Great article in the Los Angeles Times today from Jessica Garrison about how Debs Park is a unique bit of nature amid urban L.A. She notes the important role of the Audubon Center at Debs Park in connecting Angelenos to nature:

Then, in 2001, Hernandez and his successor, Councilman Ed Reyes, worked with the Audubon Society to bring the nature center to the park. It turned out that in addition to all the people doing drugs and carrying out other illicit activities in the park, there were also more than 140 species of birds living there, or dropping by, including many who stop in the black walnut groves on their migrations.

There was just one problem: Many people were still afraid to come.

Change came bit by bit.

The Audubon Center began hosting field trips and summer camps for children, handing out free binoculars and nature guides for weekend visitors. Volunteer groups and nonprofits, including Tree People and local residents, sponsored park cleanups and fun runs and tree plantings that drew more people into the park.

A few years ago, the center also began sponsoring a women's fitness hike, with free child care. Around that time, Audubon Center Director Jeff Chapman said, observers began reporting more frequent sightings of a once rare species: women walking by themselves.