| Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Los Angeles County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°57′37″N 118°26′54″W / 33.960295°N 118.448211°W |
| Area | 577 acres (234 ha) |
| Operator | California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (pronunciation: "Bah-yo-nuh"[1] or "Buy-yo-nah"[2]) is a protected area that once served as the natural estuary for neighboring Ballona Creek. The 577-acre (2.34 km2)[3] site is located in Los Angeles County, California, just south of Marina del Rey. Ballona—the second-largest open space within the city limits of Los Angeles, behind Griffith Park[4]—is owned by the state of California and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The preserve is bisected generally east-west by the Ballona Creek channel and bordered by the 90 Marina freeway to the east.
Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is one of the last significant wetlands or marshes left in Los Angeles County, wetlands being "areas that are periodically, seasonally or perennially flooded that also have specific types of vegetation."[2] Ballona is a "fragile, self-sustaining bog, fed by both fresh and salt water…This and other major wetlands of the Los Angeles Basin, including Bixby Slough…have been largely filled in for urban development."[5] The value of Ballona is that "wetlands teem with life and are among the earth's most productive environments."[6]
- ^ "F.A.Q." Ballona Creek Renaissance. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Arancibia, Juan (November 7, 1985). "Endangered Species: Urbanization Threatens Wetland Havens for Migrating Birds". Los Angeles Times. p. LWS18.
- ^ "The History of Ballona Wetlands". Friends of Ballona Wetlands. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ Frechette, Neysa; DeTroy, Harrison; Stees, Grace. "Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project" (PDF). Friends of Ballona Wetlands. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ Pitt, Leonard; Pitt, Dale (1997). Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20274-0.
- ^ De Wolfe, Evelyn (March 23, 1986). "Wetlands Preserve: Audubon Society to Restore Bird Habitat". Los Angeles Times. pp. I6.