By Jarret Liotta
What began 10 years ago as an effort to tame a development project that would have impeded habitat connectivity in Laurel Canyon evolved into an established nonprofit that continues to advocate for the creatures who live in urban Los Angeles.
From creating a barn owl nesting box program to educating the public about the dangers of rodenticides, to advocating for a ban on rodenticide use in city parks, CLAW – Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife – has focused on protecting wildlife. Their “nature cam” program has caught footage of mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes and brought attention to the importance of conservation in urban Southern California areas.
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council recognized the work of CLAW, which seeks to preserve wildlife habitats, corridors and connectivity throughout the region.
“CLAW has been a powerful advocate, giving voice to the wildlife who can’t speak for themselves,” District 3 Councilmember Bob Blumenfield told the City Council in a short ceremony in which the organization was presented with a citation marking their 10-year anniversary.
“Their advocacy has not just been forward-thinking, it has been essential,” he said. “What sets them apart is really a commitment to education and empowerment. Through various workshops, presentations and campaigns they’ve inspired thousands of Angelenos to take action.”
The team from CLAW and city officials show their claws for a photo opp. (Photo by Jarret Liotta)
According to retired L.A. City Councilmember Paul Koretz, CLAW’s story began with a planned development on Stanley Hill Drive in Laurel Canyon that would have landlocked the animals in adjacent areas. “We needed to create some wildlife corridors, otherwise they’d be blocked at every turn,” said Koretz, who worked to support CLAW’s mission while in office.
“They’d be unable to mate with each other and they’d be stuck in an area and have inbreeding and eventually some species would die out,” Koretz explained.
CLAW has helped preserve 17 acres of open space in Laurel Canyon. It has advocated for fire safety and conducted other education programs and, alongside Koretz, sponsored the original City Council motion to create wildlife corridors in ecologically sensitive areas.
And among other things, they chose a logo to inspire Angelenos to get behind the effort.
CLAW — Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife — has focused on protecting the city’s wildlife, from barn owls to mountain lions. (Illustration by Andrew Lasken)
“We’ve been pushing a wildlife corridor ordinance for about 10 years,” Koretz said. “It should pass within the next year, but it took 10 years and we couldn’t get it through.”
“A number of other things came out of CLAW’s work,” he said. “The city’s done a lot of work on biodiversity (including) a biodiversity index and created a biodiversity panel to try and identify all the species that are in the area,” so the city can work to preserve them.
District 4 Councilmember Nithya Raman also took part in honoring CLAW.
“Because of CLAW’s work, Los Angeles policies, Los Angeles offices, have become champions of biodiversity, wildlife conservation and environmental stewardship, and the unique kind of geographic topography that we have here,” Raman said. “I don’t know of any other city that has this close of a relationship with nature the way Los Angeles does.”
Raman said she and her staff learned the history of her district and its wildlife corridors and how they are impacted in residential neighborhoods.
“CLAW was born out of necessity,” said Alison Simard, cofounder and co-director of CLAW. “Los Angeles lacked the tools and the will to protect its wildlife. Over the last decade we’ve worked hard to change that.”
Simard said the Santa Monica Mountains serve as the “lungs” of the region, and they demand focused preservation for many reasons. “Climate change, wildfires, and biodiversity loss are pushing our wildlife to the brink,” she said. “We are at a tipping point. If we don’t act now, we jeopardize not just wildlife, but our own future.”
Cofounder and CLAW Chair Tony Tucci also addressed the City Council, thanking them for acknowledging their work. “This recognition is a testament to the power of grassroots advocacy and the countless allies, supporters and volunteers who have joined us on this journey,” he said.
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He told a story from 15 years ago when he overheard two flippant city officials in the Los Angeles City Planning Department joking about telling the animals where they could go. Ten years later, Tucci said, he heard a very different message when Senior City Planner Conni Pallini-Tipton described the Santa Monica Mountains as vital for habitat connectivity.
“What a shift,” Tucci said. “We have really moved the needle. The pendulum has swung in the right direction, but it must not swing back.”
In addressing the council, Blumenfield noted that CLAW’s work is a reminder that conservation is a collective effort. “They can’t do it alone,” he said. “This is where we come in. Let’s use today to not only honor their success, but to pledge our continued support for their mission.”
For more information, CLAW’s website is www.clawonline.org.
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Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-area-based freelance writer and photographer.