Steve Hartman, CNPS Board President

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There are scant historical records depicting the habitat of the Sepulveda Basin before it was dammed in the 1940’s. While the soft-bottomed portion of the Los Angeles River has always been a “wildlife area,” it wasn’t until the late 1970’s when the Army Corp of Engineers began to revegetate with California native plants the east portion of the Basin south of Burbank . Since then, the 200-acre Wildlife Reserve was established north of Burbank and the Bull Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project was completed. Alas, in December of 2012 the Army Corp destroyed 43 acres of wildlife habitat. Find out more about the flora, fauna and controversies of the Sepulveda Basin with Steve Hartman, who was born in Van Nuys and has spent more than three decades watching the natives return. Steve has served on the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee (sponsored by L.A. City Recreation and Parks) since its inception, and is responsible for www.sepulvedabasinwildlife.org.

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About the Speaker:

Steve Hartman has been member of the California Native Plant Society since

1974, has served on the CNPS State Board of Directors as Treasurer for over a decade, and was honored as a CNPS Fellow.  He currently serves as Board President. Steve is a long-time activist of the Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains chapter serving as chapter president, treasurer, newsletter editor, webmaster, and plant sale co-chair. His local project is the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area (www.sepulvedabasinwildlife.org), in the San Fernando Valley , where he has guided revegetation projects and has encouraged the City of Los Angeles to develop large-scale native landscaping projects. He served on the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Advisory Council for five years representing CNPS. Steve has been producing computer-based botanic keys and field guides since 1990, leading to his series of Wildflower Field Guide iPhone / iPad applications. He also put together four laminated field guides to Wildflowers of Southern California, Bay Area, Sierra Nevada, and Southeast Arizona for Quick Reference Publishing.