Friends of Rose Canyon
Accomplishments

Recognition ö Grants Received
ð $34,125 grant from the San Diego Foundation, received July 2008. The San Diego Foundation is one of San Diegoâs leading chartable institutions. This second year grant represents a major endorsement of our work to engage the local and city-wide community in preserving and restoring Rose Canyon for its environmental, educational and recreational value. The funds allow us to continue to support a part-time Executive Director, our only staff person. (None of these funds are spent on legal fees ö grassroots donations pay for these.)
ð $2,500 grant from Patagonia, January, 2008. Please visit their store in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
ð $6,700 grant from the Linnie Cooper Foundation. This allowed us to bring in Aquatic Adventures to conduct a wetland education program with all fourth graders and their teachers at Spreckels Elementary School. The program included a field trip to Rose Canyon Park for all fourth grades.

Free nature walks and events in Rose Canyon Open Space Park
Each year we bring hundreds of children and adults into Rose Canyon. Events this past year included:
ð ãMeet the Animalsä events: live owls and other birds presented by Project Wildlife and reptiles and amphibians presented by the San Diego Herpetological Society.
ð Our ãwildlyä popular ÎInsects at Nightâ events and bird walks during the magic of spring bird migration.
ð Many nature walks by request for local school groups as well as Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.

Legal actions to preserve Rose Canyon Open Space Park
ð The court awarded our attorneys $450,218 in attorneyâs fees for representing us in our successful lawsuit filed after the city violated state environmental law when it approved the proposed Regents Road Bridge project, which would build a major new road through Rose Canyon Park. The city had to rescind approval of the proposed project and agree to do a brand new Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and had to pay the cost of our attorneysâ fees.
ð We filed a second lawsuit in November, 2007 when the city again violated state environmental law. It approved a $4.8 million contract to do final design of the proposed road through Rose Canyon park before doing the new EIR, which is the required first step. This lawsuit is ongoing.

Water Quality Monitoring of Rose Creek
Our volunteers collect water samples monthly in Rose Creek as part of San Diego Coastkeeperâs citizen monitoring program. The samples are analyzed and the results are building a picture of water quality in Rose Creek over time. Rose Creek flows into Mission Bay, so its water quality affects that of Mission Bay.

BioBlitz
We held a BioBlitz during which experts counted the number of species they could find in a 24 hour period in Rose Canyon. They identified over 500 species, including plants, insects, spiders, birds, snakes, lizards, mammals (including 3 species of bats), fungus and lichen. So much diversity of life in our own backyard!

Saving South UC Library
We joined with residents across University City to protest the Mayorâs proposal to close the South UC library and six other libraries city wide. The city council voted not to close the libraries and rec centers for now.