Endangered Butterflies

Re “Once Vibrant Beach Colony a Ghost Town,” Aug. 30:

The LAX/El Segundo sand dunes are not just a “butterfly preserve”; there are 11 endangered species there. (Only one needed to be declared--the El Segundo blue butterfly, since the land was thereby saved.) All told, scientists have documented more than 1,000 species of plants and animals on the site, many of them fascinating and unusual.

It will take years for the restoration effort to remove the European weed-grasses that make the dunes appear brown in the summer, but once it’s done, the El Segundo sand dunes will be known as they once were--the most beautiful flowering area in all of Los Angeles.

One long-range L.A. city plan is to build an environmental education center so that the community can understand and appreciate this spectacular site.

Jon Earl

Director

Rhapsody in Green

Studio City