Dedicated to the preservation and acquisition of parks, wilderness, and special places.

"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed, chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides. God has cared for these trees, but he cannot save them from fools...only Uncle Sam can do that."   -   John Muir

"Shortsighted men...in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things."   -   President Theodore Roosevelt

"We realize Earth is special. We've seen it from afar. We realize Earth is the only natural home for man we know of, and we had better protect it."   -   Astronaut James Irwin

"Nature knows no indecencies...man invents them."   -   Mark Twain


December 6, 2009


The iconic vista of the Teton Range and the Snake River is the cover of Ian Shive's new book.

Fresh from giving a presentation to lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington D.C. and meeting with newly-confirmed National Park Service chief John Jarvis, conservationist and outdoor photographer Ian Shive talks about his new book The National Parks: Our American Landscape.



After years of assignments and photography work with the National Parks Conservation Association and other environmental entities, Ian's book encapsulates some four years of photography work and travel around the country, along with essays by the NPCA's National Parks editors, who detail their experiences of collaborating with Ian Shive in their Washington offices and in the field.

Ian also talks about his photography technique, the effect of climate change on National Parks and America's special places, the fear-based culture of the outdoors which has grown out of extreme sports and irresponsible media, the work his new multimedia center Wild Collective is doing to spread the word about parks and conservation on the web, his Wild Exposure show on Al Gore's Current TV, and his meetings with lawmakers and park officials.

While it's hard to imagine we'll be returning to the days where presidents camp with conservationists, the way President Theodore Roosevelt did with John Muir at Yosemite 100 years ago, the good news is after years of neglect, slashed budgets, and a growing backlog of urgent projects and maintenance, our nation's National Parks are finally on the receiving end of some well-needed funds. As our nation begins to re-invest in our National Parks, public awareness about the value of National Parks has also increased over the past year, thanks in no small part to the recent Ken Burns The National Parks: America's Best Idea series on the history of our National Parks on PBS.

Like what you hear? Download it HERE.


A lonely, yet brilliantly lit tent on the slopes of Mt. McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park.

Photos courtesy of Ian Shive © 2009.


November 29, 2009

Fawnskin resident Sarah Miggins, the Executive Director of the San Bernardino National Forest Association, makes an encore appearance on Treehuggers International to talk about hiking the high country of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto ranges (including a one-day ascent of Mt. San Gorgonio) and living the mountain life, along with her work with the San Bernardino National Forest Association and the Big Bear Discovery Center, the Children's Forest, and preserving the historic network of fire lookouts in the San Bernardino National Forest, from the drive-up Strawberry Peak lookout to the hard-won trail to the top of Tahquitz Peak.

Learn more about how to see bald eagles wintering at Lake Hemet and at Big Bear Lake this winter, where you can find the nation's biggest Lodgepole Pine, and how you can volunteer with the San Bernardino National Forest Association in a variety of roles, from planting trees and maintaining trails to patrolling ORV routes. Sunday morning at 5:30 on FM 94/9, Sarah Miggins from the San Bernardino National Forest Association returns to Treehuggers International.



Like what you hear? Download this show HERE.


Listener Neal Lenzen in the San Jacinto high country of the San Bernardino National Forest.


November 8, 2009

Cara Furio and Bill Howell from the San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers make an encore appearance on this week's edition of Treehuggers International. Learn all about the Canyoneers' mission and history and ties to their original stomping grounds in Florida Canyon, plus Tommy geeks out on oak trees and Cara discusses handling rattlesnakes. Make time for the San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers this Sunday morning at 5:30 on Treehuggers International, or listen below.



Like what you hear? Download this show HERE.


The north side of Torrey Pines State Reserve above Los Peñasquitos Lagoon.


