Ballona Wetlands: Monument Dedicated to Friends Founders

Above: Friends of Ballona Wetlands founder Ruth Lansford and former L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter stand beside the monument

I was a UCLA junior when I picked up a copy of the Daily Bruin in 1978 and read the cover article about the beginning of the fight to save the Ballona Wetlands. Billionaire Howard Hughes had passed away and left behind plans to develop his lands along Jefferson and Culver Boulevards, stretching from Centinela Avenue to the sea. Hotels, restaurants, homes and golf courses were the plan, built atop land his company had carefully filled in and prepared over decades.

Above: Hughes Airport became Playa Vista, but the land west of Lincoln Blvd. and north of Ballona Creek was sold to the State of California, which plans to enhance, create and restore wetlands there.

When Marina Del Rey was built in the 1950-60s, construction dredged 3 million cubic yards of soil from the Ballona Wetlands and dumped it on 200 acres of Hughes’ land, also wetlands, south of the new Fiji Way. Additional dirt from Marina Freeway construction was also dumped there. The repeated layering of dredged earth and water compressed the soil. When finally dry, it was 12-17 feet higher and as near ready for development as earth could be.

Enter Friends of Ballona Wetlands, organized by Playa Del Rey resident Ruth Lansford and her neighbors to fight Hughes’ powerful legacy, the Summa Corporation. With the support of many community members, the Friends sued and settled with the Coastal Commission, which had granted but then agreed to revoke approval for development west of Lincoln Boulevard. I recall a photo of Ruth and her allies on the Daily Bruin front page and thought to myself, “this is going to turn out all right some day.”

Today, all vacant former Hughes lands west of the 90 Freeway are owned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency aims to dig out all that dredged soil and return the daily tides to the land.

Above: This dry, weedy expanse of vacant land south of Fiji Way, once tidal wetlands, was where Marina construction dumped 3 million yards of dredge spoils. Hughes' Summa Corporation planned to develop the land, but eventually sold it to California.

Lansford and her allies, including former L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, were honored this week with the dedication of a very personal monument at Ballona Discovery Park. The park is a three-way partnership of the Friends, Loyola Marymount University and the Playa Vista community.

The monument features a bronze sculpture which reproduces that historic photo that graced the Daily Bruin front page those many years ago. The sculpture and monument were the vision of Lansford’s son, Matthew, who attended its unveiling.

Above: Bronze sculpture on the monument recalls an early meeting of Friends of Ballona Wetlands founders.

Ballona Discovery Park is located east of Playa Vista Elementary School on Bluff Creek Drive. The park contains environmental education displays geared towards children and is open to the public, with parking on Bluff Creek.

Above: Friends founder Ruth Lansford and Robert Dorame. Mr. Dorame is the most likely descendant of the Tongva-Gabrielino community of indigenous people, who occupied the Ballona area for millenia.

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[Author's note on affiliations:]

Dr. David W. Kay served on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Friends of Ballona Wetlands from 2007 until 2015, and served as Board President in 2012-13. He presently serves on the Board of Ballona Discovery Park in Playa Vista. David is a staunch advocate for the state of California's plans to restore the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

Since 1984, David has been employed by Southern California Edison Company, exclusively in the company's environmental services organizations. His many responsibilities included restoration of the 440-acre San Dieguito Wetlands near Del Mar. He is presently Senior Manager for Major Project Environmental Management at the company.

David earned bachelor and masters degrees in biology and a doctorate in environmental science. See David's Patch Community Contributor profile here.