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Residents, environmental committee urge more native plantings, cite El Segundo Blue Butterfly project
Summary
Residents and the city environmental committee urged the Recreation and Parks Commission to prioritize native plants in public landscaping, citing recent volunteer work on the El Segundo Blue Butterfly hillside and the city’s future plan.
Barbara Boland, a co‑founder of the El Segundo Blue Butterfly Conservancy, told the Recreation and Parks Commission that volunteers recently removed invasive plants from a hillside and asked the city to pursue more native plantings in public spaces.
Boland said the parks department helped on April 12, when “15 volunteers filled 1 pickup truck with invasive plants removed from the hillside,” and she thanked Miguel and park staff for their assistance. She urged the commission to begin a dialogue with parks staff to expand native tree and plant installations, and specifically proposed planting a California coast live oak in Library Park as a replacement or focal tree.
The commission also heard from Tracy Miller Zarnicki, chair of the city’s environmental committee, who backed Boland’s request and offered the committee’s assistance. “There are 372 plants native to the El Segundo vicinity,” Zarnicki said and encouraged staff to consult the online native‑plant resources (cascade.org) by zip code. She said native landscaping can conserve water and support local wildlife, and volunteered the environmental committee to help with site visits or planning.
Commissioners and staff did not take action on planting strategy during public communication; the speakers’ comments were recorded as part of the public comment period on commission business only. Commissioners acknowledged the requests and closed the public communication segment before moving on to the meeting’s consent items.
Residents and two city committees asked the commission to consider native plantings across city parks and to coordinate with parks staff on potential pilot projects and site visits. The comments tied the request to the city’s stated goals in its “future plan” for more native landscaping.
Looking ahead: Commissioners and staff may incorporate this input into future park planting decisions and into broader planning discussions (for example, a land use element update discussed later in the meeting).
