting is open to the public.

The Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee's third and final hearing of the biological restraints report on the Discovery Center has been rescheduled to Monday January 14, 2008.  The previous date of January 7 was a canceled per staff at the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.  The new January 14 meeting is posted at the Department of Regional Planning (http://planning.co.la.ca.us/doc/agenda/sea/sea_011408.pdf).
SEATAC meeting detail:
Monday, January 14th, 2008 @ 1 pm
Department of Regional Planning
Hall of Records, Room 1385
320 West Temple Street
LA 90012
PARKING: Lot 11 @ 227 Spring Street (enter from Spring) OR Lot 26 @
126 S. Olive (enter from 1st Street) both are operated by 5-STAR Parking.
To learn more about SEATAC download the following:

SIGNIFICANT ECOLOGICAL AREAS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SEATAC)
PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL PLANNING  MARCH 2004
http://planning.co.la.ca.us/doc/plan/SEA_proc_guide.pdf

January 5, 2008 "Neither the RMC or any of the other joint powers entities have current contracts with PR firms."- Belinda Faustinos, Rivers and Mountains Conservancy Executive Officer.

Only the Discovery Center joint powers authority has contracted a public relations firm, a $188,000 unbudgeted expense.  Neither the other two RMC joint powers authorities, nor the RMC itself, have contracted PR firms (See November 15, 2007 Update, below.). 

Public meetings canceled again, again.  January 3, 2008.  Stakeholders Advisory Committee Meeting and Fundraising Committee scheduled for today are canceled. 

The Stakeholders Advisory Committee has not had its odd month meeting since September.  The Fundraising Committee has not had an official (but not announced) meeting since July 2007.  Even without Fundraising Committee meetings the Discovery Center monthly board hears reports of fundraising progress.

"World Class Center"? November 26, 2007.

At the Rivers and Mountain Conservancy board meeting, RMC Executive Officer Belinda Faustinos asserts, for the first time, that the Discovery Center is a "world class center".
No documentation is provided to support how the Discovery Center suddenly became "world class".
Faustinos (and the RMC board) do not respond to a question from the public about the contracting of a PR firm for $188,000 by the Discovery Center Authority, an RMC project, eleven days earlier (see November 15 update, below). Faustinos does mention that an "outreach worker" (the $188,000 PR firm?) has been hired by the Discovery Center.  She also reports that there is "some opposition" to the Discovery Center "centered around habitat".

November 15, 2007. Discovery Center Board votes $188,000  for Public Relations Firm

Today the Discovery Center Authority board voted unanimously to spend $188,000 to hire a Public Relations contractor to "neutralize opposition" and promote the Discovery Center project.  The PR funds are not in the already voted $5.8 million budget for 2007-2008. No other authority of the RMC, not even the RMC has a public relations firm.  See the January 5, 2008 update, above.

September 20, 2007. Has the Pasadena Sierra Club fused with the Discovery Center Authority?

Today three materials were on the sign in table for the monthly board meeting of the San Gabriel River Discovery Authority meeting. They were the sign-in sheet,  the usual stapled stack of board meeting material AND an equally high stack of copies of  the September-October Arrroyo View, published by the Sierra Club Pasadena Group.
The lead Arroyo View article, "Discovery Center to Renew Focus on Region's Environment "(three pages with three photos), promotes the Discovery Center.   The article author Don Bremner is the Arroyo View editor and Pasadena Sierra Club Group Chair.   Mr Bremner had no answer when asked during public comment, why he was confident that the still-to-be released EIR would correct the damage of the project.
Where are the "remaining 35 acres of the site" that are mentioned in the Arroyo View?  The promoters of the Discovery Center repeatedly insist that it is a stand-alone project of no more than 8.1 acres.  What is Bremner's so-called "unusual feature, Conceptual Restoration Plan".  Is the Sierra Club becoming an advocate of development?  Is it for developing over designated Natural Area?  The Pasadena Sierra Club can be contacted at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/pasadena/

September 11, 2007. Pico Rivera City Council tables resolution of support.

Public comment and written correspondence lead the Pico Rivera City Council to table an agendized motion of support to the Discovery Center until better information is provided. 
Draft EIR postponed. August 16, 2007.

The Draft  Environmental Impact Report and 45-day Public Review postponed to November 2007-January 2008 from July-September 2007.  Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee review of Biological Restraints Analysis moved to November 2007 from July 2007.  The entire August 16, 2007 Discovery Center Board meeting is available at the link below.  The Environmental Review Process Update is pages 24-25.

http://rmc.ca.gov/discovery/board/2007-08-16_meeting/bd-rpt_2007-08-16.pdf   (Link  broken.  Report no longer available on-line .)

July 19, 2007. Stakeholders Advisory Committee Chair threatens to sue Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area for posting his own words made at public meeting.

