
White pelicans keep company with a cormorant at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Refuge. | Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
If theres one thing we know about Angelfest, the three-day music festival proposed for the Sepulveda Basin in October, its that we dont know much about what its backers actually plan. An early draft description of the event, though, has upset a whole lot of fans of the San Fernando Valleys beleaguered wildlife. And to veteran conservationists the proposal carries with it a distinct feeling of d j vu. Weve seen this before: someone gets a bright idea and nature pays the price.
That draft proposal, said to have been modified in the environmental review process, involves building five temporary stages in Woodley Park between Woodley Avenue and the 405, upon which bands playing popular music from the last 70 years would attract as many as 60,000 ticketholders from October 7 through October 9.
The problem? That would put the music festival hard up against the 225-acre Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve, in a month in which naturalists expect migrating birds to be counting on the Reserves willows and sycamores for a much-needed bit of rest. And thats hard to do with five bands playing to tens of thousands of celebrating fans, under bright lights with occasional pyrotechnics.
--
--
Its hard to overstate the Sepulveda Basins importance to wildlife. A restored fragment of what was once a chain of wetlands and flood plains along the course of the Los Angeles River, the Wildlife Reserve offers a bit of habitat for the more than 200 species of birds that have been sighted there, including the Federally Endangered least Bells vireo. White pelicans, North Americas second-largest native bird, use the Reserve in Woodley Park as a migration pit stop in September and October.
Seasonal migration is an incredibly perilous undertaking for most birds. The amount of energy put into flying for hundreds or thousands of miles is just part of the issue. While aloft, birds must contend with a wide range of stresses from dehydration and hunger to extremes in temperature. Without enough so-called stopover habitat to provide not only fod and water but just a place to sleep for a few days, migration can often prove fatal for birds on the edge.
And that rest and recuperation is likely next to impossible if bright lights disrupt your sleep, and you must spend energy instead of conserving it contending with the unexpected sight, noise, and distracting movement of tens of thousands of revelers.
Not a great place for a nap: Coachella in 2014 | Photo: Thomas Hawk, some rights reserved
Even absent music festivals, birds at the Reserve have it tough enough. In order to protect the wildlife that uses the Reserve, the Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department has crafted a list of rules for visitors that include staying on designated paths, disposing of trash in designated containers and refraining from feeding the animals - all of which would seem essentially unenforceable if 60,000 festival goers descend on the park.
For its part, Recreation and Parks, which favors the festival idea, says that the Departments share of the proceeds from the event - a $250,000 user fee paid by promoter Make Good, plus a percentage of ticket sales - will bring a much-needed infusion of cash into the department thats not vulnerable to political whims. Most of the cash would be spent in the Sepulveda Basin, but the benefit to wildlife in the Reserve is arguable. Much of the spending is projected to cover hardscape, concrete and lighting and other such infrastructure.
According to Rec and Parks Valley Superintendent Charles Singer, the initial proposal that drew so much ire from conservationists - including a petition against the festival launched by the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, which calls the festival an existential threat to the Reserves wildlife - has been modified significantly. How so? Its hard to tell at the moment. Theres a federal draft Environmental Assessment in the works, as a result of the festivals being held on land Rec and Parks manages for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which essentially built the basin as a flood control project. That draft Environmental Assessment will gauge the degree of damage the (presumably modified) festival will do to the Reserve and other environmental resources. The document is due out in mid-April, after some delay. Once its made public, the public will be able to see just what changes the proponents have made in the festival proposal. Fewer stages? Orienting the activities away from the reserve? Well only know when the documents published.
Singer told me this week that he expects Angelfests Environmental Assessment will find the festival poses no real threat to either the wildlife in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve or to any other part of the environment. Under federal law, if a projects Environmental Assessment results in whats called a Finding of No Significant Impact (or FONSI, an admittedly odd acronym in the context of a festival featuring music from the 1950s), then project proponents dont have to put together a full-fledged Environmental Impact Statement. Singer says that extrapolating from the hundreds of other events Rec and Parks has overseen in its history, a FONSI in Angelfests Environmental Assessment is a near-certainty.
Part of the reason proponents are confident in that FONSI is that the Environmental Assessment only covers the 2016 Angelfest. But promoters say that if 2016s festival is successful, they plan to repeat the event in subsequent years.
And thats a problem. The bird population at Sepulveda Basin might well be able to recover from the disturbance of one festival, the way they might from a week or two of really bad weather hitting a crucial bit of stopover habitat. Thus an assessment of one festival, with three da
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
27/03/2026
RT Supporting the Arts
RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April
RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...
27/03/2026
Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2
Over one million streams on RT Player
Highest number of streams for any single eve...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center
A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 03:30 (PDT) Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4
Delivering greater fidelity, clarity and detail to Dol...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...