November 1, 2009



Is Rancho Guejito again in danger of development? The owners of the largest tract of privately-owned, wild, undeveloped land in San Diego County have reached out to the county with a plan to preserve two-thirds of the historic Mexican land grant, but develop the other third with some 10,000 houses. Is this sensible or sustainable growth? In the wake of the collapse of housing prices and overdevelopment in North County, is this kind of project even responsible?

Is further dividing habitat for engangered animals like the Golden Eagle or mountain lion even the right way to handle this wildlife corridor? Will Rancho Guejito become another piecemealed Tejon Ranch?

Listen in this Sunday morning at 5:30 as Bruce Coons from the San Diego Save Our Heritage Organization, and Dan Silver from the Endangered Habitats League talk more about why it's a good idea to preserve all of Rancho Guejito as is, often referred to as the Jewel of San Diego conservation.



Like what you hear? Download this edition of Treehuggers International HERE.




October 11, 2009

Rob Hutsel from the San Diego River Park Foundation returns to Treehuggers International this Sunday morning at 5:30 to talk about his and the river park foundation's effort to organize the purchase of 385 acres along the summit crest, vertical relief, and base of San Diego's El Capitan Mountain. While most of El Capitan lies within the Cleveland National Forest and the county's El Capitan Open Space Preserve, the 385 acres for sale are currently privately held between the two management areas.



Download this edition of Treehuggers International HERE.

  



September 27, 2009


The steep slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains make firefighting doubly exhausting.

This week, wildland firefighter and fire ecologist Rick Halsey returns to Treehuggers International.  The founder and director of the Escondido-based California Chaparral Institute, Rick is also a member of the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum, and the author of the book Fire, Chaparral, and Survival In Southern California, now in its second edition from Sunbelt Publications.

With major wildfires having blackened scores of acres in the Golden State this year in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gold Country, Santa Barbara (four times in 12 months), Mendocino County, Sonoma County, Sacramento County, and elsewhere, it seems every season is fire season in California, but few in the Southland were ready for the size and duration of the Station Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains above Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge, and Tujunga. Ultimately the fire set a notorious record, as the largest wildfire ever in Los Angeles County.

After claiming two lives, destroying over 80 homes, and burning through 154,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, the Station Fire is at last nearly under control, and conservationists, fire professionals, outdoor recreationsists, and regrettably, politicians are beginning to take stock of what was lost and what can be done. Of concern to Treehuggers International are the dozens of prized outdoor recreation spots in the Angeles National Forest now consigned to memory, obliterated in the furnace of the wildfire. Locales like the famous Vetter Mountain Lookout served as havens for generations of Southern Californians eager to recharge in the "good tidings" of the San Gabriels' chaparral-covered slopes, meadows, streams, forests, and Mojave Desert and L.A. Basin views.


With the night comes cooler air, and a lonely watch on the fire line.

While the Station Fire did not make major penetrations into the San Gabriel high country, thousands of acres of old-growth chaparral were lost, and as is the case with the frequent fire pattern currently at work in Southern California, the way has been cleared for aggressive, non-native grasses and other plants to move in, thereby increasing the risk of fire in the near-term and making it more more difficult for the natural ecosystem of the region to re-establish itself. As fires become more frequent in our ongoing drought, it seems California's chaparral wildlands are burning themselves into oblivion.

Is all of this a calamity?  Are even more firebreaks and brush clearing needed in the backcounty to avoid another disaster? Should these fires simply be allowed to burn themselves out? Rick Halsey again explains why the solutions to avoiding disaster in California's year-round fire season come first with the understanding large fires are completely normal for our environment.  We're not being "victimized" by fires, we've simply built into their path, again and again, and when you try and beat nature long-term, you lose.

While the frequency of fires remains a concern in the ongoing drought, wise management, defensible space, and an appreciation for the Mediterranean climate of Southern California is the cornerstone to respecting the region's wild side, and understanding fire is a natural, normal part of California's ecosystems.


A member of the Dalton Hotshots makes time for a few minutes of sleep.

