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The Newsletter of the Conservation Committee of the Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. The Conservation Committees provide forums for Club members to discuss impending conservation issues and to coordinate efforts of conservation subcommittees with groups and sections. They meet monthly every third Tuesday (Orange County) and third Wednesday (Angeles Chapter). Contact the Conservation Committee Chairs by the end of the previous month for a place on the agenda. Deadline for newsletter articles is 10 days before the first meeting. Email items or articles to Robin Ives, Editor, at ivesico@earthlink.net
Quote of the Month |
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OKd for A state board allocates $275 million to preserve
the sites for the public. Both have been the focus of development
battles lasting many years. On October 1, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Wildlife Conservation Board voted to spend $275 million to purchase the Ballona Wetlands in west Los Angeles and the Ahmanson Ranch in eastern Ranch. This concludes major campaigns to save these two environmentally sensitive tracts in a major victory. The purchase will save 3,400 acres of current and former wetlands at Ballona, all of which can be restored as wildlife habitat. The $275 million will be paid for from park and habitat bonds approved by California voters, almost depleting funds for these purposes. Some say that the State paid too much money for these purchases and too little will be left for other important acquisitions. Others note that prices for these properties have been increasing steadily, and that any delay in the purchases would only have pushed the prices for them even higher — if they were still available.
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Index — October 2003
Dana Point Headlands Coastal Commission Hearing Environmental Rules Force Innovation Environmental Resolutions (9/28/03) Malibu Water Treatment Plant—Yes or No? Elsmere Canyon Landfill Proposal Vision Mapping Committee for Angeles Chapter Lincoln Park's Las Menorias Placement Opposed Wilderness Act's 40th Anniversary
Proposed Resolution: Ballona Wetlands
Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee Agenda
Angeles Chapter Conservation Mgmt Committee
Orange County Conservation Committee Agenda |
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Dana Point Headlands Coastal Commission Hearing
THURS, OCT 9, 9:00 am — California Coastal Commission Hearing on Dana Point Headlands, City of Dana Point LCP Amendment DPT-2-02, at Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA. The CCC staff report is available at http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html . To sign up to attend the hearing, or to ride on the Task Force chartered bus from south Orange County, contact Celia Kutcher at dphc@cox.net or call (949)496-9689. Our bus to the Coastal Commission hearing on the Dana Point Headlands will leave from Strands Beach Parking lot, at the ocean-ward end of Selva Rd. in Dana Point, at 7:30 AM on Oct. 9. The Headlands is the 9th on the agenda, but items 1-8 should go quickly. The Headlands hearing may take the rest of the day. Visit the Great Coastal Places Campaign website at: www.sierraclub.org/ca/coasts/
Directive Sets National Policy to Halt Future Wilderness Consideration
Washington DC, Sept 30, 2003. The Bush administration today issued national policy guidance preventing the Bureau of Land Management from inventorying or protecting wilderness-quality lands—a move that formalizes a backroom court settlement between the administration and Utah Governor Mike Leavitt. The new directive by the Department of the Interior for its land managers reverses decades of wilderness policy and puts the interests of drilling, mining, logging and road construction ahead of the public interest. This directive goes beyond what even Interior Secretary James Watt proposed to do during the Reagan administration, and is the latest of a number of steps the Bush Administration has taken to weaken protection for America's wilderness areas.
"First the Bush administration removed the tools from the toolbox which provides federal land managers with the ability to manage our public lands for multiple uses. Now it has thrown the toolbox into the trash," said Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness. "Despite overwhelming public support for protecting our nation's special wild lands, this administration refuses to include wilderness in its vocabulary and to keep wilderness recommendations on the table as a tool for federal agencies. Our children and theirs will be the ultimate losers in this sellout of America's wild heritage to corporate interests."
In April, the Department of Interior "settled" a lawsuit with the state of Utah that impacted tens of millions of acres across the West. The backroom deal rescinded interim protections for millions of acres of wilderness-quality lands and reversed the department's long-standing policy to inventory and recommend lands for wilderness designation. Land managers, tasked with planning the use of public land by the BLM, have been without formal guidance on how to implement the profound policy changes resulting from this backdoor deal. In addition, many local BLM staff first learned of the administration's actions through media reports. As part of the settlement, the Bush administration threw out the Wilderness Inventory Handbook, which guided land managers in fairly inventorying wilderness-quality lands and protecting them during BLM land use planning as required by the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA).
"This administration has gone to great lengths to create new policies that will all but ensure that even wilderness-quality lands never receive formal protection," said The Wilderness Society's David Alberswerth. "Even though this action is consistent with the Administration's anti-conservation policies, it's hard not to be shocked by the gyrations they're going through to open up our last wild lands."