Sam Pedroza, Chair of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee, threatens slander suit for posting of his own words at this web site.  Mr. Pedroza calls Friends of Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  He demands that citation of his own words (See July 10 Update, directly below) be taken down IMMEDIATELY.  Otherwise,  he says, he is going to see a lawyer and sue for slander.

July 10, 2007, 1:30PM. Stakeholders Chair Pedroza asks "is the Stakeholders Committee still necessary "?  Is he ready to "brawl"?  Who is "Jeff," whom with he and Sam are "partners in crime" on other projects?

At the open, public San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority Stakeholders Advisory Committee meeting, committee chair Sam Pedroza asks the meeting in response to critical input by meeting participants, "Otherwise, we are getting to a point where; is the Stakeholder Committee still necessary or is it going to be a vehicle for people who are just against the project to come in?"
Hear Mr Pedroza's words for yourself at approximately minute 36:00 of the official audio recording of the meeting.  Hear the entire meeting.  Call (626) 458-7188 and request the July 10, 2007 Stakeholders meeting audio CD.  It will be mailed to you.  There is no fee.  The audio is provided by the San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority.   Also hear Mr. Pedroza state that the meeting participants are ready to "brawl"(~ minute 21:00).  Hear Mr Pedroza state that he and "Jeff", another member of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee, have been "partners in crime" on other projects.

"Pre-meeting" is  door-closed Fundraising Committee meeting.  July 10, 2007, 1:15PM.  The meeting is, in reality, a Fundraising Committee meeting.  See Note, below.

Upper San Gabriel Municipal Water District 1:15 PM.  Early arrivals for the Stakeholders Advisory Committee meeting were asked to leave and told the board room gathering was a "pre-meeting".  The entry door to the board room was then closed to the public. As the door closed a voice from the room said it was a fundraising meeting.  The fundraising "pre-meeting" adjourned at 1:20PM. The meeting participants included five people who are members of the publicized River Discovery Center Fundraising Committee: http://rmc.ca.gov/discovery/fundraising/members.html

Note: On July 12, 2007 Acknowledgement was made that the July 10 pre-meeting was a Fundraising Committee meeting; that all the agendas for the Fundraising Committee "will be posted".  Since July 10, 2007 all Fundraising Committee meetings have been canceled.  Fundraising reports are still made to the River Discovery Center monthly board meeting.  The next announced Fundraising Committee meeting is January 3, 2008

As of June 18, 2007 the Draft Environmental Impact Report release is not anticipated until late September 2007.

But be ready, the Draft EIR could come out sooner and start the only 45 days that you, the public, can comment on the project. 
 http://naturalareafriends.net/eir_period/admin/

May 16, 2007. Angeles Chapter Sierra Club Conservation Committee votes to delay further consideration of the motion to endorse the "Discovery Center" until the Environmental Impact Report process identifies the project's impacts.

May 14, 2007. San Bernardino Audubon urges Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee to hold off endorsement of Discovery Center:

May 14, 2007
Conservation Committee and
Executive Committee,
Angeles Chapter of Sierra Club
3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 320
Los Angeles, CA  90010-1904

Dear Committee Members:

    It has come to our attention that there is a proposed Discovery Center planned for Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  While we obviously are generally in support of environmental education, the specifics of this case warrant a closer look.  In particular, we are concerned that a glossy education facility that showcases what the San Gabriel River used to look like is less desirable than retaining natural habitat, and working toward restoring the existing riverbed to a more natural state.    
    If the goal of the stakeholders behind the plan for the Discovery Center are serious about having a facility to teach children about nature and the dynamic processes of southern California rivers, they should consider retaining the habitat of the Narrows and using it as an outdoor laboratory.  As an environmental teacher, I know that the best way to teach children to appreciate and understand wild land is to keep it wild.  Habitat is at such a premium in the Los Angeles Basin that we cannot afford to degrade such an area, even if the goal on the surface appears noble.  The potential value to wildlife movement must also be given serious consideration.  Our initial take is that Whittier Narrows should retain its value as a wildlife corridor, and that this is compatible with a more natural form of environmental education, much like what has existed there for many years, rather than an expensive and high impact project.
    It is our understanding that the Angeles Chapter of Sierra Club may be considering a motion to endorse the proposed project and/or its implementation.  We urge you as a sister organization committed to the environment to hold off on any endorsement of this project until the Draft EIR is published and you are able to review all the potential environmental impacts associated with the Discovery Center.


