November 13, 2009
New and Rare Lichens from the Santa Monica Mountains and Channel Islands
On Saturday, November 21 at 2 pm at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Visitor Center, expert lichenologist Kerry Knudsen will unveil his latest scientific discoveries from the Santa Monica Mountains and Channel Islands National Park. Knudsen has been highlighted in Los Angeles Times articles about lichens, and recently received international attention for discovering a new species of lichen at Channel Islands National Park, and naming it Caloplaca obamae after President Obama.
November 12, 2009
Spirit of the Mountains 2009 Photography Contest Winners to be Announced
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area invites the public to an afternoon of photography with acclaimed professional photographers Tom Gamache and Van Webster on November 14 from 1:30-4 pm at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Thousand Oaks, CA. The afternoon will feature three different activities, including a lecture on effective landscape photography techniques, an opportunity to observe a professional photography critique, and the unveiling of the 2009 Spirit of the Mountains photography contest winners.
October 21, 2009
New Phone Application Helps Combat Invasive Plant Species in National Parks
Citizen scientists have a new research tool to bring along on trips to the Santa Monica Mountains. The National Park Service (NPS) and the UCLA Center for Embedded Network Sensing (CENS) have partnered to design a smartphone application for a unique purpose: to identify the locations of invasive weeds in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
September 29, 2009
Spirit of the Mountains Fall Photo Contest
This fall, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area invites you to participate in its annual Spirit of the Mountains photo contest. Submissions will be accepted October 1-October 31, 2009.
September 17, 2009
King Gillette Ranch Visitor Center Focus Workshops
The public is invited to participate in one of two upcoming planning workshops for a proposed interagency visitor center for the Santa Monica Mountains to be located near Calabasas at King Gillette Ranch. These interactive workshops will help designers and agency planners create several possible design scenarios for the visitor center.
September 17, 2009
A New Environmental Education Campus for Southern California Kids
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to be home of fourth
NatureBridge residential education campus.
September 16, 2009
Make your Santa Monica Mountains even better - Volunteer for National Public Lands Day
National Public Lands Day (www.npld.com) is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy.
Volunteers can choose from a variety of activities to help improve and enhance the park: installation of new post and rail fence, trail repair, native plant restoration, and litter clean-up. Dress appropriately.
September 16, 2009
Sneak peak of the new Ken Burns National Parks documentary
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area invites you to a special sneak peak screening of the upcoming Ken Burns Film: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea premiering on PBS.
August 11, 2009
Young Female Mountain Lion Collared in the Santa Monica Mountains
Friday, July 31: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area staff captured, collared, and released a newly discovered mountain lion in the Hidden Valley region of the Santa Monica Mountains. Named P-13, this mountain lion could be the kitten of mountain lion P-6.
August 05, 2009
Untold Stories Premiers in the Hollywood Theatre District
On Saturday, busses pulled into Los Angeles neighborhood community center parking lots and then, filled with excited children and families, headed for the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in the heart of the Hollywood Theatre District.
July 21, 2009
Multi-Agency Effort Successfully Eradicates Marijuana Plants in the Santa Monica
July 21, 2009: National Park Service Rangers from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, California State Park Police, CAMP (Campaign Against
Marijuana Planting), and Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority (MRCA) entered three marijuana
plantation sites, two located in Malibu Creek State Park and one located in the Zuma-Trancas Canyon area on National Park Service land.
April 02, 2009
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
The National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA or SAMO) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the SAMO Diamond X Ranch Student Intern Center and Keller House Stabilization and is now available to the public.
March 21, 2009
Ventura County Star - Thousands attend outdoor screening
Filmmaker's work to air on PBS in fall
By Brett Johnson
Saturday, March 21, 2009
History “is a place where we can all gather,” filmmaker Ken Burns noted Thursday evening during an interview in an old saloon.
So, too, are our national parks, the subject of Burns’ next opus that will air this fall on PBS. Burns and about 2,000 people gathered for an outdoor “sneak preview” of his film “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” at Paramount Ranch south of Agoura Hills.