The new directive, in the form of an instruction memorandum, specifically prevents land managers from inventorying and recommending BLM land for wilderness study and designation. The 80,000-acre Sand Tank Mountains in Arizona, recently acquired from the Department of Defense, and the spectacular 38,000-acre Roan Plateau in Colorado (transferred to BLM in 1997) are among the first casualties of this policy change and now officially lose any opportunity for wilderness consideration and protection. BLM's abandonment of protection for wilderness lands outside the Reagan-era wilderness reviews revokes a policy followed by every president since Jimmy Carter.
"Even James Watt understood that BLM has broad authority to protect wilderness lands, and used that authority to protect such lands," said Ted Zukoski, an attorney at Earthjustice, which is challenging the unlawful Utah-DOI settlement. "The extreme, radical position taken by this administration rolls back more than a quarter-century of settled law and policy."
For nearly three decades, on-the-ground BLM management experts considered the values of wilderness on the same level as other possible land uses—including development—and provided the American public an opportunity to have a voice in the use decision.
The guidelines suggest that BLM will have the authority to protect "scenic values," "unfragmented habitat," and restrict ORV use, but the steps the agency must go through essentially preclude any true protection of wilderness-quality lands as wilderness study areas.
"The Bush administration has effectively put a freeze on important protections for wilderness nationwide," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director. "There is a better way. Americans support continued protection for remaining swaths of wilderness, not a top-down directive that biases public lands decisions in favor of extractive industries."
The Bush Administration often touts the 22 million acres of wilderness areas and wilderness study areas (WSAs) on its lands as evidence that no more protection of these areas is needed. But that 22 million acres is less than 10 percent of all public lands managed by BLM. In addition, the Interior Department has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that permits citizens to hold the Department accountable when it fails to protect wilderness character.
The Administration also touts alternate designations such as "Areas of Critical Environmental Concern" or ACECs, as suitable replacements for wilderness. But these areas are often open to destructive uses such as oil and gas drilling, logging or mining. For example, one-third of all ACECs in Colorado have already been leased for drilling.
"What Do I Know- I'm Just a Dumb Deputy?"
LA Sheriff's Deputy Gail Sumpter, admitting ignorance after responding, along with half a dozen other LAPD and private security guards on ATV motor vehicles, to the fact that 64-year old Coastal Commissioner and noted public beach access advocate Sara Wan had decided to sit down on Broad Beach. Broad Beach, home of celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Danny DeVito, Goldie Hawn, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Sinatra, among others, typifies anti-public access sentiment in Malibu, California. Broad Beach, where private security guards literally harass members of the public off the beach with bogus claims of private property. Wan, who knows the law, casually explained to the LAPD that the homeowners had long ago dedicated access to the public, notwithstanding their seemingly effortless ability to dictate law enforcement response in Los Angeles. For pictures and the entire incredible story go to http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beach25aug25,1,6678864.story.
Sacramento - Environmental, community, and medical groups celebrated the passage on September 10 of SB 700 out of the California State Assembly—legislation that will end the statewide exemption from clean air rules that large agricultural operations have enjoyed for 60 years. The bill then went to the State Senate for reconciliation before going to Governor Gray Davis, who signed it.
Authored by State Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, SB 700 faced fierce opposition from California's powerful agricultural lobby. The bill was supported by environmental, community, and medical organizations, as well as thousands of residents of California's San Joaquin Valley, one of the most polluted air basins in the country.
Agricultural sources of air pollution will be subject to air pollution controls and permit rules. The bill establishes a timeline to develop those regulations and creates a new state operating permit for large dairies and feedlots. Despite a desperate fight waged by Big Ag in the courts and in the back-rooms of the Assembly, a grassroots effort to bring clean air to the Valley prevailed today," said Brent Newell, an attorney at the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment who represented Valley groups in the litigation and legislative efforts to end the exemption.
Responding to a Public Health Crisis
Agricultural sources are responsible for more than 25 percent of the air pollution in the Central Valley, yet they enjoyed a special exemption under State law that allowed them to avoid the air permit requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.
"Now Big Ag must play by the same rules as every other sector and be treated like any other industry that pollutes our common air. It's about time," said Kevin Hall, a Fresno-based clean air activist with Sierra Club. "This bill is a huge step in the right direction and Senator Dean Florez and Senator Byron Sher deserve credit for their courageous leadership and navigation of this important bill through the Assembly."
