My love of nature started in the Eastern Sierras, especially the scenic drive up U.S. 395 from Los Angeles. The majestic, snow-capped mountains and serene lakes and streams are a world away from the hustle and bustle of city life. When we get up toward Mammoth, sometimes I slow down and point out all the places we used to go trout fishing in the summer when I was little.
As director of NRDC’s Southern California Ecosystem Project, I work to protect parkland, open space and wildlife habitat and advocate for sustainable land use planning in southern California. Before joining NRDC in 2008, I practiced environmental law at a Los Angeles firm for five years. I earned my J.D. at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and my undergraduate degree in environmental sciences at U.C. Berkeley.
Posted April 19, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Yesterday, at the end of a hastily arranged “special meeting” that afforded virtually no prior notice or opportunity for the public to comment, the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) reportedly approved its plans to build the first five miles...continued→
Posted April 11, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
For the second time in four months, the financial condition of Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), the public agency that has been trying for years to pave a toll road through San Onofre State Beach, is being called into...continued→
Posted April 1, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
On Friday, the agency responsible for cleaning up air pollution in the Los Angeles region, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, will vote on whether to adopt a new rule targeting the air pollution from oil and gas operations...continued→
Posted March 4, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
A destructive toll road is threatening a popular state park and the last remaining wildlands along the southern California coast. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s the same nonsensical project we thought we killed five years ago. For years,...continued→
Posted February 3, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Another day, another packed public hearing near San Diego over the controversial Gregory Canyon landfill, the proposed 300-acre garbage dump that would be built next to the San Luis Rey River and sacred Native American sites. I've blogged about...continued→
Posted January 18, 2013 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably
Angelenos, are you looking for something new and interesting to do over the long weekend? Well, I, for one, am very excited about a brand new shuttle service that is bound to increase public access to one of south...continued→
Posted December 28, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably
When my wife and I were in Paris a few years ago, we were blown away by the city’s super-convenient Velib bike share system. With a swipe of a credit card, tourists and locals can rent a bike from...continued→
Posted December 21, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
A male wolf from Oregon's Wenaha pack. (Photo credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) One year ago, a gray wolf from Oregon’s Imnaha pack, OR7, crossed over the state’s southern border and became the first wolf to roam...continued→
Posted December 13, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The Los Angeles Times reported today that the state of California is investigating the financial viability of the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) of Orange County, the toll road agency that has been trying for years to pave over San Onofre...continued→
Posted October 10, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice
Late last night, Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) released a long-awaited study on the oil drilling company’s hydraulic fracturing operations at the Inglewood Oil Field in the Baldwin Hills area of south Los Angeles. While it took a...continued→
Posted October 10, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
A gray wolf (not OR7). (Photo credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) After hours of public testimony last Wednesday, the California Fish and Game Commission moved one step closer toward securing endangered species protection for the first gray...continued→
Posted September 27, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Just after Christmas of last year, a 2½-year-old gray wolf designated "OR7" entered California, becoming the first wolf to inhabit our state since 1924. He dispersed from the Imnaha pack in northeastern Oregon last September, possibly to carve out his...continued→
Posted September 12, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Environmental Justice, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
A couple of weeks ago, I took an awesome kayak trip down the Los Angeles River and shot some video along the way. Check it out. It's an exciting time for the Los Angeles River. This summer's kayak tours...continued→
Posted September 5, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably
There’s troubling news out of Sacramento for anyone concerned about the potential health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Two bills that finally would have applied some safeguards and limits to the practice of fracking in California ran...continued→
Posted July 25, 2012 by Damon Nagami in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably
Protesters march outside the Culver City public workshop hosted by the California Department of Conservation in June. Tomorrow afternoon, more than 100 concerned Californians are expected to turn out for a rally in Sacramento to bring attention to the issue...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
