The Environment Working Group allocates funding through two initiatives. The Land & Watershed Conservation initiative is to advance the completion of a network of recreational parks and natural areas on rivers, canyons, lagoons and beaches to provide healthy lands, clean water and habitat for people and wildlife. Clean Environments, Healthy Communities is an initiative to enhance human health and human environments, particularly among populations that bear a disproportionate share of pollution in our region, such as the residents of San Diego’s southern bay front and tribal communities.

32nd Street Canyon Task Force
Canyon Policy Portfolio
$25,000
To fund training, supervision, and internships for students from UCSD’s Environmental Systems Program to survey canyon groups, environmental organizations and City of San Diego employees to identify activities that imperil canyon and creek health, and then identify key policy changes that will upgrade stewardship of natural systems in the city.

Back Country Land Trust of San Diego
Back Country Acquisition and Stewardship Plan
$35,000
To hire a project manager to prioritize acquisition parcels, organize back country stakeholders, and create a management team for Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative.

Conservation Biology Institute
Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative
$35,000
To underwrite staffing costs for a conservation biologist to implement Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative in partnership with the Back Country Land Trust, by providing expertise in land use planning policies and landscape ecology to guide land acquisition efforts.

Endangered Habitats League
Conserving Biodiversity in San Diego County
$40,000
To underwrite staffing costs for the Director and Program Officer to: (1) provide environmental input into the County General Plan Update; (2) launch a pilot project to design and create a $30 million fund of refinanced TransNet conservation funding; and (3) secure for permanent conservation (through fee title, lease, or easement) and restore 1,000 acres of land in the El Monte Valley, to be added to the San Diego River Park.

Environmental Careers Organization
The San Diego Environmental Justice & Health Fellowship Program
$30,000
To fund recruitment, training, and fellowships for 3 university students to work with Clean Environments, Healthy Communities grantees in pollution monitoring and abatement efforts.

La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians
La Jolla Environmental Initiative
$40,000
To provide matching funds for water quality monitoring and improvement of sewage treatment on the La Jolla Indian Reservation.

Pala Band of Indians
Solid Waste Landfill Closure
$25,000
To fund project expenses and community outreach efforts related to the capping of an abandoned landfill, the development of a water quality monitoring plan, and the creation of a recycling and solid waste management plan for the Pala Indian Reservation.

Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Tribal Onsite WasteH20 Management Collaboration
$45,000
To fund staffing and project costs associated with the development of a tribal collaborative that will manage on-site wastewater septics, promote groundwater and watershed environmental protection, protect public health, provide education and outreach while creating economic opportunities for tribal members.

San Diego CHOICE Program
CHOICE Environmental Community Service Project
$45,000
To fund staffing and project costs for the implementation of a youth environmental service program to promote clean environments and healthy communities.

San Diego Conservation Resources Network
CRN Technical Support & Knowledge Transfer Program 2006
$30,000
To underwrite staffing, consulting, and trainee scholarships, as well as capital investments, to provide trainings and online GIS resources for land acquisition, management, and monitoring, as well as communications, accreditation standards, and legislative trends.

San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy
San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy "New Directions"
$15,000
To underwrite staffing and other costs associated with the acquisition of a key parcel along the San Dieguito River, membership and volunteer recruitment, and trail development.

Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter
San Diego Canyons Campaign
$35,000
To underwrite staffing costs to expand the San Diego Canyons campaign to engage local residents and K-12 students as participants in canyon education and restoration efforts.

Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Volunteers in Action
$35,000
To hire a Volunteer Coordinator to recruit and train volunteer docents to provide environmental education programs for local schools, restore the estuary, conduct research on water quality and invasive plants, and conduct outreach to community leaders and government officials who make key decisions regarding reserve management.

Trust for Public Land
San Diego Natural Lands Program
$30,000
To underwrite staffing and other project expenses associated with the fee-title acquisition of key conservation lands adjacent to Camp Pendleton, as well as the San Dieguito and Carlsbad Watersheds.

Urban Corps of San Diego
Chollas Creek Restoration - 252 Corridor Park
$40,000
To fund staffing and native vegetation/trees/seeds for neighborhood-based restoration of Chollas Creek, leading to the reduction of pollutants flowing into San Diego Bay.

Volcan Mountain Preserve Foundation
Acquisition and Preservation of Volcan Mountain
$30,000
To provide part of a match for a grant to purchase and protect 76 acres on Volcan Mountain and to complete biological survey and outreach components of the grant.

Walking Shield American Indian Society
La Jolla Reservation Environmental Clean-Up
$35,000
To fund staffing costs for Walking Shield to work with military personnel to develop infrastructure projects to assist with the protection of the Upper San Luis Rey watershed, through improved road access to the waste treatment facility, development of a recycling yard for natural resources (e.g., rocks and trees), and implementation of measures to reduce detrimental soil erosion.

Wildlife Research Institute
Full-time paid Executive Director
$30,000
To provide partial funding for an Executive Director to oversee land acquisition, fundraising, and membership recruitment efforts of the Wildlife Research Institute.

The Blasker-Rose-Miah Environment Grant Awards

The prestigious Blasker Grant Awards were established in 1989. Samuel Blasker left his estate to The San Diego Foundation for the creation of a permanent endowment fund to support 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.

San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego County Mammal Atlas
$30,000
To support research to develop baseline information in identification, distribution, conservation status and natural history of San Diego County mammals; and to use predictive modeling to estimate effects of natural and human-induced environmental change on mammals.

San Diego State University Research Foundation
Development of a Novel Bio-inspired Filtration Technology
$23,800
To support research to design a prototype technology for filtering storm water using unique particle mechanics to achieve externally controlled filtration and filter unclogging.

San Diego State University Research Foundation
Quantifying and modeling soil erosion and sediment export from San Diego watersheds
$25,130
To support research to quantify the impacts of soil compaction and provide a predictive model for estimating runoff and sediment from construction sites in San Diego.

San Diego State University Research Foundation
Melding Teaching and Technology to Study Predator-Prey Interactions in San Diego's
Seagrass Habitat
$30,000
To support research to examine predator-prey relationships and nursery habitat function in San Diego's seagrasses with manipulative experiments and models.

San Diego Tracking Team
SDTT Data Analysis Phase 4: Landscape Level (GIS) Analysis
$24,000
To support research to analyze the San Diego Tracking Team's Wildlife Monitoring Database to test current assumptions about animal distribution and movement in relation to habitat fragments and corridors, to provide a predictive model for assessing whether habitat connectivity is sufficient on a regional/landscape scale.

Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Invaders at the Interface
$30,400
To support research to determine how a wetland ecosystem reacts and recovers when an invasive species is removed, with ongoing pressures from air, land, water, especially Tijuana River flows from Mexico.

2006-2007 Environment Grantees

2004-2005 Environment Grantees

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