An important, on-going collaboration is with I Love a Clean San Diego (ILCSD). SDCL is coordinating increased participation of our canyon groups with the ILACSD county-wide “Creek to Bay” and “California Coastal Cleanup” annual events. In September, sixteen canyon groups participated on Coastal Cleanup Day, a clear indication that watershed-awareness is on the rise. Canyon groups are playing an important role in cleaning up our coastal waters.

Sign up your canyon for the April 24th Creek to Bay cleanup event at the Love a Clean San Diego site.

San Diego Canyonlands is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of San Diego's unique canyons.  It has established a Canyon Enhancement Planning (CEP) Committee to create a guide for community stakeholders that facilitates a systems approach for integrating our natural open spaces within the fabric of the urban environment. The committee promotes visual and physical canyon access, connections into communities, restoration, conservation, environment-based education, and ecologically sensitive recreation.

CEP Program Page

CEP Committee Page

Spurred by Richard Louv’s Children and Nature movement, SDCL has helped create a new collaborative to “inspire communities to nurture, empower, and engage youth in cultivating their relationship with nature.” The San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative received a $100,000 grant this year to develop, promote and implement plans to connect youth to nature. Our canyons will play a vital role in these plans.

6.9.11  San Diego Canyonlands (SDCL) will make a presentation to San Diego's Park and Recreation Board on June 16, about its ongoing efforts to convert ~10,000 acres of City open space to "dedicated" land.  The meeting will be held at 2:00pm in the Sante Fe Room at the Balboa Park Club (2150 Pan American Road West). The board will not take action on the proposal at this time but will provide input and direction before SDCL begins a required public vetting process. Dedication of these lands will provide a stronger layer of protection to important city open spaces and canyon lands.  It will provide certainty and a framework for future urban planning and lock in "green infrastructure" benefits such as water and air filtration, species conservation, and access to nature for urban residents. Over 87% of the acres proposed for dedication by SDCL are "designated" as open space within Community Plans,  however "designated" open space land has no formal protection and can be transferred, sold or developed for non-park or non-open space uses.  In contrast, land that is "dedicated" requires a 2/3rds vote of the people before the property can be used for non-park or non-open space purposes.

Click here to read more about SDCL's report to Park & Rec and its City Land Dedication campaign.

Click here to read SDCL's FULL REPORT (PDF).