With a grant from the Desert Protective Council’s Mesquite Fund, the Imperial Valley College Ecology Club was able to take a two-day field trip over the Earth Day Weekend, April 21-22, 2007. The first day of the trip included many stops in the Colorado Desert. Led by IVC professors and ecology club advisors Michelle Stevens and Randy Carson, the group began its day at the recently completed Desert Museum in Ocotillo, then made several stops on the way into and through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, including Shell Canyon (BLM land), Mountain Palm Springs and Sentenac Cienega. A stop at Bill Kenyon Overlook allowed the students to view the route of the proposed Sunrise Powerlink. Then it was east to Highway 86 and from there north along the Salton Sea, allowing many stops and conversation about the proposed restoration plan for this inland sea, as well as the history of Lake Cahuilla. Evening found the students high atop Mt. San Jacinto, after a ride up on the Palm Springs Aerial tramway.
“Though they live in the Colorado Desert, less than two percent of my students have ever visited its natural areas,” said Dr. Stevens. “They haven’t hiked, fished, hunted, canoed, or enjoyed any other form of recreation that brings them into contact with nature.” Through this and other programs, she hopes to offer IVC students a chance to “experience the natural history and sense of refuge that comes from a personal and intimate connection to nature. I would like my students to grow to feel a sense of wonder at the fragile beauty here in the desert and to appreciate the plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh environment.”
From the students’ trip reports, it sounds like the Ecology Club is on its way to fulfilling Dr. Stevens’ vision. For many of them, the outing seems to have been a transformative experience. According to Brisa E. Blevins, “This was my first trip as a college student and I must say getting out there and experiencing nature is by far much more educating than just sitting in a classroom. Thank you for the experience. It's one that will never be forgotten.”
Berenice Camacho also found the trip eye-opening: “It was an amazing experience seeing so many different types of cactuses and how each one has different purposes. I think it’s interesting how every plant has a completely different coloration and way of adapting to an environment. I really loved Shell Canyon. It was full of different types of rock formations and minerals … they are all so beautiful in their individual ways.”
The group drove to the coast on Saturday night, and enjoyed the Earth Day celebration in Santa Barbara before returning home.
This is just one of what DPC hopes will become an ongoing program of field trips into the desert for students in the Imperial Valley at both the grade school and college levels. We are currently in discussion with elementary schools in Holtville to organize desert field trips for their students.
With a grant of $38,000 from the DPC for 2006-2007, the Anza-Borrego Institute’s distance learning program continues to bring desert education from the studio at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park headquarters to classrooms throughout the Imperial Valley. With able instruction from Interpretive Ranger LuAnn Thompson and her staff, the program will introduce desert natural history topics, especially paleontology and geology, to 2,000 Imperial County students during the 2006/07 school year. At the request of teachers, the program will also expand into career outreach and desert ecology. This program has been recognized as a leader in this emerging field.
DPC has also provided funding for mobile satellite equip-ment mounted on a 4x4 truck, which allows interpreters to take this program out of the studio and into the desert.
The DPC has increased the amount of this grant for 2006/07 to $15,700 in order to fund the attendance of 90 Imperial County students at the tent camp program. These fifth-graders will spend three days hiking, learning about the desert environment, and sleeping outdoors. For many, this is a first experience in a wilderness area. We can be proud of our role in helping these children to experience what Institute Manager Deborah Knapp calls the “aha moment” – the point at which their eyes are opened to the wonders of the desert. The program has become hugely popular and is also receiving funding from AT&T, SDG&E and the Linnie Cooper, Copley and Foster Foundations. There will be nine camps in 2007 with 270 students expected to attend. Read a San Diego Magazine article about Anza-Borrego Institute and its tent camp here.
The DPC is proud to have contributed $86,000 in matching funds to the Imperial Valley College Desert Museum Society in order to help complete the interior construction of this archaeological, cultural and all-around desert educational center in Ocotillo, California. Much of the final construction is completed and final touches are being put on the exhibits. The IVC Desert Museum Society is working with Imperial Valley College on staffing and management planning.
DPC awarded $30,000 to the Ah-Mut Pipa Foundation to produce a video which tells the story of the journeys of the native American Quechan tribes between the Colorado River and Spirit Mountain near Blythe, California. The video will include a history of the Quechan Tribe, interviews with tribal elders, and a performance of the Lightning songs.
DPC has granted the Center $50,000 for 2007 to continue advocacy for endangered species in Imperial County. Attorney Lisa Belenky has been hired as legal counsel for the area. Her work in Imperial County has included:
- Contributions to the lawsuit in which the 9th Circuit Court directed the BLM to rewrite its management plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area
- Comments on the inadequate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the expansion of the U.S. Gypsum mine and wall board factory near Ocotillo, CA
- Communication with US Fish & Wildlife to prevent elimination of critical habitat for the Peninsular Bighorn in northeastern Imperial County
- Efforts to protect the Desert Cahuilla Area recently acquired by the state Parks and Recreation Department
DPC awarded $30,000 to Defenders of Wildlife for the creation of The Salton Sea Coalition (SSC), a collaboration of a dozen conservation groups. The new group’s mission is to address the survival of the Salton Sea and restoration alter-natives as a result of the federally-ordered water transfer from Imperial County to San Diego. The group has four members on the Salton Sea Advisory Committee who contributed to a set of alternatives to protect the values of the Sea. One of the first goals of the SSC was to build public interest in preserving the Sea and to encourage public comment on the Salton Sea Programmatic EIR. The group conducted a public education campaign, created action alerts, and submitted its own comment letter, to which DPC was a signatory.
SDG&E’s proposed 500kV transmission line from Imperial County to San Diego (and beyond) would devastate habitats as well as viewsheds and wilderness and rural values in Imperial County, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and San Diego’s backcountry. Through grants related to the Sunrise Powerlink campaign, the Desert Protective Council has been instrumental in carrying on the campaign’s momentum, promoting smart energy alternatives to this archaic proposal, and ensuring that protecting Imperial County remains a priority for the campaign. Grantees include the Border Powerplant Working Group, activist Kelly Fuller, and the Sierra Club Foundation.
Past grantees not listed above include Tamarack Lagoon Lawsuit legal expenses, Imperial County Earth Day celebration, Wiedlin and Associates for the U.S. Gypsum Groundwater study, and the Sierra Club’s California/Nevada Desert Report for coverage of Imperial County conservation issues.
|