Ray Leon of Latino Issues Forum in Fresno, "Each year, the State of California spends $350 million on asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Latinos are especially hard hit by respiratory illness in the Central Valley and often lack medical insurance or access to health care providers." Children in the Central Valley have suffered the consequences of uncontrolled air pollution because an entire industry has been politically powerful enough to escape regulation for so long. But recent science connecting ground-level ozone (smog) with asthma has made this an issue that could no longer be ignored. Studies show that elevated ozone levels not only exacerbate, but can actually cause asthma in otherwise healthy children who are active outdoors.
"One in six children in Fresno has asthma, a rate triple the national average," said Dr. David Pepper, an asthma expert and member of Medical Advocates for Healthy Air. "Asthma is now the number one cause of childhood hospitalizations in California. We hope these new regulations will reduce the number of children rushed to emergency rooms each summer in the Central Valley gasping for air."
Litigation Brought Air Pollution and Lax Enforcement into Spotlight
In May 2002, the US Environmental Protection Agency, responding to three lawsuits brought by a coalition of community, health, and environmental groups, demanded that California end the air pollution exemption for the politically powerful agricultural industry. In settling the lawsuits, the EPA deemed part of California's air program "deficient" under the federal Clean Air Act. That decision included a threat to cut off billions in federal highway funds if the exemption was not rescinded. After the settlement, the California Farm Bureau Federation countered by filing three consecutive lawsuits against the EPA to preserve the agricultural exemption. The coalition intervened in the lawsuits on behalf of the EPA and successfully defeated the Farm Bureau.
"The Farm Bureau and its allies refused to concede that clean air required every industry's sacrifice," said Newell who represents the Association of Irritated Residents and Communities for Land, Air & Water. "We had to go to court again and again to end the exemption."
State Senator Dean Florez jumped into the fray this year with seven clean air bills that covered a variety of pollution sources. The keystone piece of legislation, SB 700, ended the agriculture exemption. "We didn't get everything we wanted in this bill; the agricultural industry fought it tooth and nail, which is why the Central Valley has some of the dirtiest air in the country " said Anne Harper of Earthjustice who represented the Sierra Club, NRDC, and Medical Advocates for Healthy Air in one of the original lawsuits. "But we will keep pushing in the courts and in Sacramento until the federal Clean Air Act is fully enforced in California." "The State is going to start taking real action, but much still needs to be done," said Carolina Simunovic of Fresno Metro Ministry. "We will continue to bring busloads of asthmatic residents from the Central Valley to Sacramento until their voices are fully heard by lawmakers and we have cleaner air to breathe."
Web Site Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Wilderness Act
Campaign for American Wilderness (CAW) has just put into operation a web site designed to help everyone celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act: www.wildernessforever.org. This is a collaborative venture on the part of CAW, The Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Republicans for Environmental Protection, state groups, and the Sierra Club. Thanks especially to our media team’s Annie Strickler for her contributions in this. She will continue to help in strategizing the messaging of the 40th Anniversary with our partners.
The web site already has some great resources available to help existing Club campaigns tie into the celebration. I particularly like the theme of tying places to faces. For example there is a series on Wilderness heroes, and you can make nominations at http://www.wildernessforever.org/heroes/current_frame.html. Let’s get some Sierra Club folks up there!!
The Calendar is not done yet, but I can tell you that a Wilderness Stewardship Summit is scheduled for Oct. 4-7, 2004 in Denver. This event will focus on management of existing Wilderness areas, with agency personnel, recreational user groups, and advocacy folks attending. This will be a great opportunity to discuss the challenges facing stewardship of our wild places. Early estimates are 1000 attending, and Jimmy Carter will be invited to be the key note speaker. The planning is being done by committees. Susan LeFever, Rocky Mountain Chapter Director, will be in the thick of things by way of her position on the Publicity Committee. Some additional information about this will be posted at the National Wilderness Preservation System web site: http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=fortyYears. The Wild Planet Strategy Team, and its Recreation Issues Committee, will focus its attention here.
Also planned is a Wilderness Advocacy Week in DC, though the date is not yet set. The Wildlands Campaign Committee will most likely be engaged on this one. Jessica Hodge knows what’s coming for her in this regard. This would be a great time for our Wilderness campaigners to hit the halls of Congress. Besides promoting new Wilderness, they can point out what has been achieved in the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) in the last 40 years and the negative impacts of the Bush administration over the last 40 months (Bill Arthur’s idea).
Vicky Hoover has taken the ball in regards to coordinating the 40th with our National Outings program. For example, they may decide to take the 40th as a theme for 2004 trips, and cover the anniversary in their Jan outings issue of Sierra. Vicky also pointed out that there were a lot of state Wilderness bills passed 20 years ago, and some like the California Desert Protection Act that will be celebrating 10 years. At the NWPS web site there is a search engine (http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/advsearch.cfm) where all you have to do is identify the state and the date of designation and you will see a complete list of all Wilderness areas that fit the criteria.
