Vol I. No. 2 June 2005

The San Gabriel River Advocate

The Newsletter of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter San Gabriel River Campaign

San Gabriel River Campaign Tours the Emerald Necklace

Campaign Leaders Put The Necklace on Display For Local Residents, Decision Makers, And Members Of The Press

By Johanna Zetterberg

This spring, leaders from the San Gabriel River Campaign hosted two bus tours of the Emerald Necklace, a 17-mile loop of existing and future park “gems” in the San Gabriel Valley. The goal of the first tour was to share the vision with influential community members such as City Councilpersons, reporters, and public agency staff who can help implement the vision.
The second tour focused on engaging members of nearby communities and giving them the tools they need to advocate for the parks. Both tours were funded by an educational grant from the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter’s conservation program.

Campaign Chair Jeff Yann and guests in Peck Park

In the cool breeze by the river at Whittier Narrows

“The tour was invaluable,” said Monterey Park City Councilmember Michael Eng. “I saw areas of potential I never would have known about. I urge others to support this very important project.”
The campaign’s current focus is to get cities surrounding the Emerald Necklace to sign an Accord, which would commit them to work cooperativley on securing grant funding to create govern parks. Eventually, the cities can form a Joint Powers Authority to implement and manage the Emerald Necklace. The City of Duarte signed the Emerald Necklace Accord, and other San Gabriel Valley Cities are considering signing.

View From the Chair By Jeff Yann, San Gabriel River Campaign Chair

In 2003, two concepts originated within the Angeles Chapter’s San Gabriel River Campaign. The first was to expand the Whittier Narrows study funded in 2002 to extend up the Rio Hondo to Peck Road Water Conservation Park north of El Monte. The second was creation of a position within the Sierra Club to provide outreach and staff support to the Campaign through creation of Amigos de los Ríos. Both of these ventures have begun paying huge environmental dividends for San Gabriel Valley Residents in recent months.
In performing the Peck Park/Rio Hondo Study, $86,000 in grant funding was solicited from Metropolitan Water District, Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, City of El Monte, Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, L. A. County Department of Public Works, and Friends of the Angeles Chapter Foundation.
As the evaluation proceeded during 2004, it became apparent that the opportunity was far larger than the initial park inventory envisioned when the project started. What emerged through work contracted out to Amigos de los Ríos, now operating as a fully independent nonprofit, was a 17-mile connected network of trails and parks encircling the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River.
In February, 2005, the City of El Monte organized a City Managers meeting to call attention to the Necklace vision. These meetings, now being held monthly, have been The Emerald Necklace facilitated by Amigos. Amigos and El Monte also worked together to organize an Emerald Necklace Gala on April 29, attended by 220 guests, including Congresswomen Linda Sanchez and Hilda Solis, and many other political leaders from cities, water boards and school districts in the area.
The monthly meetings have produced the Emerald Necklace Accord, which defines a commitment to work cooperatively to implement and expand the Necklace. On June 28, the City of Duarte became the first city to formally adopt the Accord. Cities expected to consider signing on in the next month are Irwindale, El Monte, Baldwin Park and South El Monte. From a few seeds germinated back in 2003, the concept to green the urban rivers is taking root.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER CAMPAIGN

Jeff Yann, Chair

(626) 968-4572

Rachel Myers, Sierra Club

(213) 387-4287 ext. 210

Nate Springer, Amigos de los Rios

(626) 580-2240

Fight Against Wal-Mart In Rosemead Continues
by Johanna Zetterberg

A proposal for a Wal Mart Supercenter in Inglewood was soundly defeated last year by a grassroots campaign. Now Wal-Mart wants to build a Supercenter in Rosemead, and a new grassroots battle has begun. The Sierra Club opposes the proposed Supercenter due to its siting in the Rio Hondo floodplain (where we’d like to see public parks) and because of the diesel pollution that would be emitted 24-hours a day by delivery trucks. The air pollution is espcially problematic because of the large population of children across the street from the site at an elementary school. The Sierra Club has been working with a local group of Rosemead residents called Save Our Community, who is also opposed to the Wal- Mart because of the traffic it will bring and the economic impacts it will have on small businesses in the community. Another critic of the project is the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, because Wal-Mart employees are not allowed to unionize. Rosemead residents have already recalled two pro-Wal-Mart City Council members last March, and replaced them with members who will truly represent the community’s wishes. Recall petitions for two more Rosemead City Council members have begun circulating. Three votes against Wal-Mart on the fivemember coucil is needed. The Angeles Chapter Political Committee has been active in supporting anti-Wal- Mart candidates. Save Our Community has also filed a lawsuit against the project’s faulty Environmental Impact Report.

New River Center A LEEDer in Sustainable Design
by Johanna Zetterberg

A new interpretive center is planned to replace the current LA County facility at the Whittier Narrows Nature Center in South El Monte. The new center, called the San Gabriel River Discovery Center, will focus on the history and future of the San Gabriel River and its environs. A main educational message will be the current efforts by public agencies and nonprofits to revitalize and restore the river system and its corridor. The building itself will be a major part of the exhibit program. It will use sustainable technologies and design principles such as alternative building materials, the use of daylighting to reduce energy use, and on-site water collection. The project team is using the US Green Building Council’s green building rating system, called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as a guide. The goal is to acheive the highest LEED rating of platinum. The Center is a joint project of the Rivers and Mountains Conservnacy, the Upper San Gabriel Municpal Valley Water District, and the LA County Dept. of Parks and Recreation. Signficant input has been provided by the Sierra Club, the LA County Dept. of Public Works, and a diverse group of other stakeholders.

San Gabriel River Campaign Goals

The San Gabriel River Campaign is active in the San Gabriel River
Watershed - along the San Gabriel River, Rio Hondo and their
tributaries. The Campaign seeks to:
• Create riverside greenbelts of public park space
• Restore the watershed’s natural functioning
• Promote the cultural heritage and historic signifi cance of the area
• Promote wise management and conservation of water resources
• Raise awareness in and solicit support from river communities

Briefs

Staff Change

Angeles Chapter staff member Johanna Zetterberg will be leaving the Sierra Club on July 1 to pursue graduate study at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Rachel Myers, who has been the Chapter’s staffperson in Orange County since 2002, will now be working in Los Angeles County also and taking over Johanna’s duties. See below for contact information.

Grant Awarded For Parks

The Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, a State conservancy covering the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers, awarded approximately $1.2 million in grants funding on June 20 for projects associated with the Emerald Necklace. Projects include native plant landscaping, educational signage, trail construction, and conceptual design for public park space.

TAKE ACTION TO RESTORE AND PROTECT
THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER!

The San Gabriel River Campaign needs activists to join the effort to restore the San Gabriel River

watershed. We are currently organizing to

stop a super Wal-Mart from being sited next to the Rio Hondo in Rosemead
protect the Montebello Hills from development
stop a golf course from being sited in the bed of the San Gabriel River in Pico Rivera
preserve the Los Cerritos Wetlands
implement the Emerald Necklace Vision…

among other projects. We need your help! If you would
like to learn more or have skills and time to contribute, please contact Rachel Myers at (213) 387-
4287 ext. 210 or email Thank you!