How to Deal with L.A.'s future without landfills...

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What Should California's largest city do with its trash?

(L.A. City's leaders are seeking to increase the amount of trash that is diverted from going into a landfill from the current 62% recycling/diversion rate to between 72 to 81% or even up to 100% with more futuristic trash processing technologies that are used in other countries.)


from: http://www.zerowaste.lacity.org/home/index.html

For the first time in the history of solid waste planning within the City, Los Angeles is developing the Solid Waste Integrated Resources Plan, also known as “SWIRP”.

This plan seeks input from stakeholders representing a broad section of the community, from diverse cultural backgrounds and income levels, and will result in the development and implementation of a 20 year master plan for the City’s solid waste and recycling programs.

SWIRP will outline the City’s objectives to provide sustainability, resource conservation, source reduction, recycling, renewable energy, maximum material recovery, public health and environmental protection for solid waste management planning through 2030 — leading Los Angeles towards being a “zero waste” city.

Achieving zero waste will require radical changes in three areas: product creation (manufacturing and packaging), product use (use of sustainable, recycled and recyclable products), and product disposal (resource recovery or landfilling). Change in these areas will impact how we live, work and interact with the environment. Stakeholders will be instrumental in guiding this visionary twenty year solid waste management plan.

Riverfront land saved on Calif-Ariz Border...

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290 Acres Saved along the Colorado River

from TPL's Land & People Spring 2009 issue

In another year-end (2008) transaction, TPL acquired 290 acres along the lower Colorado River near Blythe. California. The land could have become a waterfront subdivision, but the California Department of Fish and Game wanted to restore it as part of a multistate habitat conservation effort along the river. The slumping real estate market forced the developers to shelve their plans, and TPL was able to negotiate a purchase for half the original asking price.

Hawk Habitat in east San Diego expands to 4400 acres...

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Saving the Grasslands of San Diego County Piece by Piece

An endangered species, the humble seed-eating Stephen's kangaroo rat, saved the Ramona Grasslands from total devastation.

Today, at least 4440 acres have been saved as hawk habitat at the Grasslands by the government and the Wildlife Research Institute and their partners.

http://www.wildlife-research.org


To read a history of purchases at the preserve: http://www.wildlife-research.org/wildlifenewsvol7.pdf

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http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/california/press/ramona091908.html

San Diego County, CA — September 19, 2008 — The County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation has partnered with The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state to add more than 3,000 acres of high-quality habitat to the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. The acquisition increases the County’s ownership within the preserve to 3,470 acres, more than seven times its current size. The new acreage includes the areas of Gildred Ranch, Davis-Eagle Ranch and Oak Country, and was purchased with county, federal and state grant funds for $30.4 million....

(CLICK ON THE MAPS TO ENLARGE)

Fixing Sierra foothills highway could bring more sprawl...

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Some El Dorado County Residents Wary of Route for Highway 49

excerpted from
Sacramento Bee, By: Cathy Locke
Date: May 3, 2009
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1829680.html

A new route for Highway 49 in El Dorado County might improve safety and traffic flow, but some residents fear it also would increase pressure to develop rural lands.

Built to link California's Gold Rush towns, Highway 49 between Coloma and Placerville follows an old wagon road alignment. It also winds through Placerville's narrow residential streets and bisects Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma.

Although it provides a scenic route for leisurely travel, transportation officials say the highway is not adequate to handle increasing traffic loads. A study was recently launched to identify alternative alignments for an approximately 13-mile stretch between Coloma and the town of El Dorado. "If you drive through the city of Placerville, you understand why it would be key to get alternatives," said Carl Hagen, the El Dorado County Transportation Commission chairman and a Placerville city councilman. Officials stress that the realignment study is part of a long-range planning process. Construction of a new road or designation of a new route using existing roads won't occur for several years...

Restored Marsh opens in south L.A. County...

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July 17th is the grand opening of the restored Bixby Marsh

http://www.lacsd.org/about/wastewater_facilities/jwpcp/bixbymarshland.asp

invite flyer:
http://www.sbesc.com/uploads/Bixby%20Marshland%20July%2016.pdf

Location: City of Carson, at intersection of Figueroa and Sepulveda Blvds.
Date: July 17, 2009

The Bixby Marshland is a remnant of a formerly extensive, natural freshwater wetland known as Bixby Slough. Due to various development projects, such as the construction of the Harbor Freeway, housing projects, and storm water control projects, Bixby Slough was reduced in size until only the 17-acre Bixby Marshland and the Machado Lake area in the Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park remain.

To maintain Bixby Marshland, a pump was installed to lift storm water and urban runoff from Wilmington Drain into the marshland. After going through the marshland, the water exits through an overflow structure back into Wilmington Drain.

Elevated rail gets boost from L.A. School Board...

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Citing student safety, L.A. school board opposes Expo Line rail route

June 24, 2009

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/citing-student-safety-school-board-opposes-expo-line-rail-route.html

Citing safety concerns for students, the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously decided to oppose the design of the Expo Light Rail Line, which would pass at street level near Overland Avenue and Charnock Road elementary schools.