The Oregon Chapter has already decided to have the 40th Anniversary as its theme for the 2005 annual party. Perhaps others Chapters will consider doing the same.
Let’s Celebrate
John Monsen—New Forest Organizer
Monday, September 15, 2003—I am very pleased to announce the hiring of John Monsen as Conservation Organizer for the Club's new 4 forests campaign in Central and Southern California. John began work today. John brings a unique combination of volunteer experience, a professional background in marketing and government relations, and a passion for protecting our public lands. While the CNRCC and the Angeles Chapter Forest Committee have lost an able chair, the Sierra Club has gained an outstanding staff person. The new forest campaign will boost Sierra Club efforts to win strong environmental protections in the joint planning process currently underway for the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. John will be working with regional and chapter volunteers to mobilize existing and new advocates for our forests. The first thing John will tackle is a better name for the campaign! John will work out of the Los Angeles field office, though I expect he will be in the field far more than he is in the office. If you'd like to contact John and congratulate him, please send him an email at ohn.monsen@sierraclub.org.
Environmental Rules Force Innovation
A Carnegie Mellon Study, dated September 17, shows that government regulation appears to be a greater stimulus to inventive activity than government-sponsored research support alone, and that the anticipation of regulation also spurs inventive activity. Their report says that "Regulatory stringency focuses this activity along particular technical pathways and is a key factor in creating markets for environmental technologies. We also find that with greater technology adoption, both new and existing systems experience notable efficiency improvements and capital cost reductions."
Environmental Resolutions Passed by Angeles ExComm (9/28/03)
San Gabriel River Campaign Grant Request
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter recommends that the Chapter approve a grant request by the San Gabriel River Campaign to TLUC for San Gabriel River Campaign outreach in the City of El Monte subject to all applicable restrictions on Sierra Club.
Recommendation of Lawsuit against the City of Malibu
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club recommends that the Sierra Club enter into CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) litigation filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against the City of Malibu for illegally certifying an inadequate EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for a development agreement with the Malibu Bay Company.
Request for Statement of the Sierra Club’s Position on a Water Treatment Plant in Malibu
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club recommends that the West LA Group prepare a statement of the Sierra Club’s position in favor of or in opposition to a proposed water treatment plant in Malibu, and the reasons for that position. The WLA Group should prepare a campaign planning matrix for a campaign to implement that position. It should report on its proposed position and the campaign planning matrix at the next meeting of the Conservation Committee.
Request for Removal of Elsmere Canyon Landfill Proposal from the Los Angeles County Siting Element
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club requests that LA County remove the current Elsmere Canyon Landfill proposal from the Los Angeles County Siting element.
Rex Frankel to Chair the Angeles Chapter’s Vision Mapping Committee
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club appoints Rex Frankel as the Chair of the Angeles Chapter’s Vision Mapping Committee (name subject to change). Some Chapter Conservation Staff time will be allocated to this project.
The Sierra Club Opposes the Placement of Las Memorias into Lincoln Park
The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club opposes the placement of Las Memorias into the City of Los Angeles’ historic Lincoln Park. The Sierra Club advocates open space. The Sierra Club continues to oppose Las Memorias' poor use of open space in a park-poor section of a park-poor city.
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline:
(202) 675-2394
Sierra Club National: (415) 977-5500
Sierra Club Sacramento Legislative Office: (916) 557-1100; fax
(916) 227-9669
Sierra Club World Wide Web:
http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website:
http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111
White House Fax Line (202) 456-2461
President George W Bush
president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Dick Cheney:
vice-president@whitehouse.gov
White House Address:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave,
Washington, DC 20500
US Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
To contact your senators:
Senate Office Bldg, Washington DC 20510 http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative: House Office Bldg, Washington DC 20515 http://www.house.gov/writerep
California Capitol Switchboard: (916) 322-9900
The Newsletter (without upcoming resolutions) is available on the Chapter website at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/home.html
The Conservation Committee Newsletter, now electronic, is sent automatically and free electronically to all activists who hold any of the following positions in the Angeles Chapter or its entities (and on email):
Executive Committee Member
Entity Chair
Entity Conservation Chair
Conservation Subcommittee Chair
Newsletter Editor
Political Chair
Many activists throughout the Chapter and state receive it by email free, either by request or by position.
Distribution is approximately 350 by email, and 40 by hard copy.
If we do not have your email address - please let us know.
If you wish, it will be tagged "private" and not printed or given out.
