We are able to host community kayak trips to Los Cerritos Wetlands thanks to our partnership with LA River Expeditions. However, we must pause our kayak trips during the summer months (don’t worry, we’ll be back at it in the fall), so I encourage you to feed your inner adventurer by signing up for a fun paddle on the Los Angeles River led by LA River Expeditions.
Sign up for a mellow kayaking experience of the Sepúlveda Basin. Details and reservation information can be found here.
Or sign up to shoot down some mini rapids on the LA River (with careful supervision from your tour guides) by signing up here.
Either way, you are sure to have a great time and leave with some interesting stories to share with family and friends.
LA River Expeditions has a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor (which is really rare), where you can read reviews and see photos taken by trip participants.
You should also spend time browsing the LA River Expeditions website, where you’ll find a wealth of helpful information and even more entertaining photos.
On the ballot this November is Prop. 45, an extremely concerning ballot measure.
Prop 45 guts air, water, and health protections for polluting projects. It shifts power from public agencies to developers, and nearly eliminates the courts’ ability to prevent toxic contamination of our air and water. These changes could apply to everything from data centers and freeway expansions to dams, landfill gas facilities, and waste conversion projects. If a project pollutes our air and water, taxpayers will have to pay to clean it up.
Prop 45 forces cities, counties, and the state to absorb the long-term costs of pollution, infrastructure damage, public health impacts, and climate risks. Corporations save money; the public pays more.
Prop 45 leaves California vulnerable to the federal government’s extreme environmental rollbacks. Federal environmental laws that protect clean air, clean water, and wildlife are being dismantled. Prop 45 removes our state’s strongest backstop to the federal rollback.
Prop 45 is being bankrolled by special interests and corporations. The measure is heavily funded by corporate PACs, for-profit utilities, and industrial interests. These entities are protecting corporate profits, not everyday Californians.
Prop 45 gives corporations the right to sue cities that try to stop or fix polluting projects. It allows developers to sue public agencies for denying polluting projects or imposing conditions that protect communities – such as requiring a data center to reduce its water use.
Take a moment to read the letter of opposition to Prop 45 (signed by just about every environmental group in California, including the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust.
Then sign up to get involved; it will take all of us to push back on this destruction ballot measure. Don’t let corporations and special interests win; sign up today for updates and more.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is home to a handful of plants considered to be “special status” by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. That means they are animals and plants facing significant risks such as habitat loss or decline.
Through funding from the Warne Family Endowment Fund, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust supported the mapping of rare plants throughout the 103.5-acre Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project area.
As part of this investigation, three different special status plant species were documented, including an annual wildflower called Lewis’ Evening Primrose (Camissoniopsis lewisii). The small yellow-flowered plant is commonly found in dune habitats, but in the Los Cerritos Wetlands, it covers approximately 3.76 acres on two sandy deposits composed of fill material. This sand likely came from a nearby shoreline dredging project and was placed in the wetlands sometime around the mid-19th century.
Dunes are one of the rarest coastal plant communities in southern California, so a plan to conserve this wayward population of Lewis’ Evening Primrose is an important objective for the restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands. We will keep you updated as we traverse this primrose’s path to conservation.
Belding’s Savannah Sparrow
One of the wetlands’ most iconic endangered residents is the Belding’s Savannah sparrow, a small songbird found only in coastal marshes of Southern California and northern Baja California. Unlike migratory sparrows, Belding’s Savannah sparrows live year-round in salt marshes and depend heavily on dense pickleweed vegetation for nesting and shelter. Scientists have found that the species is especially vulnerable to habitat fragmentation because isolated marshes often cannot sustain stable populations over time.
The Los Cerritos Wetlands provides important nesting habitat for these birds. Current restoration efforts for the wetlands emphasize preserving healthy pickleweed stands, as they are essential to the birds’ survival.
Perhaps you might consider celebrating Endangered Species Day by making a contribution to our advocacy and public education efforts to protect and restore Los Cerritos Wetlands. You can donate using Zelle at elizabeth@lcwlandtrust.org. Or make a donation through other means on our website.
But more than anything else, we thank you for being part of our effort to improve and restore this rare landscape. No matter how you support us, I am certain we couldn’t do it without you.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Lambe Executive Director Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
Mel Nutter has been a dedicated coastal advocate for over 50 years.
Kudos to the Sea and Sage Chapter of the Audubon Society for awarding Mel Nutter their Fern Zimmerman Conservation Award for Mel’s lifelong work to protect California’s coastal resources. For many years, Mel has been a trusted advisor to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, providing us with invaluable legal and strategic advice. To help all of us get to know this coastal hero, Sea and Sage Audubon will host Mel at its May conservation lecture at 7 PM on May 26th, where he will share his experiences about his coastal advocacy journey.
Mel’s journey includes working on the 1972 Proposition 20 campaign that led to the California Coastal Act of 1976; serving on both the South Coast Regional Coastal Commission and the State Coastal Commission between 1977 and 1985; and leading the Sierra Club Coastal Committee and the Amigos de Bolsa Chica. The success of the Coastal Act and the protection of miles of accessible coastal open space are attributable in part to Mel’s lifetime of dedication and hard work.
Advance registration is required for this online “virtual” meeting. When you register, you will receive immediate confirmation by email. Hope to see you there, it is a unique and wonderful piece of coastal open space.
Attend a screening of the film Ocean, free of charge, on Tuesday at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Learn about restoration ecology at Zedler Marsh, a restoration site located within Los Cerritos Wetlands. Explore the different types of plant communities (coastal salt marsh, mulefat scrub, coastal sage scrub) being cultivated for the current and future restoration of the wetlands.
Our walk will begin with a brief orientation about the Los Cerritos Wetlands. Tour leaders will discuss the interesting challenges in restoring the Zedler Marsh wetlands, the restoration techniques they rely on, and the important role of California native plants. There will be opportunities for birding and other wildlife sightings at Zedler Marsh.
What: Salt Marsh Stroll nature walk at Los Cerritos Wetlands.
When: Saturday, June 6th, 2026, at 8:00 AM. The parking lot gate will open at 7:45 AM and close at 8:10 AM. No latecomers will be admitted to the tour, and all participants must stay for the entire tour, which will conclude by 10:00 AM.
Closed-toe shoes are required for the walk, and adults must accompany kids under 16. Reserve your spot via our Eventbrite page, and feel free to email Elizabeth with any questions.
Hope to see you there, it is a unique and wonderful piece of coastal open space.