Listen in as wildland firefighter Rick Halsey from the California Chaparral Institute and the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum returns to Treehuggers International this Sunday morning at 5:30.



Like what you hear? Download Treehuggers International HERE.

Photos courtesy of San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group / © 2009 photographer Eric Reed.


September 6, 2009


Is it too late to save Montaña de Oro State Park and 100 California State Parks from closure?

Sara Feldman from the California State Paks Foundation stops by Treehuggers International this Sunday morning to talk about the imminent closure of 100 California State Parks.

Even though California State Parks takes up less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire annual state budget, and puts over two dollars back into the local economies of areas around parks for every one dollar of taxpayer money spent on parks, the recent budget crisis and ultimate compromise between Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature made nearly 50 closures official. An additional six million dollar cut made by the Governor in late July increased the clousres to a full 100, which are due to be named soon.

Along with the financial impact of park closures, Sara also discusses opportunities for joining parks with conservancies, foundations, and nearby municipal and county governments in order to keep them open, and discusses additional threats facing the integrity of California State Parks which have received less notice in light of the current round of park closures.

While we at Treehuggers International are disappointed in having to report the news of imminent park closures, it's a good reality check on what parks are ultimately for, who stands to lose the most, and why these closures have repercussions for every citizen in the state, from outdoor recreation to educational opportunities for children.

Learn more about how you can help, take action, or volunteer at a state park near you, as Sara Feldman from the California State Parks Foundation joins us for this week's edition of Treehuggers International.



Tune in this weekend, or listen to the show HERE.


Car campers may find Palomar State Park and others closed after Labor Day.


August 23, 2009

Conservation biologist Bill Toone, the Founder and Executive Director of the Ecolife Foundation, joins Treehuggers International to talk about his work in the federally appointed California Condor Recovery Team, as well as his current work with the Ecolife Foundation and the upcoming Walking 4 Water 5K at Mission Bay Park on October 4th.

In addtion to an in-depth conversation about the background of the California Condor and the beginning of the California Condor recovery program, Bill Toone also talks about the absolute necessity for wise water use in Southern California, and elsewhere.

The urgency of Bill's message, in part, comes from his time working on overseas conservation projects in regions of the world where clean drinking water is simply not available. It's not just a matter of a lack of indoor plumbing: sometimes water is located so far away it becomes a danger for family members to get it, and sometimes what water is available is so dirty, simply to drink it risks death and disease. In conjunction with the Ecolife Foundation, the Walking 4 Water 5K is a fun, family-friendly and engaging way to express these critical ideas of water conservation, stewardship, and sensible water planning for urban areas and the backcountry.



To download the show, click HERE.


August 6, 2009

Treehuggers International presents a special, encore presentation of our interview with David Rodriguez, who died of complications from diabetes on July 1st in Washington D.C., where he'd been serving as the Director of Communications and External Affairs for the National American Indian Housing Council. At the time of his appearance on Treehuggers International, David was in his sixth year at the Urban Corps of San Diego, where he was the Director of Administration and Grant Development.

David's appearance on Treehuggers International was first broadcast March 9, 2008.

A fan of FM 94/9, David grew up in the San Diego County outdoors learning to appreciate, value, and protect the environment, and he ably brought his knack for community organization and stewardship together with his passion for the environment at the Urban Corps of San Diego, which continues work at Chollas Creek, long a project of David's, who also served as the Political Director for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians and the CEO of the Native American Corporate America Business Conference during his long career of community leadership in San Diego.



David Rodriguez was 50 years old. The staff of FM 94/9 and Treehuggers International sends David's family and colleagues our condolences and sympathy, and wish them the very best.  To download the show, click HERE.


July 17, 2009


Looking north into the Mojave Desert from the Devil's Punchbowl, Los Angeles County.

Treehuggers International recently welcomed back to the program outdoor writer, Mesa College professor, and astronomy photographer Jerry Schad back to the program to talk about the upcoming revised, third edition of his book Afoot and Afield In Los Angeles County, due in bookstores later this year from Wilderness Press.



