Nature Parks Are Right in the City

It is wonderful to read about the new “urban nature center” planned for the Ernest E. Debs Regional Park (‘Going Wild in the Middle of L.A.,” editorial, April 29). You say Los Angeles County has the second-highest concentration of bird species in the nation, after San Diego. Yet L.A. is one of the worst cities in the U.S. for parks. Only about 10% of our land is designated as open space, compared to New York City, which has 27%, and San Francisco, with 25%.

But now there is a new 8.5-acre park at the corner of Slauson Avenue and Compton Boulevard in South-Central L.A. Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park reproduces small samples of habitats found in Southern California. Named for the man who in 1962 became the first African American elected to Congress from west of the Mississippi, this park is at a spot where Gabrielino and Tongva tribes gathered acorns 7,000 years ago. Congratulations to the Audubon Society for its plan for Debs park. Reintroducing the natural world into this city is certainly revolutionary.

Hank Rosenfeld

Santa Monica