When I am not exploring many of my favorite canyons smack-dab in the middle of urban San Diego in view of the downtown skyscrapers and taking pics of the city again whenever I caught what I believe was an awesome shot, even if only by accident, like storm clouds at sunset over a city streetscape,;I am active in my Church, community, and causes I believe in. I volunteer at Our Lady of the Rosary in San Diego's Little Italy, in my Knights of Columbus council ,that includes marching in the St. Patrick's Day parade and processions at Mass, which I will post shortly, and in conservation activism, trying to save as much of wild and rural California from out-of-control development and sprawl I can.This post is about my conservation activism, about when I attended the invitation-only dedication of the new protected natural area in San Diego County called the Temescal Creek Preserve.
As California, particularly Southern California, gets more and more developed and populated, with more and more open space and farmland getting paved over, it will be crucial to try to preserve some of that open space and farmland, if not for the economic values or for the benefits to wildlife and the environment, then for our own selfish needs, the needs of us humans to be able to stretch out our arms, breathe fresh air, and reconnect with and meditate in nature, in an environment that is not man made and fabricated. We are also explorers by nature and need open frontiers left to discover. Along those lines, I will use proceeds from this blog and my other work to become a future member and contributor to many of those organizations listed on my page "Organizations I Support," including the American Farmland Trust-California Office and The Wildlands Conservancy .  |
| Me at my favorite hiking and photography spot overlooking a beautiful and peaceful rural area in Banning that will all soon be a huge master-planned housing community known as "Rancho San Gorgonio." Riverside County, CA. |
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| What was once one of the last remaining rural areas in Orange County is now yet another victim of suburban sprawl, slowly nudging out long-time residents who enjoyed and worked off of its more open and equestrian-friendly history & tradition. And was under construction even during a severe & historic drought. Yorba Linda, CA. |
Not long ago I was actually able to become a real paying member of the San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRPF) and donate a small amount of funds to help them purchase a 300-acre property called "Eagle Peak Ranch at Temescal Creek," which is actually part of a larger private property called the Homestead property. SDRPF has the goal of creating a connected parkway and trails along the San Diego River and its watershed from its headwaters in the mountains of East San Diego County near Julian at 4,000 feet (known to locals as "East County" or "the backcountry") to its mouth at the sea, at Mission Bay. And as of this writing it has almost reached its goal. East San Diego County is for now rural and sparsely populated, more home to the cowboy than to the business suit, but, like all the rest of Southern California, it lies dead on the target for suburban development and sprawl, so its is vital to, not obstruct growth or progress, but to simply provide a counter, to try to balance it with open space and farmland conservation, which is why I am an aspiring activist in such.
Below are two videos shot the day I attended the dedication of the Temescal Creek property by the San Diego River Park Foundation. The first is the road trip up, from near sea level near the I-8 at Santee and El Cajon and surrounded by suburban San Diego, to the East San Diego county countryside that is under threat, up to nearly 4,000 feet to the headwaters of the San Diego River near Julian and that is now preserved, yes, "forever" as natural open space for all to enjoy (at certain times as not to overwhelm its environment and neighbors). The second video shows the Eagle Peak Ranch at Temescal Creek property and the dedication with the short presentation put on by the foundation speaking about the property, its history, background, and the foundation's future role there and goals and projects in the future in general. You may have to turn up your speakers for the second video as my cell phone does not have a powerful microphone on it so could not capture the sound very well.
Again, when necessary, development is not a negative, and I am not trying to be an obstructionist, but I do encourage you to get involved in preserving any of the natural open space or rural lands you currently enjoy or work on, and one way to do such is to look up, become a member of, donate to, and volunteer with conservation organizations like the American Farmland Trust and the San Diego River Park Foundation, among many others, and many you can find links to here. By supporting this blog and my other work by clicking on an AdSense sponsor, with no pressure to buy as I get paid per click, by donating directly to my blog, or by purchasing a photo or product at one of my e-stores, you are also supporting those wild and rural land conservation activists as, as stated above, I am currently a member of the San Diego River Park Foundation and will become a member of and donor to many of those other groups I have listed via the proceeds from this blog and my other work.
After the two videos I filmed and produced is a link to a video from another source about why the Eagle Peak Ranch at Temescal Creek preserve and others like it are so special.
Video of A Drive Through Rural East San Diego County from the suburban sprawl of Santee at 400 feet up to the countryside (for now) & San Diego River headwaters outside Julian near 4,000 feet:
Video of the Eagle Peak Ranch at Temescal Creek Preserve Dedication:
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