Jerry talks about some of the trail revisions in the new edition of his Los Angeles County guide, favorite trails, the geology and topography of the San Gabirel Mountains and Santa Monica Mountains, best places to hike in the hot summer months, as well as his current work on new trail systems in San Diego's Balboa Park, the benefits of living in-city, and some of the best places in Southern California to combine camping and stargazing.

While best known for Afoot and Afield In San Diego County, the definitive guide on San Diego County trails and the outdoors, as well as an Afoot and Afield entry for Orange County, Jerry has written dozens of books on the outdoors in California, including hiking, bicycling, and trail running, plus he's the author of a Physical Science textbook and serves as the Chair of Mesa College's Physical Sciences Department, he's a longtime photographer of the nighttime sky with dozens of publication credits, and he's hosted KPBS-TV documentaries on San Diego's nighttime sky and his own Afoot and Afield In San Diego County. An occasional contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Jerry is also approaching his 800th (!) weekly Roam-A-Rama column for the San Diego Reader.

To see a gallery of Jerry Schad's astronomical and sky photos, click on his website HERE. For Jerry's outdoor blog with the San Diego Reader, click HERE.

Thousand-year old limber pines near the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell.


Spring wildflowers bloom along the San Andreas Fault at Tejon Pass.


June 10, 2009

Help save California's State Parks from closure!

Read more in Tommy's Blog, and listen below to learn more about the crisis facing California's State Parks and how you can help keep area state parks from closure. Guests include Traci Verardo-Torres, the Legislative and Policy Director at the California State Parks Foundation, and Michael Cipra, the California Desert Program Manager at the National Parks Conservation Association's California Desert Field Office in Joshua Tree, both making special in-studio appearances for this urgent edition of Treehuggers International.



California's State Parks are the envy of the nation, but they are facing grim times at the moment, as Governor Schwarzenegger intends to close, padlock, and mothball 80% of California's State Parks by the end of the summer in order to help pay down the state's $24 billion dollar budget deficit.  80% of California's revered state parks system comes down to 220 out of 279 properties, and the volume and quality of the parks set to be closed is staggering. It's not even a matter of which parks will close, but which ones will remain open.

In San Diego County alone, nine parks and beaches are set to be padlocked including: Palomar Mountain State Park, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Torrey Pines State Beach, Torrey Pines State Reserve, Border Field State Park, Silver Strand State Beach, Carlsbad State Beach, San Pasqual Battlefield State Park, and perhaps most impossibly of all, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

So far, the projected fiscal savings are coming up as microscopic. The annual budget for state parks makes up less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire state budget, while at the same time, for every one dollar from the general fund which goes into California State Parks, a full $2.35 on the dollar goes back into the local economies of communities around parks, and state parks generate $4.3 billion dollars annually. The price tag for closing the parks down, only to eventually re-open them, does not result in a net savings. So why close them down in the name fiscal responsibility? Even as the illogical nature of the proposal is becoming clear, communities around the state are bracing for a financial calamity with park closures, so keep writing those letters and making calls to your state legislators.

Newspapers around the state are continuing to come out against the park-closing plan, including the San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express (Hayward / Fremont / Alameda), and Modesto Bee, as well smaller cities and municipalities likely to feel the economic pinch of closures first, like the Sierra Sun (Lake Tahoe / Truckee), The Californian (Monterey / Salinas), Gilroy Dispatch, Lake County Record-Bee (Ukiah / Lakeport), Santa Maria Times, and The Reporter (Vacaville).