Sincerely,

Dave Goodward
Conservation Chair
San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society
22430 Pico Street
Grand Terrace CA 92313

For a second time SEATAC sends Discovery Center's Biota report back to its authors.  May 7, 2007

The Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC) at their meeting May 7, indicated that big changes are needed in the Biota Report for the "Discovery" Center.
SEATAC requested that the Discovery Center make changes in their Biota Report. Among the changes are further development of mandated alternatives to the proposed project.  SEATAC also requested that the DC lay out the Accumulative Effects the project will initiate in the Whittier Narrow Natural Area. Download the minutes and read what the biologists said: http://planning.co.la.ca.us/doc/minutes/seatac_min_may07.pdf

February 15, 2007. SEATAC doing "back flips" for the Discovery Center?

Rivers and Mountains Conservancy Executive Officer Belinda Faustinos declares to the February 15, 2007 public meeting of the Discovery Center board that the  Significant Ecological Areas Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC) is doing "back flips" for the Discovery Center project.

Hear her for yourself. The audio for February 15, 2007, and all Discovery Center board meetings, are available from the Rivers and Mountain Conservancy Discovery Center Authority: sgrdca@rmc.ca.gov

In 2004 the River Discovery Center tripled in size.  Why?

From the minutes of the Discovery Center Stakeholders meeting of November 4, 2004.  Under Action Item point 13 in response to a question of why the the building has tripled in size, Jeff Yann, the River Discovery Project Manager for the Upper San Gabriel Water District is cited:
 
"Mr. Yann explained that the auditorium has been in the plans from the beginning, long before the site was selected.  The Upper District has always wanted a place for the water agencies can use for water issues."
 

 "We think they [the SEATAC biologists] might have had a different position if they had all the facts," said Belinda Faustinos in the June 23, 2008 Whittier Daily News article (at right).  If she wanted the committee of Regional Planning biologists to have all the facts, why did she not give them the facts.  Faustinos had a year, in it,  four hearings to provide the facts. It is her project.  Belinda Faustinos is both the Interim Execcutive Officer of the Discovery Center Authority and the Executive Officer of the Rivers and Mountain Conservancy.

Above.  June 22, 2008.  Access closed to area of sightings of federally listed Endangered Least Bells Vireo. A Breeding Study is initiated.  Closed area abuts proposed parking lot.  Discovery Center Authority insisted that there were no sightings of the endangered bird withing 1000 feet of the construction site. 

Belinda Faustinos, the Interim Executive officer of the Discovery Center Authority is, as of September 2007, a member of the governing board of California Audubon.  Her biography at California Audubon makes no mention that the board member is also the Executive officer of the Discover Center, a huge development in a rare habitat that is also home to birds on the federal and California Endangered Species lists. 

Above. Least Bells  Vireo, June 11, 2008 in area abutting planned 150-space Discovery Center parking lot. 

 
Above. Endangered Least Bells Vireo, June 1, 2008 in area abutting planned Discovery Center parking lot. 

Memorial Day 2008 in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area:

 Above, parent Redtail Hawks leave their nest after feeding a gopher to their nestlings.  Below, the three nestlings.  Their parents have nested in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area for 15 years.

May 4, 2008, annual Big Sunday at the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area are ordered by a Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation to move to what he calls the "Free Speech Area". Photo, above, and LA County Parks Department sign, below.

(Above) Endangered Least Bells Vireo, April 20, 2008 in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area 

"SEATAC stated that loosing trees in the name of environmental education is problematic. It will take 150 years for the trees to get large again." - comment number 44 from the minutes of January 14, 2008 meeting the Signifcant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee (SEATAC). 

What is a Significant Ecological Area (SEA)?

An area qualifies for recognition as an SEA if it possesses one or more of the following features, or classes:
• Is the habitat of rare, endangered, or threatened plant or animal species.
• Represents biotic communities, vegetative associations, or habitat of plant or animal species that are either one-of-a-kind, or are restricted in distribution on a regional basis.
• Represents biotic communities, vegetative associations, or habitat of plant or animal species that are either one-of-a-kind, or are restricted in distribution in Los Angeles County.
• Is habitat that at some point in the life cycle of a species or group of species, serves as a concentrated breeding, feeding, resting, or migrating grounds, and is limited in availability
• Represents biotic resources that are of scientific interest because they are either an extreme in physical/geographical limitations, or they represent an unusual variation in a population or community.
• Is an area important as game species habitat or as fisheries.
• Is an area that would provide for the preservation of relatively undisturbed examples of the natural biotic communities in Los Angeles County.
• Is a special area, worthy of inclusion, but one which does not fit any of the other seven criteria.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME BECOMES AN AWARD FOR MORE DESTRUCTION:

In January 2006 there was a major sewage spill on the beaches of Santa Monica Bay by the Los Angeles County Sanitation District.  The Sanitation District was fined $25 million for the crime.  $22 million of the fine (88%) is to go to the the Discovery Center development.  Sam Pedroza, an employee of the defendant Sanitation District, is on the Board of the Discovery Center  and chairs its Fundraising Committee.