Board members said they would not support the Expo Line unless the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority could eliminate all the safety hazards of operating light-rail trains near schools. They also directed the district's superintendent to exhaust all legal options while trying to resolve the Expo Line's safety issues.

The board resolution relates to the second phase of the project, which would run from Culver City to Santa Monica. Phase 1 from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City has already generated considerable controversy about street-level crossings near schools. That segment is under construction.

The resolution notes that MTA's Blue Line from Long Beach to Los Angeles, which has street-level crossings, has become the nation's deadliest light-rail line. It also states that the Expo Line should not be built near the two schools because it could violate the district's 128-foot distance requirement for active rail lines.

Schwarzennegger budget proposal threatens SF Bay Protection...

State Budget Proposal Slashes Bay Conservation Agency: Take Action!

6/4/2009--Take Action

http://www.savesfbay.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dgKLLSOwEnH&b=484843&aid=12387&msource=baysavers&tr=y&auid=4931286

Help rescue the vital and effective San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) from the Governor's chopping block. BCDC was created in 1965 by the hard work of Save The Bay supporters appalled at unregulated development that had already filled in and diked off one-third of the Bay. Today, BCDC helps protect the Bay from shoreline development and ensures public access for recreation. But Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would eliminate BCDC as a state agency. Contact your legislator today to preserve this important agency.

BCDC's work over the last four decades has made the Bay cleaner and healthier, provided millions of dollars in economic benefits annually from tourism and commerce, and preserved recreation and beauty for the region.

BCDC has: Supported wetland restoration and prevented landfill, making the Bay thousands of acres larger. Authorized over $16.4 billion in shoreline development. Opened up new public access for trails, parks and water recreation along the Bay shoreline. Established a Bay Plan to encourage commerce and recreation while protecting sensitive areas. Become an international leader in addressing sea level rise impacts caused by global climate change.

A history of Bay protection

More than four decades ago, Save The Bay led the effort to create BCDC as the first coastal zone management agency in the nation. In 1965, the state enacted a moratorium on the devastating practice of massive Bay filling that had already reduced the Bay's size by one-third. We stopped the Bay from being narrowed to a river by convincing the legislature and governor to make BCDC a permanent regulatory agency in 1969.

http://savesfbay.blogspot.com

Los Padres Forestwatch Honored...

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A Tough Fighter for Central Coast National Forests

JUDGE REQUIRES INCREASED PROTECTION FOR ENDANGERED WILDLIFE ON LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST

Lawsuit Filed by Coalition of Conservation Organizations, Including ForestWatch

http://www.lpfw.org/news/0906forestplan.htm

6/8/2009--In a landmark decision, a federal judge today ruled that two federal wildlife agencies and the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by approving plans for four national forests without adequately addressing impacts to endangered plants and animals. The judge’s order http://www.lpfw.org/docs/ForestPlan/20090608Opinion.pdf affects the Los Padres National Forest and three other forests in southern California that together comprise more than 3.5 million acres of wildlife habitat...

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excerpted from
http://www.lpfw.org/docs/Newsletters/2009_01Spring.pdf

ForestWatch Recognized for Top Achievement

Our legal victory last year protected fragile burn areas on Alamo Mountain and Grade Valley from a commercial logging operation, and now it’s being hailed as one of the top five environmental achievements in southern California. The 5th Annual Top Achievements of the Environmental Community in Southern California report (from http://Environmentnow.org or see http://environmentnow.org/pdf/Environment-Now-5th-Annual-Top-Achievements-of-the-Environmental-Community-in-Southern-Californa.pdf) recognizes ForestWatch for setting an important legal precedent that extends to national forests throughout the state and the West, fundamentally changing how the Forest Service responds to the post-fire landscape...

Santa Cruz county wetlands trail map...

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Watsonville Wetlands Watch's Summer 2009 newsletter is on-line...

http://www.watsonvillewetlandswatch.org/the_watch/spr_sum2009/spr_sum2009.htm#

Finishing the American River Trail...

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Final piece added to Trail east of Sacramento

excerpted from
http://www.sacbee.com/kushman/story/1959372.html

6/21/2009--...This is the prized final piece to what will likely become a recreational wonderland along some of Northern California's most dazzling river canyons, and it's something the BLM and the American River Conservancy have been working on for 20 years.When this chunk of trail is completed and opened – maybe in 2010, maybe 2011, depending on whether you're talking to the optimists or the pessimists in the process – there will be a hiking, biking and equestrian (in spots) path from Coloma and the place gold was discovered all the way to Old Sacramento.

The last riverfront parcel was bought by the nonprofit ARC in February, and that allowed the BLM crew to build a bit more than five miles of new trail. The group raised and spent $23 million on this effort over the years, and donated 3,600 of the 5,600 acres that hold the 20-mile network called the South Fork of the American River Trails System. ("We like the name," Horn said. "We're not thrilled with the acronym.") (SFARTS...tee hee...)

When it's done, these trails will travel from Highway 49 in the east, through the existing Cronan Ranch Park and these newly trailblazed foothill meadows. Then it will hug the river canyon above the American River and then snake down to Salmon Falls Bridge at the top of Folsom Lake. From there, it will connect to the lake's 20,000-acre recreation area, then to the bike and foot trails of the American River Parkway beyond....