Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 8, 2021

Mountain View News Saturday, May 8, 2021 
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Mountain View News Saturday, May 8, 2021 
CHRISTOPHER Nyerges THE ARROYO SECO 

FOUNDATION 

TIM BRICK CARRIES ON IN THE TRADITION OF CHARLES LUMMIS 

All photos by Christopher Nyerges 

Charles Lummis was a colorful figure, born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1859. 

When he was 25years old and working on a newspaper in his wife’s hometown 

in Ohio, Lummis was offered a job on a new pa-per out west, the Los Angeles 

Times. He decided that it would be a great idea to walk all the way to Los Ange


les, and write about his adventures in a series of weekly dispatches to newspapers. 

He became a columnist at the “new” Los Angeles Times, and was very active in promoting local 
natural history causes. Among other things, he founded the Southwest Museum, and the Arroyo 
Seco Foun-dation, whose purpose was to protect and preserve the unique natural environment 
of the canyon that flowed from the hills above Altadena, all the way south into Los Angeles where 
it eventually met the Los Angeles River. 

Lummis died in 1928, and though many of his works have remained, the Arroyo Seco Foundation 
died with him. That is, until local environmental activist Tim Brick resurrected the Arroyo 
Seco Foundation in 1989 to continue the vision of Charles Lummis. 

TIM BRICK 
According to Brick, “It was the 
second big Earth Day in 1990 
that inspired the revival of the 
Arroyo Seco Foundation. The 
20th Anniversary of Earth Day 
was big in Pasadena, and we 
saw at least 30,000 people visiting 
the Arroyo that weekend.” 

“Our first big project was 
to improve those low flow 
streams in lower arroyo, working 
with BFI, which was an old 
trash hauling company that 
had to do a mitigation project,” 
explains Brick, referring to 
the streams that were created 
on both sides of the cement 
channel south of the Colorado 
Street bridge. 

Since then, the ASF has planted several thousand native trees in the Arroyo, participated in 
and led major Arroyo planning efforts, educated the public about the riches of the Arroyo, and 
most im-portantly worked to restore and enhance the natural splendor of the Arroyo for future 
generations. 

ASF has brought over $25 million in funding into the Arroyo Seco Watershed. Some of the major 
pro-jects have included the low-flow stream restoration program in the Lower Arroyo in the 
1990s, the Central Arroyo Stream Restoration Program, which brought back native fish to the 
Arroyo, the Water-shed Coordination Program, and the Arroyo Seco Canyon Project. 

The nursery was started back in the early 90s, until 1997 at its current location. “There was nothing 
as ambitious as you see there now,” says Brick. “Back then we only grew about seven trees.” 
In 1997, when he became the executive director of the Hahamongna Operating Company, “I 
simply didn’t have the time to maintain the nursery,” he explains. 

In 2014, the nursery was revived. Within a year, it was managed by Nicholas Hummingbird, who 
breathed new life into the nursery. Parker Davis and Portia Besocke now operate the nursery, 
and oversee its day to day activities. 

THE ASF NATIVE PLANT NURSERY 

Parker Davis explained that the ASF staff and 

volunteers collect seeds from their nursery and 

from the watershed for propagation. They also 

root cuttings for propagation. 

Because of their current burgeoning activities, 
the ASF staff is seeking to expand their boundaries, 
and are also actively seeking volunteers 
to assist with the many aspects of native plant 
propagation. 

“It’s a great way for volunteers to learn about native 
plant propagation,” said Davis, “and to learn 
about many of the historical native plants.” 

In addition, the ASF nursery is open for the pub


lic to purchase native plants for their own yards. 
“There isn’t another native plant nursery growing plants with such a focus on hyper-local genetics 
that I know of,” said Davis, who pointed out that some of the beautiful natives currently in 
flower include the aromatic wooly blue curls, and the Encelia californica, a native sunflower. 
Other popular plants for sale include white sage, black sage, mugwort, and yerba santa, all of 
which are aromatic, drought-tolerant, and medicinal. 

Plants are $5 in four inch pots, and $10 for one gallon pots; larger sizes are also available. 

The nursery is located in the Annex section of the Hahamongna Watershed Park; for location, 
check hahamongna.org. They are open Wednesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
Their number is (626) 657-0392. Below: Some of the native plants for sale in the nursery. 

Tim Brick, founder of Arroyo Seco Foundation


Parker Davis and Portia Besocke (left) and Park-
er Davis now operate the day to day operationsof the nursery. 


MARVELOUS MILLI! 

She’s beautiful, sweet,
affectionate, & playful.
Kind woman took in 
her daughter’s cat,
Milli, but the woman’sresident and aggressivemale cat has tried to 
hurt Milli and even putthe woman in hospitalfor a week. This is in 
spite of all proper and careful introductions, etc. Milli deserves to be in a loving and safeforever home. She would do best as an only pet (IMO), not with young kids, and not leftalone for long periods of time (needs company and attention). She is spayed, vaccinated,
and microchipped. She may need a little space at first but once she’s comfortable, she’svery sweet, smart, curious, and affectionate. Can you help? Please call 301-771-1211 toinquire. 

Pet of the Week

 Penny is five years old and has such a sweetpersonality. This dilute calico beauty is a little 
cautious when meeting new people, but justminutes after getting to know you, she’ll bereaching out to head bump your hand and ask formore pets! It really doesn’t take her long to comeout of her shell. This sweetie has so much affection 
to give, it wouldn’t surprise us if she became a lapcat or a cuddle bug in her future home.

 The adoption fee for cats is $100. All catadoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, andage-appropriate vaccines.

 New adopters will receive a complimentaryhealth-and-wellness exam from VCA Animal 
Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled withinformation about how to care for your pet.

 View photos of adoptable pets and 
schedule a virtual adoption appointment 
at pasadenahumane.org. Adoptions are byappointment only, and new adoption appointments are available every day at 5:00

p.m. for the following day. 
Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters byphone calls or email. 


FREE ANIMAL HOSPITAL NEEDS YOUR HELP! 

HeyO' Sierra Madre! How ya'll doing? 

Your lovely local 501c3 non-profit, Free Animal Doctor, could use some stuff if you have it 
and don't need it! Plus a volunteer! Here are the deets (as the kids say, the kids from 20 years 
ago): 

1) Towels. When we do Spay/Neuter clinics we put towels in every metal cage to make it more 
comfy. We also clean up with them. So if you have used towels you don't need, we need 'em!
They can be stained, frayed, even a small hole here or there, just as long as they are clean. Put 
them in a plastic trash bag, and drop them under the mailboxes at 70 E. Montecito Ave... we 
cannot get enough towels! Love 'em!! 
2) Portable canopies. Our big canopy got destroyed in the windstorm. We have a small one, 
but we could use one or two more. It's to shade our staff and clients when they come to the 
Spay/Neuter clinic and have to stand outside. Got one you don't use? We'll use it every weekend! 
Comment here and we'll connect. 
3) Wanna volunteer? We need help checking pets in on Sundays and Mondays. We have about 
20-25 people show up at about the same time, and we need to quickly process paperwork and 
get their pets safely into the clinic for surgery. 
It's 730am until about 930am on Sundays and Mondays at Gate 7 of Santa Anita, right off 
Baldwin before you get down to the mall. You don't have to volunteer every day, but a couple 
times a month minimum would be good. There is a minor bit of training involved, and you 
get much better at it with experience, so we are looking for a bit of a commitment if you wanna 
help. Let me know, again, comment and I will arrange for us to get in touch. THANKS!! 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com