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Welcome to Preserve Calavera
The mission of Preserve Calavera is to protect, enhance, and restore the natural resources of coastal north San Diego County.
Annual Newsletter
December marks the end of another year, and our eighth year working to preserve, protect and enhance the natural resources of coastal north county. Our thanks to everyone whose time, talent and donations made the successes of 2009 possible. We know times are tough for everyone, and donations are down across the board for non-profits. We have decided to tighten our belts, reduce costs and focus on core projects that will best carry out our mission. Now, more than ever, we need your time, talent, and donations to be able to continue our work in 2010. As part of our cost cutting we will not be mailing an annual fundraising appeal. . But we still need you to respond - with whatever amount or in whatever way works for you. For some that may be committing volunteer time. For others a financial donation. Donations can be made through our website at http://www.preservecalavera.org/donate.html or by mailing a check to Preserve Calavera at 5020 Nighthawk Way, Oceanside, CA 92056. Click on this link for an online version of our annual fundraising letter. Please consider a tax deductible year-end donation to Preserve Calavera. The plants, wildlife and future generations of north county will all thank you.
Update on Carlsbad High School
We have settled our lawsuit with the Carlsbad Unified School District over the proposed new high school at College/Cannon. We can all be proud that our efforts will result in both a better project and a better educational experience for the children of this community. We believe that proper planning for this high school would have addressed all of these issues from the beginning. It is unfortunate that it took months of effort and lawsuits from us, the City of Carlsbad and the adjacent landowner for the District to take these issues seriously. Here are the key improvements that resulted from our efforts:
- the buffer to Calavera Creek will be at least 110' wide
This protects wildlife nesting and movement areas along the creek and the downstream senior community and Agua Hedionda Lagoon from flooding and pollution. This will help the entire downstream watershed from cumulative impacts- all the way to the coast. Increasing this buffer eliminated 58 parking spaces from the project which also reduces the amount of impervious cover providing additional benefits to the watershed.
- A compehensive study of wildlife movement corridors will be conducted .
The proposed new entrance driveway bisects an existing wildlife corridor- and a few feet away at Cannon and El Camino Real has become one of the worst wildlife roadkill locations in coastal north county. This study will look at other planned developments in the area and recommend changes needed to assure that a functional wildlife corridor will remain in this area.
- The grading and clearing for the extension of Cannon Rd will stop at the entrance to the eastern parking lot.
The plan had been to grade and clear all the way through the high school site. Reduced grading will leave more undeveloped land, will only extend Cannon to the minimum amount needed to serve the high school and will reduce costs to extend the "road to nowhere."
- Provision for a teaching garden on site
- Requirements to turn off bells and PA system during non-school, non-event days.
- The District will prepare and implement a Transportation Demand Management Program.
This will include both transportation for regular school days and for large special events. The objective is to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles coming to the site and provide real transportation alternatives for students, staff and visitors.
- Optimizing the use of native plants in landscaping. This will reduce water use, cause less impact on adjacent natural lands, and provide educational opportunities for students and the community at large.
- The District will work with the City of Carlsbad on plans and funding for Safe Routes to School (this site is not covered in current plans and now it will be.)
- There will be an opportunity for creative re-use of El Abulo- The Grandfather oak tree that will be lost for the new parking lot. We plan to hold a community wide event to engage the students and broader community in using this historic tree to preserve a sense of place and part of what is so special about the site of this new school.
Video on Buena Vista Creek bird Walk
2008 National Wetlands Award
Diane Nygaard was selected for the 2008 Wetlands Award in the category of Wetland Community Leader. This annual program of the Environmental Law Institute awards 6 individuals who exemplify excellence and innovation in wetlands protection, restoration and education. The program is co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, Army Corps of Engineers, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U S Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. The awards ceremony will be May 13 in Washington DC. (For more information on the awards program visit www.nationalwetlandsawards.org).
Over the past decade, Diane has worked tirelessly to raise the awareness of local leaders and the community-at-large about the importance of, and threats to, our local wetlands. Under her leadership, Preserve Calavera has become the largest conservation group in north San Diego County. She has exemplified how members of the public can participate in wetland protection and restoration by: providing informed written and oral comments that have led to avoidance and minimization of wetland impacts from development; helping secure key acquisitions; organizing community wetland restoration projects; collecting stream characterization data; writing stream buffer guidelines; and training volunteers to monitor frog populations. She has led scores of hikes, organized Oak tree plantings, led creek clean-ups and invasive plant removals, gathered and cooked edible non-native plants for our ‘Eat the Invasives’ picnics and manned tables at countless community events so the local residents would have the opportunity to learn about the importance of wetlands protection. Diane has helped stem the tide of historic wetland loss in San Diego County.