If you no longer hold the Club office with the automatic pull and wish to continue to receive it, email ivesico@earthlink.net.
Paper postal copy is available (for a fee) for those who are technically challenged or simply don’t want to be bothered. To receive The Newsletter by first class mail, send a donation of $20/year to (almost) cover printing/mailing costs (payable Angeles Chapter) to Conservation Newsletter, 112 Harvard Ave PMB 297, Claremont CA 91711.
AOL Subscribers Please Note
Some aol.com subscribers have reported difficulty receiving the full text of the Conservation Newsletter. The following message was distributed by the Sierra Club list serves: "Due to recent spam filter changes by AOL, "some" (by no means all) messages to "some" (again "not all") AOL subscribers were not delivered by AOL. Lists with only a few dozens subscribers were mostly unaffected." National is in the process of reconfiguring their systems and lists in a way that they hope will prevent AOL from incorrectly considering our messages to be spam. The best way to determine if you have not received messages is to have a look at the "web archives" of your list at : http://lists.sierraclub.org/archives/index.html. Complaints should be addressed to aol.com.
National's GoldBook provides information to chapters and groups on
• the differences between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) funds,
• how to utilize and access charitable 501(c)(3) funds,
• how to get a project approved,
• fundraising
• plus much, much, more material on the Sierra Club.
It is now available at the Clubhouse website. Go to http://www.clubhouse.sierraclub.org; follow the instructions for obtaining the password. The GoldBook can be found by clicking on A - Z List of Materials box, then on "G" under A-Z List of Documents, then on GoldBook, Educational Project Guidelines.
California/Nevada Regional Directory (RedBook03) is now available free in electronic form (html), with extensive linking of information. The paper edition ($15 each) is available on special order. The electronic version is updated continuously, and will be re-distributed on demand. Both hard and electronic copy are available only from Lori Ives. Contact her for details at ivesico@earthlink.net.
Sierra Club California's GreenBook , the handbook of bylaws and standing rules, is available (in Word). Contact Lori for this also.
Weeknights: You may park free inside the building after 5:30 pm. Be prepared to show your membership card or one of our parking passes, available at the front desk in the Chapter office. Take a ticket when you enter through the gate; present it at the parking office near the elevators, and sign it. The ticket machine at the front gate may be turned off after 6 pm. If so, buzz the attendant and say you are going to a Sierra Club meeting. There is no entry after 8 pm.
Visitor parking on Saturday is limited to 8 am to 4 pm inside the building with attendant on duty. Arrangement for Sunday parking inside for Sierra Club meetings is pending at press time. Linda Hoyer
There are four important discussion lists for Angeles environmental activists:
Angeles Chapter Cons Listserve angeles-conservation@lists.sierraclub.org
Angeles-Alerts Listserve angeles-alerts@lists.sierraclub.org
California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists@lists.sierraclub.org (moderated list for announcements)
California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists-forum@lists.sierraclub.org (unmoderated discussion list)
Subscribe to California Activists: calif-activists-request@lists.sierraclub.org
Subscribe to California Activists Forum: calif-activists-forum-request@lists.sierraclub.org
For both lists, send
your name
email address
Sierra Club membership number
your position in Club (how are you active?)
Subscription is processed by one of the list owners, usually the same day.
Subscribe to Angeles-Alerts:
email listserv@lists.sierraclub.org with the message “subscribe angeles-conservation” or “subscribe calif-activists”
or "subscribe angeles-alerts" Note: it's "listserv," not "listserve."
To leave a list, send an e-mail to listserv@lists.sierraclub.org In the text of your message (not the subject line), write: “signoff calif-activists” or “signoff angeles-conservation” or "signoff angeles-alerts"
The Angeles Chapter’s website is www.angeles.sierraclub.org
Angeles Chapter Conservation Management Committee
Angeles Chapter Grants Committee
Gordon LaBedz/Chair 562-494-6368 GlaBedzMD@aol.com
Bonnie Sharpe/Vice Chair/Grants
Chair, Jay Matchett/Treasurer,
Jeff Yann/Secretary, Robin Ives/Newsletter
Judy Anderson, John Monsen, Lynne Plambeck, Rudy Vietmeier
Lori Ives, Publisher/Webmaster/Circulation (Non-voting)
Johanna Zetterberg and Rachel Myers, Conservation Coordinators (Non-voting)
Motions should be submitted in advance, together with objective background material and supporting and opposing arguments, both to the Committee Chair and Newsletter Editor, for distribution with the agenda. Other motions will be postponed for action at a later meeting unless the motion is submitted in writing and unless the Committee votes an exception to ordinary procedure. Motions needing further action by the Angeles Chapter ExComm or some higher level of the Sierra Club should start out: “The Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee recommends that the Sierra Club...”
