[See the end of the article for recent developments]

There is a place where the 405 and 101 intersect that many commuters catch only a glimpse of. Cradled between two of the busiest freeways in the country, Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve and its attendant Sepulveda Basin Recreation Zone provide sanctuary for a multitude of creatures that would otherwise be completely displaced from the area.

It is a haven for ducks, geese, egrets, green and great blue herons, and a stopover for such migratory birds as redwing blackbirds. I’ve spotted turtles floating lazily in the slow current. In the oak savannah adjacent to the river, hawks and owls find rich feeding. Orioles, goldfinch and woodpeckers find ideal habitat. It’s a pretty slice of wildlife-friendly land.

The stretch of the Los Angeles River south of Burbank Boulevard is some of the most accessible waterfowl habitat on the river. It’s one of my favorite locations for waterfowl photography and I’ve visited many times over the years. I drove past it recently and nearly drove off the road in shock. Someone had taken a bulldozer to it. What had once been smattered with green was now a featureless, rutted monochrome wasteland.

This isn’t the first time the Army Corps of Engineers has taken heavy machinery to the area though we could call this most recent event a glancing blow compared to their December 2013 razing of more than 40 acres of wildlife habitat. Still, the damage from this latest adventure in bulldozing habitat is stark, to say the least.

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