News & Updates
Griffith Reporter Winter 2022-23
Read or download the Winter 2023 edition of the Griffith Reporter PDF. DOWNLOAD PDF
The Many Roles of Travel Town: Griffith Park Internment Camp
Like a good character actor, Travel Town has played many different roles throughout its existence in Griffith Park. And like any good character actor, it is...
Urban Woodpecker Granaries in Griffith Park
Griffith Park serves as home to a large number of native plants and animals. Over thousands of years, the animals and plants have established mutualistic...
Red-shouldered Hawk, R.I.P.
During the L.A. Raptor Study 2022 nesting season, we were once again reminded that rat poisons (rodenticides) don’t just kill rats; they are also effective...
Urban Raptors Surviving on the Streets: the Los Angeles Raptor Study
Over the six years of the Los Angeles Raptor Study, a community science supported by Friends of Griffith Park, more than 600 raptor nests have been found in...
Highlights of the Los Angeles Raptor Study 2022
Background Launched as the “Griffith Park Raptor Survey” in 2017, we renamed our effort the “Los Angeles Raptor Study” in 2021 to reflect the larger current...
Bee Rock Trail Renewed
“The Bee Rock Trail Restoration has been a wonderful project, and the transformation of the trail has been greeted with genuine praise and gratitude from avid...
FoGP scholarship 2022 recipients; fostering the next generation of environment stewards
Over the summer, Friends of Griffith Park announced the recipients of our annual scholarship program which supports students of color who attend the North...
Memories of Bernadette Soter
“Bernadette leaves behind a legacy of activism in the Park. She inspired many members of Friends of Griffith Park who continue to carry on her vision.” ~...
Jorge Ochoa Discusses the Intricacies of Griffith Park’s Flora and Fauna
There’s a vast, amazing natural world in Griffith Park and Long Beach Community College professor Jorge Ochoa spells out the various flora and fauna...
L.A. Zoo Speaks with Forked Tongue
Imagine a quiet hilltop in Griffith Park. In these native woodlands of 16.1 acres, live coast live oaks, toyons, California black walnut trees and stands of...
LA Zoo Expansion – Take 2
As the newest iteration of the Los Angeles Zoo expansion is being dissembled to the public, Friends of Griffith Park would like to clarify some points....
Transportation Plan Presentation at GPAB
The July 28 GPAB meeting included a presentation from Kimbly>Horn, the team tasked with redesigning Crystal Springs/Griffith Park Drives in order to make...
Digging With LA Compost
Seven months ago, Michael Martinez’ grand endeavor to spur the city of Los Angeles to locally recycle its food scraps added one more to its growing network of...
Wildness in the Metropolitan Area: A Dream in Search of a Plan
“Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the...
Griffith Reporter Summer/Fall 2022
Read or download the Summer/Fall 2022 edition of the Griffith Reporter PDF. DOWNLOAD PDF
L.A’s Urban Bats Fill the Night Sky
This year, FoGP is helping fund a project that will shed a light on one of the most unfairly maligned creatures around – our urban bats. “I like animals that...
Griffith Park’s First Ecologist
Courtney McCammon has a sparkling personality. Discussing her new position as L.A. Recreation and Parks’ first ever ecologist, Courtney was enthusiastic about...
Restoring Bee Rock Trail
The hiking trails of every wilderness park in the world are critical in safeguarding the long-term relationship between humans and nature. Their proper...
A Micro-forest for Griffith Park
Thanks to support from the Hancock Park Garden Club, the Bette Davis Picnic Area of Griffith Park is becoming home to a new native Micro-Forest as part of the...
A Green Ring for Los Angeles
Sometimes moving forward requires a long look back and deciding whether the path we’re on is the best path for the future. When Spanish colonists first...
An Appreciation of P-22
Ten years ago in 2012, when mountain lion P-22 was discovered haunting the hills of Griffith Park, this wasn’t just another example of nature seeping through...
The Role Park Rangers Play in City Parklands
To understand the role played by Park Rangers over time in Griffith Park, I turned to Mike Eberts’ Griffith Park: A Centennial History. I learned that long...
Toyon: Griffith Park Lost and Found
Motorists on the 134 freeway have seen the oddly-terraced hillside that is in Griffith Park, but does not appear to be part of it. Hikers, runners and...
A Brief History of the Failed Griffith Park Master Plan(s)
Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States — larger than the City of Beverly Hills. Yet, with 2022 about to begin, there is no...
The LA Zoo Vision Plan
A multi-level parking structure for 2,000 vehicles, three visitor centers featuring sit-down dining, a California vineyard, an aerial tram, a funicular, and a...
The Soroptimist Connection in Fern Dell
Enter Fern Dell from Los Feliz Boulevard and walk up the far right side of the path heading to the Observatory; here you will discover a picnic area perched...
Griffith Reporter Winter/Spring 2021-22
Read or download the Winter/Spring 2022 edition of the Griffith Reporter PDF. DOWNLOAD PDF
The Storied History of Travel Town
There are many terrific venues in Griffith Park and exhibits within venues. Travel Town is a perfect example; it’s a must-visit attraction, especially if you...
Scholarships Available for the Next Generation of Environmental Stewards
For the second year, Friends of Griffith Park will offer scholarships to local students going on to higher educational prospects in environmental studies. In...
Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Griffith Park
On Saturday, November 13, 2021 volunteer educators from the LA Conservancy joined 30 different partnering organizations spread throughout Griffith Park to...
Griffith Reporter Summer/Fall 2021
Read or download the Summer/Fall 2021 edition of the Griffith Reporter PDF. DOWNLOAD PDF
LA Zoo Expansion is Taking Shape
Did you know the massive Los Angeles Zoo Project is nearing completion of it’s final stages before receiving LA City Council’s approval? Don't worry, few...
Coexisting With Film Crews in Griffith Park
Rebel Without a Cause, La La Land, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Batman TV show — what do they all have in common? Our beloved Griffith Park....
Griffith Park Aerial Tram – Not Out of the Woods!
On November 9, 2019, a brush fire broke out at Forest Lawn Drive and Barham Boulevard, near Warner Bros. Burbank Studios. It consumed 80 acres of...
Raptor Volunteers Keep Their Eyes on the Prize
Armed with binoculars, perhaps a clip board and eyes that are continually scanning, Friends of Griffith Park Raptor Survey Volunteers are the backbone...
Underground Griffith Park: Holes as Homes
PHOTOS: top left: Desert cottontail “apartment” (approx. 10"). top right: Tarantula abode (1 1/2" diameter). bottom left: Harvester ants exit the one inch...
The Infamous Detention Facility in Griffith Park
Over the years Griffith Park has responded to urgent national and local housing needs. During the Great Depression the Park housed CCC camps to give jobs and...
A Force of Nature
A conversation between FoGP board member Dora Herrera and National Wildlife Federation Director Beth Pratt Beth Pratt, the unstoppable force leading...
Honoring Ranger Albert Torres
On June 16, 2021, a plaque was unveiled at the Griffith Park Ranger Station, honoring one of LA’s beloved Park Rangers – Albert Torres. On this warm June day,...