Agenda — October 15, 2003 — 7:30 pm
3435 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 320, Los Angeles CA 90010-1904
To find out more about voting requirements and representatives, consult the Angeles Chapter website Conservation Committee
7:30 Introductions/Announcements
7:40 Review of Agenda
7:45 Staff Reports
8:00 Free Trade or Fair Trade? The environmental consequences of the so-called free trade movement
(Dan Seligman, Washington DC Sierra Club staff)
8:45 Approval of Conservation Grants
9:30 Airport/Marina Resolution.
10:00 West LA Malibu Campaign Plan
10:15 Adjourn
Next meeting is November 19
Orange County Conservation Committee
Gail Prothero, Chair 949-347-1255, Vice Chair: Bob Siebert; Secretary: Chuck Buck;
Rachel Myers, Conservation Coordinator (*non voting)
Location: Inn at the Park in Irvine
From the north, come
down 405 to 73 and off at University. Turn left and pass Campus and turn
right on Harvard. Follow Harvard as it bends; look for Marquette. The Inn
is at 10 Marquette, on the corner of Harvard and Marquette
behind a steel fence.
From the south, get off 405 at Culver and go left. Follow Culver past
Michelson and University and turn right on Harvard.
Take Harvard to Marquette. It's on your right.
Agenda — October 21 , 2003
7:00 Welcome,
Introductions, Approval of Agenda
7:10 Approval of Minutes for September 16, 2003.
7:20 Announcements/Old Business
Kudos! to Angela Lindstrom for an
excellent hike with State Senator Joe Dunn to the West Coyote Hills. Check out
this website for a great example of the good PR and political recognition that
can result from taking elected officials on a hike of an area. Please take
special note of the "Vision Board". The Senator spent considerable time looking
at our "environmental" vision!
http://achenlind.home.att.net/SenatorDunnHike09262003.html
7:25 Roundtable discussion
Orange County Open Space Campaign, Orange County Edition Southern Sierran, Orange County Political Committee report, discussion of South Orange County Watersheds (including San Juan Creek and Aliso Creek watersheds).
7:55 OCCC Treasurer Update (Jay Matchett)
8:00 Save Coyote Hills (Angela Lindstrom)
8:10 Dana Point Headlands (Celia Kutcher)
8:20 OC Native American Sacred Sites TF (Rebecca Robles)
8:30 Friends of the Foothills (Bill Holmes or Brittany McKee)
8:40 SAMTF (Paul Carlton or Jay Matchett)
8:50 Saddleback Canyons TF (Rich Gomez)
9:00 Staff Report
9:10 Banning Ranch Park & Preserve TF (Task Force Rep)
9:20 Orange Hills Task Force (Task Force Rep)
9:30 Adjourn
Next OCCC Meeting is Tuesday, November 18.
Conservation Committees Calendar
| Send correction or additions about your calendar dates to the editor, preferably by email: ivesico@earthlink.net | |
| OCTOBER 2003 | |
| Thu Oct 9, 9 am | California Coastal Commission Hearing on Dana Point Headlands, City of Dana Point LCP Amendment DPT-2-02. Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave, Coronado CA The CCC staff report is available at http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html. To sign up to attend the hearing or to ride on the Task Force chartered bus from south Orange County, contact Celia Kutcher at dphc@cox.net. |
| Fri Oct 10, 8:00am |
Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson will attend The Capistrano Dispatch coffee chat to answer residents' questions about county government and his run for state Assembly. The informal chat, which will also be attended by SJC Mayor John Gelff, will be at Metro Java Cafe, 32211 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano (north of Vons, south of Goodyear Tire). All are welcome. |
| Sat Oct 11, 9:30 am | Friends of the Foothills Planning Meeting (949) 361-7534 |
| Sun Oct 12, 2:45 pm | Harbor Vision Task Force, 2nd Sun, San Pedro Public Library, 9th and Gaff |
| Mon Oct 13 | OC Native American Sacred Sites TF 2nd Mon, Rebecca Robles (949) 369-0361 |
