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“ We ’ re out here today in the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area and we ’ re supporting the filming of an Army National Guard commercial , which is involving the use of a Black Hawk helicopter , fast rope techniques , cranes , wind machines ,” McCombs said . “ We ’ ve got about 100 people out here that are permitted to do the filming .”
Much of the property owned by the federal government can be made available for filming projects and permits can be obtained by applying with the respective federal agency . In the district ’ s case , permits can be obtained by applying with the district ’ s asset management section . “ The Corps of Engineers was very supportive in helping us . Securing this location is one of the added benefits of working with the Corps . It was very flexible ,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Lisa Bryan , the Army National Guard ’ s new media program manager in charge of the service ’ s social media , web design , and advertising . “ The Corps is a great agency to work with . Like with anything , you want to stage yourself for success and believe me , working with the Corps definitely helped us . We look forward just look forward to the successful and continued relationship that we have working with the Corps of Engineers .”
Dear District Teammates :
For my family , Memorial Day weekend signals the official beginning of summer ! For those of us who have school age children , we know that the kids will soon finish their academic year and we as parents have to figure out what to do with them for the next three months . If you are facing the same dilemma and looking for fun things to do , consider taking your family to kayak the L . A . River .
I was very lucky to be part of a historic event over Memorial Day weekend : The opening of the 2.5 mile stretch of the Los Angeles River which had previously been closed to the public for nearly 80 years . Gaining access to the river is great for people here and is certainly in line with President Obama ’ s America ’ s Great Outdoors initiative . The real victory marked by the occasion , however , was the successful coordination among the vast myriad of interagency partners that this effort required . And it was a long time coming .
As river supporters know , the L . A . River system has been heavily altered over the last two hundred years by development , flooding , and channelization . After flooding caused catastrophic damage in the early 20th century , the Corps and County built the Los Angeles County Drainage Area flood risk management project that further channelized the river .
While that project remains critically important in protecting the public from floods , plans in the 1930s didn ’ t take into account the environment and recreational use the way we would today .
During the past 25 years , support for restoration and recreational use of the river has grown by leaps and bounds , through efforts by Friends of the Los Angeles River and many others . The federal perspective on the river has also evolved with changing environmental values , more protective laws ,
COMMANDER ’ S MESSAGE
and the development of ecosystem restoration as one of the Corps ’ key missions .
Making this stretch of the river accessible to the people of Los Angeles was the right thing to do , but it wasn ’ t easy . Members of the district staff worked with the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority , the City of Los Angeles , and the County of Los Angeles , among others , to accomplish the historic task that called for a fully joint effort to allow access to the river while continuing to provide a habitat for wildlife and maintaining its role as a flood risk management feature .
It ’ s hard to make everyone happy , especially when our role in flood risk management is to mitigate the effects of a flood , should a flood event occur . This is certainly a step in the right direction , and I was very happy to see the numerous articles and television stories that accurately reflected our partnership with other agencies to accomplish this .
In my humble opinion , the future of the L . A . River is the future of the Los Angeles District . On my second day on the job as district commander , I was on a tributary of the L . A . River with the Mayor of Los Angeles , the Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency , and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality . All three high level leaders were discussing the vision for a new L . A . River : a river that would combine flood risk management , ecosystem restoration , and recreation . Thirty-five months later , as my command of this great district comes to a close , I ’ m amazed at all that we have accomplished together to make this vision become a reality .
I could not ask for a better group of professionals to work alongside , nor a better place to continue Building Strong and Taking Care of People !
Warm Regards , COL Toy
District Commander : Col . R . Mark Toy Public Affairs Officer : Jay Field Editor : David A . Salazar
Staff : Daniel J . Calderón , Greg Fuderer , Brooks O . Hubbard IV , Beverly Patterson , Kristen Skopeck and Mario Zepeda
Tel : ( 213 ) 452-3922 or Fax : ( 213 ) 452-4209 .
The NewsCastle is published monthly under the provisions of AR 360- 1 for the employees and extended Engineer Family of the Los Angeles District , USACE .
Views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the District or of the Department of Defense .
Address mail to the Los Angeles District Public Affairs Office , ATTN : NewsCastle Editor P . O . Box 532711 , Los Angeles , CA 90017-2325
E-mail the Public Affairs staff at : publicaffairs . SPL @ usace . army . mil
A civilian helicopter transporting a film crew circles above an Army Blackhawk helicopter as it executes a simulated rooftop evacuation on the set of the Army National Guard ’ s new recruiting commercial . The National Guard worked with the Los Angeles District to secure a filming permit for the shoot , which took place at Whittier Narrows Park March 8 . ( Photo by David A . Salazar )
2 NewsCastle March 2013 3
INTERACTIVE!
Click this icon to watch a video of the helicopters in action!
(Video by Steve McCombs)