Today at 3PM Mayor Villaraigosa will brave the rain and join other officials for opening of the Rio de Los Angeles State Park, the second state park to open along the L.A. River in as many years (click here for my tour of the Los Angeles State Historic Park).

In February, the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan was released. It's a blueprint for transforming 32 miles of the 51 mile-long river from concrete channel to "parks, trails, recreation, nature, neighborhood identity, jobs, community development, tourism, civic pride and much more," according to the city.

After hearing about the plan and reading LAO contributor Jenny Price's Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A., I signed up for the river tour she gives for Friends of the Los Angeles River. The car caravan turned into an awesome look at how the effort to transform the river is redefining environmentalism. Check it out:

LAO video edited by Alex Gans and photographed by Thomas Macker. Photo courtesy of Zach Behrens.