| Mon Oct 13, 7:15 pm | Orange Hills TF, 2nd Mon, 217 E Chapman Ave, Orange, Chris (714) 606-0453, ckoontz@usc.edu) |
| Mon Oct 13, 7:30 pm | Transportation Subcommittee, 2nd Mon, Chapter Office |
| Mon Oct 13, 7:30 pm | Santa Monica Mountains TF, 2nd Mon, Chair Mary Ann Webster (310) 559-3126 |
| MON, OCT 13 6:30
Dinner/socializing |
Orange County Sierra Singles Monthly Meeting & Angeles Chapter ExComm Candidate Forum. Meet 6:30 pm for socializing, live music, dinner; program 7:15 pm (Ed Lulofs 14-day 60-mile bushwhack loop in the Yukon) followed by Chapter Executive Committee Candidate Forum at 8:30 pm. Come and meet the eight candidates for five open at-large seats on the ExComm. Nominees are Donna Specht, Virgil Shields, Juanita Dellomes, Gary Embrey, Cecilia Fidora, Carol Mintzer, Susana Reyes, John Ulloth. $4 for dinner, social and program. Free if you bring dinner item to share for 8 hearty eaters or for program only. Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park, Costa Mesa (55 Fwy S, R on 19th, cross Harbor Blvd., L on Park Ave, R into parking lot next to library.) Contact Donna Specht at donnaspecht@juno.com |
| Wed Oct 15, 7:00 pm | Friends of the Foothills Steering Committee (949) 361-7534 |
| Wed Oct 15, 7:15 pm | Santa Ana River Estuary and Bluffs Task Force, 3rd Wed, Terry (949) 548-5636 |
| Wed Oct 15, 7:30 pm |
Chapter Conservation Committee, 3rd Wed, Chapter Office Gordon LaBedz, GLaBedzMD@aol.com . |
| Sat Oct 18 | FOF/National EPEC Campaign Door-to-Door Outreach Day. Contact Contact Brittany McKee at (949) 361-7534 to volunteer. |
| Mon Oct 20, 7:00 pm | The City of Fullerton is sponsoring a second community meeting to discuss the Coyote Hills EIR Process at Sunny Hills High School at 1801 Warburton Way, Fullerton. It is *** critical *** that we pack the meeting hall to demonstrate our opposition to the destruction of West Coyote Hills to the Fullerton City Council; they need to say NO to Chevron-Pacific Coast Homes. Contact Angela Lindstrom, 714-931-9584. |
| Mon Oct 20, 7 pm | Dr Wayne Spencer, Conservation Biology Institute, will be the keynote speaker at an FOF sponsored community briefing discussing the Habitat and Biology of Rancho Mission Viejo and the biological impacts of the tollroad. San Clemente Community Center Auditorium, corner of Del Mar and Seville, San Clemente. Contact Brittany McKee (949)361-7534. |
| Tue Oct 21, 7 pm | Orange County Conservation Committee, Inn at the Park, Irvine. Gail Prothero, gprothero@cox.net . |
| Tue Oct 21, 7 pm | Laguna Beach City Council hearing to set conditions on Driftwoods Estates project/Hobo Aliso Ridge, which was approved by the council Sept 23rd on a 4 to 1 vote. This project is not a done deal until approved by the Coastal Commission. The City Council does not have the final say on this Area of Deferred Certification (white hole). Contact Penny Elia (949)499-4499 or email at trademarkmg@juno.com . |
| Wed Oct 22, 7:00 pm | Friends of the Foothills Steering Committee (949) 361-7534 |
| Thu Oct 23. 6:30 pm | CLCV Fundraiser aboard the Angela Louise in Newport Harbor, 2901 W. Coast Hwy. $50. Contact Penny Elia (949)499-4499 or email trademarkgm@juno.com for an electronic flyer. |
| Fri-Sun, Oct 24-26 | Sierra Club National Political Training Program, Chevy Chase, Maryland. This is a great training opportunity for volunteer leaders looking to boost their political campaign skills. Call Alex Mintzer (714) 288-2829 or Aimee Tavares at (202) 675-7902 for info. |
| Sun Oct 26 , 1:00 pm | Chapter ExComm, Chapter Office. Contact Virgil Shields, virgil.shields@angeles.sierraclub.org |
| Wed Oct 29, 7 pm | Friends of the Foothills Steering Committee Meeting, home of Paul Carlton, 3280 Paseo Gallita, San Clemente. Contact Paul Carlton (949) 661-9505. |
| Thu Oct 30, 7:00 pm Note new date & location! (was 10/23) |
