Now hiring - part time Park Ranger patrol officers

The City of Los Angeles Park Rangers will be hiring part time security officers to work in the Hansen Dam area.

Applications are available at the Griffith Park Ranger Station or by contacting Sr. Ranger Pat Joyce via email: Pat.Joyce@lacity.org

Griffith Park Ranger Station
4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles CA

Beautiful new "Bill Eckert Trail" sign installed today

Photo courtesy A. Torres

Park Ranger Bill Eckert was City of Los Angeles Park Rangers badge #1 and a true legend in Griffith Park.

 
Ranger Bill was present to see the original sign installed, passing away not long after that ceremony. 

Recreation and Parks had stopped making engraved wood signs for the most part at that time, so the first sign had letter decals that recently were failing, peeling and falling off.

The new sign has been engraved like the old style signs and should last decades with proper care.

Park Ranger badge #3 - and another blossoming legend (although he'll deny it), Capt. Albert Torres - made this happen.

Beautiful!!

Read about the legend, Ranger Bill Eckert, here.  

Lawsuit announced at Heritage Tree event

More than one hundred tree lovers came to the Friends of Griffith Park's Heritage Sycamore event on Saturday. Friends board member Gerry Hans announced that Friends along with the Griffith J. Griffith Trust will indeed be filing a lawsuit on the laughable Crystal Springs Little League fields EIR approved by City Hall. It's very sad that Angelenos are forced to sue their own government to force them to obey the law, but recently it seems that this is becoming all too common.

Given the heat on Saturday which topped out in triple digits by early afternoon, this many at a Saturday event is a great turn out! The news about the lawsuit made it all worthwhile. If you would like to support this lawsuit, you can go to the the Friends of Griffith Park's web site and join the organization or maybe PayPal them a little extra love if you are already a member.

Courtesy Friends of Griffith Park

Text of the announcement:

The Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust and Friends of Griffith Park will file a lawsuit this week against the City of Los Angeles to stop the construction of ball fields at these four acres of Crystal Springs Picnic Facility. The petition will claim that alternative sites and mitigation were not properly considered.

In reality, this particular location for the ball fields was pre-determined from the start. Other alternatives never had a chance. It was the responsibility of the City to consider all alternatives seriously, including the idea of separating the two ball fields into two separate locations.

Having the two fields here in Crystal Springs produces SIGNIFICANT adverse impacts to the biological resources of this area. It produces SIGNIFICANT adverse impacts to the aesthetics of these historic picnic grounds. Those were the results of the City’s own CEQA findings, not ours.

The project is moving forward any way, after our Commission signed-off on a STATEMENT OF OVER-RIDING CONSIDERATIONS regarding the adverse impacts without even batting an eye.

The project is moving forward any way, after our City Council denied our APPEAL to the CEQA findings.

Do we really need to play ball in court? Maybe so.

Kid-friendly event this Saturday to view rare, giant Los Angeles tree slated for destruction

"I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." ~ Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991), The Lorax

Take a good, long look at this amazing 200 year old tree.  Compare the size of this giant to the people standing beneath its branches in the picture below.

We don't have trees like this in Los Angeles, or do we?  In fact, we do. You can see this giant heritage sycamore in Griffith Park!

But not for long.  If you would like to marvel at the majesty of this original LA River giant, I recommend you go see it at a kid-friendly event this Saturday, because this tree will soon be gone -- destroyed to add two more special interest Little League fields in Crystal Springs where another already exists and goes unused most of the year. The new ballfields are Councilmember Tom LaBonge's "gift" to you before he leaves office.

Visit this giant firsthand this Saturday before it's gone for good  - event details follow below.... way below this giant tree.

From Friends of Griffith Park:

Please join us at the Heritage Sycamore Tree in the Crystal Springs Picnic Area on Saturday, September 13th at 10:00 am.

The Heritage Sycamore is one of the trees the City may remove in order to build ball fields so we're gathering to respect the importance of this and all trees in the Crystal Springs area.

Our goal is for at least 200 of us to gather, one person for each year of the tree's life.

Photojournalists will be on hand to document the event. This will be FUN! Friends of Griffith Park will provide water and soft drinks.

Please bring your enthusiasm and help us spread the word. The more the merrier!

 Kids of all ages are welcome!