May 22, 2009

Guns In National Parks: Recreating In the Armed Outdoors Unfortunately, an amendment added to the 2009 Credit Card Reform Act to allow loaded firearms in National Parks and other National Park Service lands has passed with the whole legislative package now,

signed into law by President Obama. We at Treehuggers International are exceedingly disappointed in Congress' unwillingness to have a public debate on the matter, and at President Obama for signing it in what appears to be an act of political expediency. While hunting is appropriately allowed in some National Parks and wildlife refuges, we at Treehuggers International, along with citizens' groups, consveration organizations, and retired park rangers, can't think of a more reckless move than to allow loaded weapons in National Parks in all seasons, and especially in areas where conservation is the guiding principle, not an afterthought. Even with an 11th hour caveat, the amendment is now law. With decreased safety for all in National Parks on the line, learn more at the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence and the National Parks Conservation Association.

April 30, 2009

A cautious frog in a riparian area of Mission Trails Regional Park.
(photo courtesy of Krystal Inwellyn / © 2009 Krystal Inwellyn)

Tune in for a conversation about the San Diego Natural History Museum's Bio Blitz with the Curator of Entomology at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Dr. Michael Wall. San Diego County is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the U.S., but how many species are in any given area, and how are plants and animals identified and counted? Bio Blitz condenses a typcially placid academic approach into a 24-hour blitz of discovery and categorization, acknowledging the speed with which species are coming to an early end because of climate change and habitat destruction. The most recent museum-sponsored Bio Blitz just occurred at Mission Trails Regional Park, and you can learn all about Bio Blitz from one of the main movers behind it at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Dr. Michael Wall.  Listen to it HERE.

April 23, 2009
 

As nature intended: the San Diego River at flood stage in Mission Valley.

Treehuggers International's conversation with San Diego River Park Foundation Executive Director Rob Hutsel is now available beloe in the Show Archive, or by clicking HERE. The San Diego River Park Foundation is a community-based, grassroots organization seeking to tie the San Diego River together as a greenbelt along the river’s 52-mile course, from the river’s headwaters in the Cuyamaca Mountains to the Pacific at Ocean Beach. Learn more about this incredibly active, volunteer-driven, efficient community steward and this year's San Diego River Days, happening May 9th to May 17th, as we catch up with Rob Hutsel from the San Diego River Park Foundation on Treehuggers International. Click to listen to it HERE.


April 16, 2009

A desert tortoise on the move in Joshua Tree National Park.
(photo courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica / © 2008 Theo Allofs)

Treehuggers International's conversation with Dr. Ron Swaisgood from the San Diego Zoological Society can be heard below in the Show Archive, or by clicking HERE. Ron is the Director for Applied Animal Ecology at the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, and is taking over the research portion of the San Diego Zoo's ongoing Desert Tortoise Recovery Project in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As a supervisor on several species recovery programs, including the California Condor and San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike, Dr. Swaisgood is also a veteran of overseas conservation programs with the Giant Panda in China and the Rhinceros in Nambia and South Africa. If you love animals, make time for this edition of Treehuggers International. Click HERE to hear it.

April 10, 2009

A whale greets a pair of oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Treehuggers International's conversation with Angela Howe, Legal Manager at the Surfrider Foundation's national office in San Clemente, can be heard by clicking HERE . Angela talks with Tommy about Surfrider's litigation campaigns, the history of the foundation, the current situation at Trestles, and the possibility of renewed oil drilling along the continental shelf. Listen in to learn more about the legal workings of Surfrider with guest Angela Howe by clicking HERE.

April 4, 2009

Coated SC Bluwood being used for the frame of Jacques Lord's newly-rebuilt home.

Treehuggers International welcomed back to the show San Diego Environmental Professionals member Jacques Lord, who lost his Rancho Bernardo home in the Witch Creek Fire in October 2007, and is nearly finished re-building his house to U.S. Green Building Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design standards, also known as LEED. Listen in as Jacques describes the planning and building of his new house, overcoming obstacles from insurance companies and reluctant builders, and trying to find availablility and the right quantity of green building supplies with the help of the California Center for Sustainable Energy and Green Spark. Always an inspirational, thoughtful guest, this encore presentation of Jacques Lord's return to Treehuggers International is now available at the Show Archive page.

