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Foggy View

January 2012

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Online Contents: Activities Calendar | Weekly Activities | Monthly Activities | Group Meetings

IN THIS ISSUE...

From The Editor
As anticipated in January 2011, the Foggy View has now transitioned to a digital newsletter. It will continue to be published bi-monthly and will be available at the PV-SB website: http://angeles.sierraclub.org/pvsb/foggy-view.asp.

It will no longer be mailed with the Southern Sierran. If you'd like to receive email notification when the Foggy View has been published to the website, access this link to the listserv http://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A0=ANGELES-PVSB-FV-NEWS choose "join," then follow instructions.


Black Abalone Protection off the Palos Verdes Peninsula
The federal government has designated an area off the Palos Verdes Peninsula (as well as areas around the Channel Islands and areas along the mid and northern California coasts) as a protected habitat for black abalone.

In January 2009, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined that black abalone was in danger of extinction and the intertidal mollusk received protection as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. By then the species had declined by as much as 99% in most of its range from California's northern border to southern Baja California. Harvesting of black abalone peaked in the mid 1970's but by the mid 1990's had essentially dropped to zero, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fishing of black abalone is now banned in California--commercial fishing (along with disease, global warming and ocean acidification) being the primary cause of the species depletion.

While black abalone once was abundant in tide pools of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, it has all but disappeared. The habitat designation, which went into effect in November, means that projects that go before federal agencies or receive federal funding will be reviewed to make sure they do not threaten the black abalone habitat.


White Pt. Nature Preserve at Risk?
On November 20, a landslide took out a portion of Paseo del Mar, the road that runs adjacent to the White Point Nature Preserve in coastal San Pedro. Although the area has a history of slide activity, a geotechnical firm has begun soil testing to determine the cause of the landslide. Shortly after what appeared to be a sinkhole developed in the area, the Department of Water and Power began to move power lines and poles into the Preserve from their previous location along the roadway. Questions have arisen as to how DWP could install the poles and lines through the middle of a nature preserve and why the poles couldn't have been placed along the eastern border of the Preserve, instead. White Point Nature Preserve is owned by the City of Los Angeles and, although it is managed by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, it is not protected by a conservation easement.

The Preserve has been the recipient of considerable community support in donations and volunteer hours. Now concerns have been raised regarding the future of the roadway. Will the City attempt to re-route it through the Preserve? Such a move would prove devastating to the Preserve and undoubtedly have a chilling effect on future support for conservation of natural areas.

White Pt. Nature Preserve, showing the section of Paseo del Mar taken out by the landslide

View (above - Photo by Hersh Kelley) from within the White Pt. Nature Preserve, showing the section of Paseo del Mar taken out by the landslide and one of the power poles moved into the Preserve. Below (Photo by Eva Cicoria), volunteers planting and weeding at White Pt. Nature Preserve, Earth Day 2011.

volunteers planting and weeding at White Pt. Nature Preserve, Earth Day 2011

Idyllwild’s Winter Wonderland Story and Photos - Judy Shane
John Muir loved hiking in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild, and I think he would have been proud of 42 Sierra Club adventurers who joined our November PV-SB bus trip.

The gorgeous granite formations, dense forests, and breathtaking views of the San Jacinto range lure hikers back to the Idyllwild area year after year.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor screaming feet failed to dampen the spirits of the positive people who gave themselves to all nature’s offerings during this incredibly beautiful three-day trip. Leaders Linda Werk and Judy Shane, and co-leaders Bob Baldwin and Emile Fiesler, stayed on full alert developing back up plans a, b, and c during the weekend for weather contingencies caused by a storm front moving through the area.

On our first day, 42 of us stumbled out of our giant bus onto the Cactus Springs trail. We experienced a blend of high and low desert environments in the glorious Santa Rosas where a soft rain brightened the vibrant fall colors and heightened the pungent scent of sage. As we hiked a roller coaster trail, we noticed several varieties of manzanita. We walked until scrub oak gave way to pinyon pine and juniper. And, just as the lovely soft rain turned into a chilly downpour, we arrived back at the bus.

On our second day, en route to Idyllwild, we noticed the alpine San Jacintos share many similarities with the High Sierras. We saw dense pine forests and were dazzled by the sunlight peeking over granite rock formations. We could have been in Yosemite – or even the Alps – rather than a few hours from home. The big treat was hiking on fresh powder through a forest of snow-covered fir and pine on the Deer Springs Trail to Suicide Rock. The sky boasted its brightest blue, the sun shot sparkles on the snow beneath our feet, and the pine trees adorned themselves with snow and icicles.

On our final day, after checking with the ranger station and finding out that even with the expected snowfall we would be safe on several abbreviated hikes, Linda took one group up switchbacks through a dense forest on the gorgeous Devil’s Slide Trail. The rest of the group joined Judy, Emile, and Bob in the woods on the lovely Ernie Maxwell Trail. Halfway through the hike, the snow started coming down steadily, and toward the end it was coming down so hard I could hardly see the bus ahead. Even so, I was aware that during these last few days, it couldn’t get much better than this.

And then, in perfect harmony, my group started singing, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”


Climate Crisis Public Forum:
The Environmental Priorities Network will present a public forum on global climate change on Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 10 AM to 1:00 PM at Pacific Unitarian Church, 5621 Montemalaga Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes. Information tables will be set up at 10 AM, then at 11 AM Nick Karno will speak about the increasing urgency of taking action on global climate change. Karno is an LA Deputy City Attorney working in the Environmental Justice Unit and a member of the Climate Reality Team that has trained with Al Gore to speak about what must be done to bring the earth's climate system back into balance. For more information contact Lillian Light at (310)545-1384 or at lklight@verizon.net.

Trails Update
The City of RPV and the PVPLC are recommending that in early 2012 the City's Preserve Trails Plan for the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve be amended by the City Council to allow mountain bikes on many of the trails currently designated for pedestrians only or pedestrians/equestrians only. They base the recommendations on comments received at a public workshop on the State of the Trails held in April 2011 at which the mountain biking community was represented in large numbers and only a few members of the hiking community were present. The recommendations ignore compromises made after two years of lengthy, contentious Public Use Master Plan (PUMP) Committee hearings at which members of the hiking, biking and equestrian communities testified documenting the risks of making trails multi-use. The response to comments received at the workshop is available online at: http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/planning/Palos-Verdes-Nature-Preserve/SOT-Response-to-comments.pdf

Point Vicente Parkland Update
On August 10, 2011, the Annenberg Foundation notified the City of Rancho Palos Verdes of its withdrawal of the planning applications for the Annenberg Project at Lower Point Vicente. The large building, expansive parking and hardscape, as well as the non-recreational uses featured in the plans, would have dominated the site and were inconsistent with the deed restrictions and other protections applicable to the parkland, as described in the March 2011 issue of the Foggy View. Since the August withdrawal, members of the community have approached City staff and City Council members to discuss possibilities for improving Lower Pt. Vicente Park in a manner consistent with the deed restrictions and the City's General Plan.