LUIS RINCON, SUPER STEWARD
Rio de Los Angeles State Park
By Hannah Flynn & Dani Velazco
current and former Test Plot interns
Starting in early 2022, we conducted a series of seven interviews with “Super Stewards” - members of the Test Plot community who are stewards of community and of the environment. Our conversations covered personal histories, what it means to be a steward, and what the future of community-tended green space can be.
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![Meet Luis Rincon, State Parks Community Engagement Coordinator]()
Photos by Robert Flynn
Rio de Los Angeles State Park wasn’t always a park. For a long time, it was part of the Los Angeles River floodplain and agricultural fields. That is, until the massive Taylor Yard rail yard was constructed, roughly coinciding with the concretization of the Los Angeles River. It was operated as a rail yard until 1985, when it closed operations. To learn the story of how Rio became a park, we met with Luis Rincon, State Parks Community Engagement Coordinator, on an unusually warm and sunny winter day. We sat down together near the Test Plot, in the grass, soaking up the sun. According to Luis, the abuelas del Rio, longtime residents of the neighborhood and park volunteers, are to thank for their dedicated advocacy work to turn the brownfield into a park for their grandchildren to play.
The location was perfect: because of its proximity to the river, it could connect kids to the river, its ecology, and its part of the city’s history. The abuelas found an opportunity with California State Parks to turn this parcel of land into a park because of its significant natural value as a riparian zone. However, the abuelas and other community groups also wanted to have soccer fields and basketball courts, which State Parks does not administer, so the park is run as a partnership between the City of Los Angeles and State Parks.
Luis noted that on the administrative side, State Parks was keenly aware of a statewide relevancy problem: the people visiting their parks didn’t reflect the rich diversity of the state. The advocacy work of the abuelas aligned perfectly with State Parks’s own initiative to build more urban parks to “bring parks to the people.” As Luis started with State Parks, he was drawn to Rio because of the abuelas’ passion and vision of green space for their community. Getting to meet them and work with them was inspiring. “I remember when I first got here, everything in the landscape was small,” he recounted, underscored by the dappled shade provided by the now-mature toyon we sat beneath.
A native Angeleno himself, his connection to the outdoors began with family camping trips up near Yosemite. One of his earliest memories was jumping on a log and falling into a creek, a memory he associates with happy senses of freedom and being with family. Growing up in Northeast LA, Luis served as a community ambassador as part of a program called the Conservation Career Development Program (CCDP), a Student Conservation Association (SCA) program serving inner-city youth. Wanting to give back to his community, he switched to social work following college graduation. Eventually, he came to the realization that while social work was important and effective, community health is inextricably linked to open, green space, which brought him back to working with nature. And while situated in an urban setting, Rio’s 20 acres of nature is just enough to provide human health benefits and habitat benefits, such as creating habitat for an endangered bird, the Least Bell’s Vireo.
Working as an Community Engagement Coordinator for State Parks, Luis is able to build community and expand who gets to benefit from access to nature. He insists that he can’t do it alone, that it’s “always about finding the right partners who have aligned thinking.” Through partnerships with organizations such as the Audubon Society and Test Plot, he’s able to organize more resources for the community, in turn strengthening the community’s relationship with the park. “It’s not just about parks, it’s about the people. The abuelas didn’t know that they would set 100 acres [as in the 100 Acre Partnership] in motion in Los Angeles where real estate is at a premium…it is always about just taking that first step.” The abuelas could not have imagined the long-term impacts to the nation’s second-largest city that their green advocacy work catalyzed.
Rio de Los Angeles State Park
By Hannah Flynn & Dani Velazco
current and former Test Plot interns
Starting in early 2022, we conducted a series of seven interviews with “Super Stewards” - members of the Test Plot community who are stewards of community and of the environment. Our conversations covered personal histories, what it means to be a steward, and what the future of community-tended green space can be.
Photos by Robert FlynnRio de Los Angeles State Park wasn’t always a park. For a long time, it was part of the Los Angeles River floodplain and agricultural fields. That is, until the massive Taylor Yard rail yard was constructed, roughly coinciding with the concretization of the Los Angeles River. It was operated as a rail yard until 1985, when it closed operations. To learn the story of how Rio became a park, we met with Luis Rincon, State Parks Community Engagement Coordinator, on an unusually warm and sunny winter day. We sat down together near the Test Plot, in the grass, soaking up the sun. According to Luis, the abuelas del Rio, longtime residents of the neighborhood and park volunteers, are to thank for their dedicated advocacy work to turn the brownfield into a park for their grandchildren to play.
The location was perfect: because of its proximity to the river, it could connect kids to the river, its ecology, and its part of the city’s history. The abuelas found an opportunity with California State Parks to turn this parcel of land into a park because of its significant natural value as a riparian zone. However, the abuelas and other community groups also wanted to have soccer fields and basketball courts, which State Parks does not administer, so the park is run as a partnership between the City of Los Angeles and State Parks.
Luis noted that on the administrative side, State Parks was keenly aware of a statewide relevancy problem: the people visiting their parks didn’t reflect the rich diversity of the state. The advocacy work of the abuelas aligned perfectly with State Parks’s own initiative to build more urban parks to “bring parks to the people.” As Luis started with State Parks, he was drawn to Rio because of the abuelas’ passion and vision of green space for their community. Getting to meet them and work with them was inspiring. “I remember when I first got here, everything in the landscape was small,” he recounted, underscored by the dappled shade provided by the now-mature toyon we sat beneath.
A native Angeleno himself, his connection to the outdoors began with family camping trips up near Yosemite. One of his earliest memories was jumping on a log and falling into a creek, a memory he associates with happy senses of freedom and being with family. Growing up in Northeast LA, Luis served as a community ambassador as part of a program called the Conservation Career Development Program (CCDP), a Student Conservation Association (SCA) program serving inner-city youth. Wanting to give back to his community, he switched to social work following college graduation. Eventually, he came to the realization that while social work was important and effective, community health is inextricably linked to open, green space, which brought him back to working with nature. And while situated in an urban setting, Rio’s 20 acres of nature is just enough to provide human health benefits and habitat benefits, such as creating habitat for an endangered bird, the Least Bell’s Vireo.
Working as an Community Engagement Coordinator for State Parks, Luis is able to build community and expand who gets to benefit from access to nature. He insists that he can’t do it alone, that it’s “always about finding the right partners who have aligned thinking.” Through partnerships with organizations such as the Audubon Society and Test Plot, he’s able to organize more resources for the community, in turn strengthening the community’s relationship with the park. “It’s not just about parks, it’s about the people. The abuelas didn’t know that they would set 100 acres [as in the 100 Acre Partnership] in motion in Los Angeles where real estate is at a premium…it is always about just taking that first step.” The abuelas could not have imagined the long-term impacts to the nation’s second-largest city that their green advocacy work catalyzed.
Thank you so much for sharing your time and experience with us, Luis!