Author: Kelli Frye

The Twenty-First Century Dams Act is a recently-introduced bill that would invest $21.1 billion to enhance the safety, grid resilience benefits, and power generating capacity of America’s dams, and provide historic funding to remove dams that are no longer necessary.

The Santa Monica Mountains Task Force, along with California Trout and the Surfrider Foundation Los Angeles Chapter, is in favor of passing this bill, and we plan to work to get it passed in congress to secure funds to help remove the Rindge Dam in Malibu Creek State Park.

The Rindge Dam was built in 1926 by the Rindge family, to have access to the Malibu Creek water to irrigate the crops on their ranch. However, the dam was decommissioned in 1960.

Southern California steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were abundant in the Malibu Creek before the dam was built; consequently, the Rindge Dam prevented the anadromous fish from migrating to the ocean. As a result, the Southern steelhead is now on the endangered species list.

The removal of the Rindge Dam would restore the Malibu Creek ecosystem and possibly bring back the Southern steelhead in the Malibu Creek. However, the construction cost of the dam removal is more than $100 million. Funding has been a big issue holding the project up.

In addition, the removal of the dam will bring back sand to the Malibu Lagoon beach. The dam prevents rock sediment from flowing down to the beaches, resulting in beach erosion, according to Michael Monak, Chair of the Coastal Preservation initiative at the Surfrider Foundation Los Angeles Chapter.

Please write your representative and senator to urge them to vote YES on the Twenty-First Century Dams Act and bring back the ecosystem to Malibu Creek, restoring not just the habitat for the Southern California steelhead trout but also for the western pond turtle, two-striped garter snake, and the Pacific lamprey.

Visit house.gov to find your representative.

Many people in Los Angeles today do not know about Leo Carrillo, though some may remember him as Poncho in the 1950s hit TV show The Cisco Kid.

However, I know Leo Carrillo as an environmentalist who made huge contributions to the Santa Monica Mountains and California during his 18-year tenure as a Commissioner on the California State Beach and Parks Commission.

Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo, known as Leo Carrillo, was a native Californian, born on August 6th,1880. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child, and the Santa Monica Mountains became his playground.

In the 1930s, he moved to a 14-acre-ranch with his wife and daughter. Living nearby in the Santa Monica Mountains, with his own family, was Will Rogers. They were close friends.

Will Rogers and Leo Carrillo enjoyed a long friendship that began when they performed in the same Vaudeville show on the New York stage, Rogers as a rope twirler and Carrillo as a monologist at the beginning of their acting careers. According to a memoir by Leo Carrillo, at one time the two shared an apartment in New York they called “The California I Love”. Carrillo and Rogers both branched out into film; as a result, they moved their families from New York to Los Angeles.

“It was remarkable… Will Rogers was building a vast estate where he could rope calves and ride his horses in the hills of Santa Monica close to my own home,” Carrillo wrote in his memoir.

Beginning in 1942, Carrillo served on California’s State Beach and Parks Commission until just before his death in 1961. He was appointed to the position by California State Governor Earl Warren.

Will Rogers died in 1935 in a private airplane accident in Alaska. Roger’s widow Betty inherited the land in the Santa Monica Mountains, which at one time stretched over 300 acres. However, during the Great Depression, it was difficult for her maintain the property without Rogers.

In the 1940s, Betty tried to donate the land to the State of California; however, it was during World War II, and a poor economy. As a result, the state declined her offer.

However, Carrillo’s close ties to Will Roger’s family, and his work on the State Parks Commission, influenced the state of California to accept the land.

In June 1944 just before her death, Betty Rogers deeded 186.5 acres of land to the State of California. The deed was for the establishment and maintenance of a public land, to be known as Will Rogers State Historic Park. It would serve as a place of enjoyment for the public, and a fitting historic monument to Will Rogers.

The next time you visit 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road in Pacific Palisades to go hiking, watch a polo match, or tour the home where Will and Betty Rogers raised their children and entertained celebrities and socialites, remember that Leo Carrillo helped make it possible for all of us to enjoy.

In addition, Carrillo was instrumental in the successful preservation efforts for the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the Los Angeles Arboretum, as well as the Mexican-style Olvera Street in Los Angeles, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and several other State Parks in California.