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Sustaining L.A.

Part of what makes the LAUR so unique, apart from the obvious fact that
they're women, is that they take the role of the ranger rather seriously,
even in a tongue and cheek sort of way. Formed in 2004, the group has
steadily generated a dialogue around the urban/natural habitat we live in but very often ignore. After all, how often do we equate nature and
urbanism together in the same sentence? Tours, or safaris, to use their
term, the LAUR have organized include hikes through the LA County Fair, Malibu's public beaches, and Hollywood Blvd. Well-researched and
detailed visitor information guides, similar to what you would find at a
typical state park or nature preserve, generally accompany these events.


The language and rigor of this professional persona, that of the park
ranger, is no coincidence. These tours are for the public and rangers are
as accessible as they are well informed. It certainly makes the
presentation all the more believable when the artists show up in full
uniform and conduct their urban tour with as much skill and organization
as the real thing. That performative slippage in reality facilitates in
helping us, the public, rethink the contexts we've created for our urban
environment. Why don't we think about of our geography more often in
urban centers? That's what rangers do after all; they facilitate rather
than dictate our own questioning and discovery of new places and
information.

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Did you know?

The Marbled Godwit is a large, long-billed shorebird that you can often see on the Malibu coast.