Conservation

Any Los Angeles homeowner with a roof and an interest in rainwater harvesting may want to apply for a free rain barrel installation from the city. The rainwater harvesting pilot program, which kicked off in July, still has 170 openings for installations, each of which includes a free 55-gallon rain barrel and free setup. Designed to conserve potable water and reduce the amount of polluted rainwater that runs untreated into the ocean, the $1-million pilot plan has enough funds to outfit 600 homes with one rain barrel each.

A cash-strapped conservation credit program run by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has stopped paying vendors and customers for installing water-saving toilets and appliances. Though the program has been deemed highly successful, demand for the rebates has increased threefold over the last two years. In May, the water district moved to suspend the program, said Bob Muir, a spokesman for it.

After three years of work, an array of interest groups are poised to determine the future of more than 140,000 acres of some of California's most ecologically rich and endangered watershed lands, among the largest swaths to be preserved in decades. At stake are lands owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

The Metropolitan Water District is considering a contingency plan to cut water deliveries to its member cities using a new formula that critics contend favors faster-growing areas while penalizing older, poor communities. The district's staff is recommending the plan in case the agency, which serves 18 million people in six counties, is forced to slash water deliveries this spring in the event of continuing shortages.

More than three years after Fullerton residents raised $3.5 million to save the historic Fox Theatre from the wrecking ball, the 82-year-old structure remains in peril. Despite the efforts of preservationists, the dilapidated one-time vaudeville theater and movie house stands in contrast to the urban hipness that has swept downtown Fullerton, now brimming with upscale restaurants, jazz clubs and a lively street scene.

A few careless words, the snap of a branch and a scene of bucolic splendor became utter chaos. Clouds of great blue herons exploded from trees and swaying cattails. Egrets erupted from watery redoubts. Ducks quacked furiously overhead. Debi Livesay observed the frenzy from a windy bank. "Wait a moment; they'll settle down," she said. "It's hard to sneak up on them."

In the latest step in its green offensive, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is launching a Web-based tool to help identify new ways to make its operations more environmentally friendly. Cleantech Group, a small Michigan company that links inventors of sustainable technologies with investors, will solicit ideas for Wal-Mart to address such diverse problems as the reuse of vegetable fats from the retail giant's deli fryer and more efficient batteries for the company's thousands of forklifts.

Congress is considering permanent protection for 26 million acres of beautiful and historic landscapes in the American West, but has quietly excluded millions of acres of California desert.

Disneyland's "Small World" will soon be getting a little more crowded. The Anaheim amusement park is planning to add iconic Disney characters to the anonymous international cast of the beloved 'round-the-globe boat ride. The idea has sparked outrage among the family of the attraction's original designer and prompted a preservation campaign for the ride, which opened in 1966 and closed for renovations in January. Walt Disney Co.

Most members of the Dorsey High School Global Warriors had never heard of the California least tern when it nested last spring on a breezy beach near Marina del Rey. Yet like seasoned conservation biologists, the Warriors reeled off facts Saturday as they wrestled invading Cakile maritima from the sands where the rare seabird is due to return in April. "We haven't seen them personally.