In 2006-2007, the Environment Working Group allocated funding through our initiatives and the Blasker Awards Program. Some of our grants reflect the priorities of more than one initiative, such as the grant to the Environmental Health Coalition which will advance both the Climate Change and the Clean Environments, Health Communities initiatives.

This year, as part of The Foundation's Climate Change Initiative, the prestigious Blasker Grant Awards were given to support research on greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change on the San Diego region.

Clean Environments, Healthy Communities Grantees
Land & Watershed Conservation Grantees
Climate Change / Blasker Environment Awards

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Clean Environments, Healthy Communities - 2007 Grantees

Environmental Health Coalition
Clean Ports Plan for San Diego Bay
$47,500
To create a Clean Ports plan for San Diego Bay, utilizing the San Pedro Bay Clean Air Plan for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as a model. The plan will identify baseline emissions and specific goals, implementation strategies and timelines for emissions reductions for San Diego Bay, as well as develop funding and tracking mechanisms to determine compliance with the plan implementation. This will reduce emissions and current and future adverse health impacts caused by pollution from the 10th Avenue and National City marine terminal located on San Diego Bay adjacent to at-risk communities.

La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians
La Jolla Environmental Initiative
$45,660
To provide matching funds for the continuation of three federally funded tribal environmental programs to protect the public health of Reservation residents. These programs are designed to protect and monitor the environmental resources (e.g. drinking water, wetlands and the San Luis Rey River) of the Reservation and support collaborative efforts with other local tribes for planning and information sharing.

Los Coyotes Band of Indians
Tribal Wetlands Program Development
$20,935
To provide matching funds to support the development of a federally funded tribal environmental program for the Los Coyotes Reservation that will preserve and restore over 50 acres of wetlands while serving to protect the headwaters of the San Luis Watershed and drinking water resources on the Reservation and downstream.

Walking Shield American Indian Society
Mesa Grande Reservation Environmental Clean Up and Mitigation Effort
$47,500
To conduct road improvements and erosion control to reduce water and air pollution on the Mesa Grande Reservation. This project will collaborate with at least five agencies (Mesa Grande Tribal Council, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Parks and Forests, U.S. military and the U.S. EPA) to provide the tribe with one-on-one assistance in submitting a training plan to the Department of Defense to supply no-cost labor and materials to conduct these improvements by military units as part of their routine training operations.

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Land & Watershed Conservation - 2007 Grantees

Anza-Borrego Foundation
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Northern Wilderness Inholdings Acquisition Project
$45,000
To acquire privately owned inholdings in the northern wilderness area of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, improve the management of Park wilderness landscape, protect critical habitat for endangered bighorn sheep and protect culturally-sensitive lands for the Cahuilla Native Americans.

Back Country Land Trust of San Diego County
Conservation in the Campo Valley
$30,000
This project continues the efforts begun in 2006 to improve donor tracking capabilities, board development and fundraising activities in order to acquire and protect key parcels within the Campo Valley corridor of Las Californias.

Conservation Biology Institute
Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative
$45,000
To provide the conservation mapping and research necessary for organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and Back Country Land Trust to secure public funding and acquire key parcels in the Las Californias Binational Conservation area.

Endangered Habitats League
Conserving Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity in the San Diego Region
$45,000
To prepare a list of TransNet open space priority acquisitions and analyze potential new public funding sources for habitat conservation and purchase of additional lands along the upper San Diego River.

The Escondido Creek Conservancy
Preserving the Special Nature of North County: The Campaign to Stop Sprawl
$25,000
To develop outreach materials in order to engage North County residents in an anti-sprawl campaign.

Friends of Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve
Hellhole Canyon
$39,500
To develop outreach materials, fundraise and publish a report in order to purchase at least 120 acres of land surrounding the preserve to protect its biological integrity and retain open space and regional connectivity.

Friends of Rose Canyon
Preserving Rose Canyon: A Watershed Challenge
$45,000
To engage the local and city-wide community in preserving and restoring Rose Canyon as a major regional resource for its environmental, educational and recreational value.

Lakeside's River Park Conservancy
Volunteer Recruiter and Coordinator
$37,000
To fund a volunteer recruitment coordinator to expand the volunteer teams and increase the number of volunteers actively engaged in restoration and clean-up of the Lakeside River Park.

San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy
San Dieguito River Valley Stewardship Initiative
$27,715
To fund a project manager to write grants, recruit local residents for the stewardship of the San Dieguito River Park through native planting, weed removal and trail development, and to partner with the San Pasqual Academy in developing a hands-on based watershed curriculum for high school students.

Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter
San Diego Canyons Campaign
$30,000
To fund a full-time coordinator and part-time assistant to recruit and train new volunteers for restoration and cleanup activities with new canyon friends groups.

South Coast Wildlands
Translating South Coast Missing Linkages Plans into Action
$30,000
To develop and distribute science-based conservation tools to wildlife agencies, planning departments, conservation organizations, land trusts and conservancies to acquire lands for the protection of critical wildlife corridors.

Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Volunteers in Action
$30,000
To continue funding a volunteer coordinator to recruit volunteers for habitat restoration, trail development and fund raising activities in the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The San Diego River Park Foundation
San Diego River Watershed Project Implementation
$20,000
To fund the implementation of the work plan for the San Diego River Coalition to acquire land for conservation, increase volunteers and improve watershed health.

Volcan Mountain Preserve Foundation
Acquisition of Rutherford Ranch on Volcan Mountain
$30,000
To produce a fundraising video and provide matching funds for the acquisition of the Rutherford Ranch in order to preserve biologically and culturally significant lands on Volcan Mountain.

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2007 Climate Change / Blasker Environment Awards

In 2006-2007, as part of The Foundation's Climate Change Initiative, the prestigious Blasker Grant Awards supported research on greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change on the San Diego region.

University of San Diego/Energy Policy Initiatives Center School of Law
Determining Solution Pathways to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the San Diego Region
$39,878
To produce the first greenhouse gas footprint analysis for the San Diego Region to serve as a baseline for measuring future changes in emissions and to publish a report to regional leaders with appropriate solutions to reducing these emissions.

San Diego Natural History Museum
Using Plant Data to Assess Climate Change in San Diego
$75,000
To identify the response of local plants to climate change over time. A database of current and historical herbarium records will be compiled, analyzed and mapped in order to identify the metrics to be used by scientists and researchers to monitor the changes in biodiversity and effects of climate change on the county’s plants.

2005-2006 Environment Grantees

2004-2005 Environment Grantees


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