We are extremely proud of our intrepid leader and feel she is so very deserving of this prestigious recognition! Diane believes this is a shared-honor……. "Of course, all of you and the thousands of other community activists working to protect wetlands are all deserving of such recognition. I can only accept it as a symbol of all of our work."
Wildlife Appreciation Series 2008
Our Wildlife Appreciation Series 2008 continues with a special program on birds of prey. Please help spread the word by printing a few of the att flier and posting, or email to your friends and family to join you to experience a few of these special feathered friends up close and personal. Our thanks to Armstrong Garden Centers, Poseidon Resources and Wells Fargo Bank for their donations in support of this series.
Buena Vista Creek Valley
We were successful in securing half of this remarkable little valley with the purchase of the 134-acre Buena Vista Creek Ecological Reserve but what about the other half? The 180-acre Quarry site stands between the El Salto Falls and the Reserve. What do you want to see there? Dense housing and more retail stores or a continuation of the natural creek flowing towards the Lagoon. The Luiseno people have revered this valley for thousands of years. Prehistoric hearths and shell middens attest to the abundance they found here. The historic Marron Adobe reminds us of the not so distant past, when early settlers found the valley a perfect spot to raise their families. Today, it is still a spectacular place, with a rich diversity of plants and animals. Some rare, like the Willow Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo and Orange-throated Whiptail and some we are more familiar with, like the Gray Fox, Coyote and Cottontails. It is also a regional wildlife movement corridor. It is unique with its’ cultural, historical and biological resources. Keeping the entire valley intact and protected will be a wonderful legacy for ourselves and future generations. Click here to view our Vision for the Buena Vista Creek Valley.
Sherman Property Acquisition
Its official- the Sherman property (named for the landowner who sold this area for preservation) is now the Buena Vista Creek Ecological Reserve. Mark Read prepared a new video about this area- using the great program done by KOCT. Click on this link to view the video (requires Apple Quicktime).
Action Alert
SANDAG has completed their
series of public
workshops on the proposed
"smart growth"
plan- their way to add
100,000 more homes
above what current General
Plans/Zoning would
allow. Everyone should
look at what is proposed
at www.sandag.org/rcp and let SANDAG- and your city know what
you think. But please,
if you do nothing
else, send an e-mail asking
them to remove
the Quarry Creek site from
the list. This
would create a "town
center" in
the Buena Vista creek valley-
site of the
sacred El Salto waterfall,
irreplaceable
historic and cultural resources,
and the
regional wildlife corridor.
This valley is
the top priority concern
for acquisition
of open space by the federal
and state wildlife
agencies. It also has tremendous
impacts
on the downstream Buena
Vista lagoon and
our coast. This is an area
that should have
little or no development-
and not one that
should be targeted for
density increases.
There is nothing "smart"
about
destroying this valley.
Send comments to the Planning
Director Don Neu at Dneu@ci.carlsbad.ca.us, the Mayor and city council at council@ci.carlsbad.ca.us, and the SANDAG project manager Bob Leitner
at rcp@sandag.org .
Robertson Ranch
Through our efforts over
the last few months
a number of significant
improvements have
been made to the Robertson
Ranch Project.
These changes will go a
long way to preserving
and protecting the Calavera
area open space-
and have set some important
precedents that
we hope get incorporated
into every project.
We have therefore entered
an agreement with
the developers of this
project and have withdrawn
all further opposition
to this project. Key
project improvements include:
- Biological resources - management of the
open space area, wetland
buffers along Calavera
Creek, project monitoring
by a qualified
biologist, improvements
to project re-vegetation,
protection of the wildlife
corridor throughout
the time period of construction,
removal
of paved trail head parking
lot until this
can be integrated with
a comprehensive trail
plan for this area, better
protection of
wildlife crossings of
roadways, the use of
coyote roller bars on
backyard fences that
are adjacent to the open
space, restrictions
on lighting and noise,
restrictions on use
of invasive/pest plants,
provision of dog
waste dispensers, and
the best HOA CC &
R's to protect open space
from the effects
of adjacent development
that we have found
anywhere.
- Hydrology - funds to help address cumulative
impacts on the Agua Hedionda
watershed.
- Air quality - carpool/vanpool preferential
parking, construction
of transit facilities,
shade trees in parking
lots and residential
areas, energy efficient
lighting and windows,
zero emission VOC paints.
What's New
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