Orange County Open Space Campaign Meeting. (Coordinated media/video fly-over/powerpoint/Orange County Edition of Southern Sierran, etc.) Home of Alex Mintzer, 465 Christine, Orange. Contact Jay Matchett sierra_jay@juno.com or Rachel Myers: rachel.myers@sierraclub.org. Directions to Alex Mintzer's: I-5, 91, or 22 freeway to 55 (Costa Mesa) freeway, Exit Chapman East and go about 2 miles towards the hills, Turn left at Rancho Santiago (traffic light) and go 1/2 mile to stop sign, Turn right on Walnut (Sports field on corner), Right again on Christine. |
| NOVEMBER 2003 | |
| Sat Nov 1, 9:30 am-Noon | FOF Quarterly Planning Meeting, San Clemente. Contact Brittany McKee (949) 361-7534. |
| Sun Nov 2 | Deadline for articles/calendar in the December Southern Sierran. We need articles about our OC conservation efforts. Write up what you're doing, attach a digital photo, and e-mail to Dominique at |
| Mon Nov 3, 6:30 pm | OCSS Newcomer/Member Information Meeting. Come and meet the leaders of OCSS, Orange County Group, Sierra Sage, Sierra Singles and many other Sierra Club representatives. Learn about the Sierra Club and the many activities that will change your life. Table displays, exhibits, refreshments. Join Sierra Club @ $25 Special Introductory rate, and free gift! Meet 6:30 pm Costa Mesa Community Center, 1845 Park Ave, Costa Mesa (55 Fwy S, R on 19th, cross Harbor Blvd., L on Park Ave, R into parking lot next to library.) Contact Ana Juarez for tabling reservation at ajuchihua@adelphia.net |
| Mon Nov 3, 7:00 pm | Saddleback Canyons Task Force/SCC meeting at the Silverado Community Center. Contact Rich Gomez (949) 882-0071 pager |
| Mon Nov 3, 7:30 pm | Conservation Committee Management Meeting, Chapter Office (date may change, call chair) |
| Thu Nov 6, 7:10 pm | OC Political Com, 1st Thu, Unitarian-Universalist
Church, 25801 Obrero, Mission Viejo, Alex Mintzer (714) 288-2829 |
| Sat Nov 8, 9:30 pm | Friends of the Foothills Planning Meeting (949) 361-7534 |
| Sun Nov 9, 2.45 pm | Harbor Vision Task Force, 2nd Sun, San Pedro Public Library, 9th and Gaff |
| Mon Nov 10, 7:30 pm | Santa Monica Mountains TF, 2nd Mon, Chair Mary Ann Webster (310) 559-3126 |
| Mon Nov 10 | OC Native American Sacred Sites TF 2nd Mon (Feb, May, Aug, Nov) Rebecca Robles (949) 369-0361 |
| Mon Nov 10. 7:15 pm | Orange Hills TF, 2nd Mon, 217 E Chapman Ave, Orange, Chris (714) 606-0453, ckoontz@usc.edu |
| Mon Nov 10, 7:30 pm | Transportation Subcommittee, 2nd Mon, Chapter Office |
| Thu Nov 13, 5 pm | Deadline for comments on the draft environmental impact report on the West Coyote Hills Specific Plan. We can mail CD's or hardcopies of the DEIR to anyone who can review and submit comments. It will also be posted on the city's website: www.ci.fullerton.ca.us. If you have any strategies/approaches to the DEIR comment process, please contact Angela Lindstrom at angela.lindstrom@att.net, (714) 931-9584. |
| Tues Nov 18, 7:00 pm | Orange County Conservation Committee, 3rd Tue, Inn at the Park, Irvine. Gail Prothero, gprothero@cox.net . |
| Wed Nov 19, 7:30 pm | Chapter Conservation Committee, 3rd Wed, Chapter Office, Gordon LaBedz, GLaBedzMD@aol.com . |
| Wed Nov 19, 7:15 pm | Santa Ana River Estuary and Bluffs Task Force, 3rd Wed, Terry (949) 548-5636 |
| Sun Nov 23, 1:00 pm | Chapter ExComm, Chapter Office |
| DECEMBER 2003 | |
| Mon Dec 1, 7:30 pm | Conservation Committee Management Meeting, Chapter Office (date may change, call chair) |
| Sat Dec 13
9:15 am to 3 pm |
Combined Forest Task Force and Southern California Forests Committee. Chapter Office |
| Sun Dec 14, 2:45 pm | Harbor Vision Task Force, 2nd Sun, San Pedro Public Library, 9th and Gaff |
| Tues Dec 16, 7:00 pm | Orange County Conservation Committee, 3rd Tue, Gail Prothero, gprothero@cox.net |
| Wed Dec 17, 7:30 pm | Chapter Conservation Committee, 3rd Wed, Gordon LaBedz, GLaBedzMD@aol.com |
| Wed Dec 17, 7:15 pm | Santa Ana River Estuary and Bluffs Task Force, 3rd Wed, Terry (949) 548-5636 |
| Wed Dec 17, 7:00 pm | Friends of the Foothills Steering Committee (949) 361-7534 |