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CONTACT INFORMATION

R.C. (Richard) Brody *
Land Manager, Department of Fish & Wildlife - Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve
P.O. Box 1653, Topanga, CA 90290
(310) 455-3243 phone 1
[email protected]


Permits Department, Buildings & Facilities
California Film Commission
7080 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 900, Hollywood, CA 90028 USA
323.860.2960 phone 1
800.858.4749 phone 2
[email protected]
https://film.ca.gov/state-permits/buildings-facilities/


Jim Burton
Principal Environmental Scientist / Water Resource Engineer, Ballona Freshwater Marsh
432.235.0498 phone 1
310.376.8939 mobile
[email protected]


* key contact

WEBSITE:
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Friends of Ballona Wetlands

Keywords: Beachfront; Coastal; Stream / Creek; Trails

Site Condition: Where are the Ballona Wetlands? The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is a nearly 600-acre open space in the middle of the Los Angeles County coast. The Reserve is surrounded by the communities of Westchester, Marina del Rey and Playa Vista, and lies close to LAX airport and Loyola Marymount University. Today’s ecological reserve is the remnant of a much larger wetland complex that once stretched all the way north to Venice Beach and inland to La Cienega Blvd.

General Notes: updated 9.21.16 gb / 10.21.16 / lm

Usage Restriction: **Filming and photography at the Ballona Reserve is permitted for educational not for profit projects only**

Jurisdictions: CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE - CDFW, CALIFORNIA FILM COMMISSION - CFC

Within 30-Mile Studio Zone: N/A

State Property: Y

Closed/Vacant: N

Ownership: state

Verified: 7/31/2025

Location Details

Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve - California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW)

United States / Playa Del Rey, California
Location ID: #10099653

The Ballona Wetlands are located in Southern California, United States south of Marina del Rey and east of Playa del Rey. The wetlands once included the areas now taken up by Marina del Rey, Venice, and Playa Vista, extending north to about present-day Washington Blvd. in Venice.[1]

It is one of the last significant wetlands areas in the Los Angeles basin, and is named for Port Ballona and Ballona Creek which now runs through the area as a flood control channel. In the 1930s the Ballona Creek corridor was channelized in concrete,[2] thus greatly reducing the inflow of salt water to the marsh, and eliminating spring floods, which brought freshwater to the wetlands. Among groups dedicated to protecting the wetlands is the Friends of Ballona Wetlands.

**Please contact Jim Burton for the "Ballona Freshwater Marsh" on the corner of Jefferson and Lincoln. That area is privately managed. Contact information is included in the listing. Any filming at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh will require both Board of Directors and General Counsel approval – a process that could take a couple months depending on the scope and duration of the proposed activities.

Location Category:

  • GOVERNMENTAL - *;
  • GOVERNMENTAL - State Buildings and Facilities;
  • NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - *;
  • NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - State Conservancy Lands;
  • WATER & COASTAL AREAS - *;
  • WATER & COASTAL AREAS - Rivers / Rapids;
  • WATER & COASTAL AREAS - Swamps / Marshes / Wetlands
 
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