Sepulveda Basin habitat cleared

Botanist Ellen Zunino visits the Sepulveda Basin vegetation management area, formerly a designated wildlife reserve. Forty-three acres were reduced to piles of broken limbs and bare dirt by the Army Corps of Engineers in preparation for replanting with native grasses. (Mel Melcon /Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 28, 2012 8:01 PM PT

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The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to provide information about its elimination of woodlands in Sepulveda Basin.
Read more: California agency says U.S. removed wildlife habitat without permit

A bird flies over a portion of the Sepulveda Basin untouched by the Army Corps of Engineers. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

San Fernando Valley Audubon Society treasurer Ann Ohlenkamp views what remains of a eucalyptus in the Sepulveda Basin. At right is Dave Weeshoff, president of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society. (Mel Melcon /Los Angeles Times)

A white pelican spreads its wings above the L.A. River next to the Sepulveda Basin vegetation management area. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A bird takes off from the L.A. River next to the Sepulveda Basin vegetation management area. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Botanist Ellen Zunino walks with San Fernando Valley Audubon Society members Ann Ohlenkamp and Dave Weeshoff in the Sepulveda Basin vegetation management area. Before they were cleared, about 43 acres featured cottonwood and willow groves, undergrowth and marshes that maintained a rich inventory of mammals, reptiles and 250 species of birds. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)