by Garth Meyer
Work to create a hillside of wildflowers along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach received a boost in August with a $79,000 grant to the South Bay Parkland Conservancy (SBPC).
The money, given by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be used for continued habitat restoration on 6.9 acres of the slope overlooking the ocean.
On Saturday, Sept. 17, a group of SBPC volunteers, with staff from Los Angeles Conservation Corps, gathered on the bluff to remove invasive plants. When the rains begin in the fall, they will plant native species.
The hillsides are owned by Los Angeles County.
SBPC volunteers returned to the project in September after staying away during the summer, when El Segundo blue butterfly caterpillars go into the ground for the winter.
Sea Cliff Buckwheat, the only plant blossoms on which the El Segundo Blue lays its eggs, is among the native plants to be planted.
“South Bay Parkland Conservancy is honored to receive this grant award and to play a key role in expanding native habitat for species such as this,” said Jim Montgomery, SBPC project lead and boardmember.
The SBPC intends to spend the majority of the funding on native plants – to eventually line the bluff from Vista Del Mar to Avenue C.
“Imagine two miles of wildflower blooms each year,” Montgomery said.
The SBPC’s long-term goal is to create a linked habitat corridor from Palos Verdes to the Manhattan Beach dunes. ER
