In the 2004-05 fiscal year, the Environment Working Group awarded approximately $727,689 to support projects and programs to protect and enhance our region's environmental resources through two initiatives and the Blasker-Miah-Rose Fund:

The Land and Watershed Conservation Initiative supports local efforts to advance the completion of a regionally interconnected system of open space and nature preserves, by helping to protect at least 15,000 acres and mobilizing at least $300 million in public and private funding for land acquisition and stewardship.

The Clean Environments, Healthy Communities Initiative (formerly the Environmental Health and Justice Initiative) supports efforts to reduce exposure to toxic pollutants in the region's most vulnerable communities by strengthening at least 5 nonprofits and engaging and empowering at least 1,000 local residents to monitor and abate pollutants where they live and work.

The following grants were awarded as part of these two initiatives:

32nd Street Canyon Task Force Canyon Floor Reconstitution Project
$25,000
To create a duplicable scientific model for reconstituting degraded canyon floors using sustainable and innovative measures, implemented through volunteers in cooperation with government agencies.

Backcountry Land Trust
Land and Watershed Conservation
$25,000
To provide partial funding for the salary of the Executive Director.

Carlsbad Educational Foundation
Communities Alice In Nature Educational Collaborative Project
$25,000
To restore local watershed areas in Carlsbad by expanding and making sustainable an environmental education program for 4th, 5th, and 8th grade students at Calavera Hills Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Calavara Hills Middle School.

Conservation Resources Network (CRN)
TransNet Land Acquisition & Management Project 2005/06
$25,000
To develop and implement a program to greatly accelerate the acquisition, permanent protection, and effective management of at risk natural open space lands in San Diego.

Endangered Habitats League
Conserving Biodiversity in San Diego County
$25,000
To permanently conserve wildlife habitat and biodiversity in the San Diego region.

Environmental Careers Organization Southwest Office
San Diego Environmental Justice and Health Fellowship Program
$25,000
To attract talented college students to pursue leadership careers focused on environmental justice/health issues as well as to help local organizations leverage the talents and energies of aspiring professionals.

Environmental Health Coalition
Clean Water, Clean Air: Healthy Communities
$25,000
To engage residents of West Chula Vista in community planning to achieve a redevelopment plan that reduces air and water pollution and promotes sustainability.

Escondido Creek Conservancy
Land and Watershed Conservation
$25,000
To provide partial funding for the salary of the Executive Director.

La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians
La Jolla Indian Reservation Environmental Initiative
$25,000
To protect public health by monitoring the environmental resources and increasing awareness of environmental issues through public education on the La Jolla Indian Reservation.

Lakeside River Park Conservancy
Lakeside Conservancy's "Projects Person" Project
$25,000
To move key river park projects from design to implementation, using a conceptual design created by Cal. Poly Pomona's Studio 606 and the community's input as guides.

Lakeside River Park Conservancy
Land and Watershed Conservation
$20,000
To provide partial funding for the salary of the Executive Director.

San Diego River Park Foundation
Land and Watershed Conservation
$15,000
To provide funding for staffing and other core operations for the San Diego River Park Foundation.

San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy
Land and Watershed Conservation
$15,000
To provide funding for staffing and other core operations for the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy.

San Diego Tracking Team
SDTT Sustainability & Capacity Building: Executive Director
$25,000
To improve the long-term sustainability of the SDTT and further implement volunteer based habitat monitoring and educational programs by hiring a part-time Executive Director.

San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
Land and Watershed Conservation
$15,000
To provide funding for staffing and other core operations of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.

Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter
San Diego Canyons Campaign
$25,000
To engage local residents in the stewardship of urban canyons through the development of neighborhood-based, friends-of-canyons groups throughout San Diego County.

Tierra Miguel Foundation
Sustainable Environmental Futures Consortium
$25,000
To initiate a leadership consortium focusing on San Diego's conservation, agricultural and consumer communities to understand and promote the conservation and sustainability of working lands.

Trust for Public Land
The San Dieguito River Park project
$25,000
To acquire key parcels, as well as to consolidate and connect local and regional parks, state parks and wildlife areas, and national forest and wildlife refuge lands, to protect and improve habitat, scenic values, and recreational opportunities.

Urban Corps of San Diego
Chollas Creek Restoration Projects & Student Stream Restoration Teams
$25,000
To engage Secondary School Students and local resident volunteers in sustained restoration projects and stewardship of Chollas Creek and its tributaries.

Vista Community Clinic
Farm Worker Health And Safety Program
$25,000
To improve the environmental health of North San Diego County and to improve the health and well-being of North County agricultural workers.

Volcan Mountain Preserve Foundation
Land and Watershed Conservation
$20,000
To provide partial funding for the salary of the Executive Director to develop and implement the new strategic plan (see OSP grant).

Walking Shield American Indian Society
San Pasqual Reservation Environmental Clean-Up
$25,000
To reduce toxic pollutants on San Pasqual by providing military personnel to determine air quality, secure non-polluted drinking water, restructure the waste management system, and reduce the detrimental soil erosion.

Wildlife Research Institute
Land and Watershed Conservation
$20,000
To provide funding for staffing and other core operations for the Willife Research Institute.

The Blasker-Rose-Miah Fund was established at The San Diego Foundation by Samuel M. Blasker, “to nurture and develop unique and innovative discoveries and experiences which may be of benefit to all mankind, and to support and encourage individuals with high potential in the scientific, engineering, and medical fields to reach their full potential in their chosen areas of study, work, and analysis.” Blasker Grants are awarded in the Environment Program to support projects can help us advance critical efforts to protect our region’s open space and wildlands, as well as to eliminate hazardous pollutants in our region’s air, land, and water.

Conservation Biology Institute
Development of a Regional Environmental Information Center
$48,250
To develop a prototype for a regional environmental information center, in order to establish common scientific standards and protocols for urban and rural open space preserves.

UC Davis Foundation- Wildlife Health Center
Understanding and Living with Mountain Lions in San Diego County
$50,000
For two emerging wildlife health scientists to advance their professional development by linking the latest technologies for mountain lion monitoring and research findings from such monitoring with public outreach and education to reduce human-lion conflicts in the region.

San Diego State University Foundation
Understanding the role of surfgrass as nursery grounds and habitat for near shore fishes
$39,000
To understand the ecology of fish assemblages in coastal seagrass habitat and the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance.

San Diego Tracking Team
San Diego Tracking Team Data Analysis, Phase 3
$10,439
For an emerging scientist to analyze and refine citizen-collected wildlife survey data in order to optimize its utility for monitoring in the Multiple Species and Habitat Conservation programs.

UC San Diego
UCSD Teams in Engineering for Lakeside Conservancy
$50,000
For three emerging engineers to gain field experience in developing innovative, low-cost technologies for interactive kiosks and digital, wireless water quality sensors to benefit environmental monitoring and interpretation at the Lakeside River Park.

2006-2007 Environment Grantees

2005-2006 Environment Grantees

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