March 30, 2009

Near Lake Ediza in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
(photo courtesy of Buck Forester / © 2005 Buck Forester) 

WILDERNESS UPDATE - GREAT NEWS: The landmark 2009 Omnibus Wilderness Bill passed its second go-round through the House of Representatives with prior pproval from the Senate, and was signed into law by President Obama on March 30th. To celebrate the new wilderness designation of two million acres of your public land, including 700,00 acres right here in California, enjoy a celebration of wilderness with writer, photographer, and ecologist George Wuerthner. The author of 34 books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, including the two-volume guide to Califorinia's Wilderness Areas and the new book Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation, George Wuerther stops by Treehuggers International to discuss the meaning of wilderness, favorite wilderness areas, and the continuing impact of off-road vehicle use on public lands. Now available at the Show Archive page.

March 14, 2009

The Loreto coastline on Baja California's eastern shore, along the Sea of Cortez.

Treehuggers International once again extends thanks to Pro Peninsula for extending the media sponsorship invitation for the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival. A genuine honor for Treehuggers International to be associated with such a great set of films, echoing so many sentinents near and dear to the concept of Treehuggers International.

Our most recent conversation with Pro Peninsula Executive Director Kama Dean is now available at the Show Archive page, as Kama and Tommy talk about the success of Pro Peninsula's Adopt A Sea Turtle program, Pro Peninsula's overall mission and outreach to Baja fishing communities, and some of the remote locations along the Baja coastline where Pro Peninsula operates. Also, click HERE to see a great article about Pro Peninsula in the San Diego Union-Tribune.


March 7, 2009

Mexican Gray Wolves at the National Zoo, Washington D.C.
(photo courtesy of John White / © 2001 John White)

GRAY WOLF UPDATE: Bad news, the Obama administration recently opted to uphold the Bush administration's second removal of the gray wolf from endangered species protection in the Rockies and Upper Midwest. Gray Wolves were originally put back under endangered species protection in July following a poorly-conceived de-listing of the animal last March, which led to destructive mass hunts and an outcry among conservationists. Join Treehuggers International as Tommy chats with Patrick Valentino of the California Wolf Center in Julian about the politics and mechanics behind the wolf de-listing, as well as the successful re-introduction of the Mexican Gray Wolf with help from the California Wolf Center into its mountain habitat in Arizona and New Mexico. Now available at the Show Archive page.

February 22, 2009

Taking it to the beach, by rail.
(photo courtesy of Don Tormey / L.A. Times)

With December's U.S. Commerce Department decision essentially ending the TCA's bid to build a toll road at San Onofre State Beach and Trestles, it seemed to be a good time to revisit Treehuggers International's discussion with Steve Long, retired California State Parks ranger, surfer, and Senior Advisor to the San Onofre Foundation, to talk about the future of Trestles and San Onofre State Beach.

Featuring previously unheard audio, go to the Show Archive for an insider's take on the battles behind the long-proposed toll road at San Onofre from someone who spent a career watching over Trestles and the San Onofre backcountry in the service of the citizens of California, as we revisit Steve Long's appearance on Treehuggers International, now available at the Show Archive page (Eddie Vedder "Save Trestles" photo courtesy of Elizabeth Willes).


December 7, 2008

The bluffs at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Darren Smith, Resource Ecologist with California State Parks and the Natural Resources Program Manager for Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, is now available at the Show Archive page. Learn about threats facing the reserve from invasive species and invisible-to-the-naked eye effects of urbanization, how Torrey Pines remains a remnant of the rapidly vanishing native Southern California coastal ecosystem, and get the scoop on San Diego's most revered tree, which lends it's name to a school, a road, businesses, even a gliderport!


October 26, 2008

Tijuana River from Sunset Trail, Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge.

Treehuggers International's conversation with Ben McCue from Wildcoast is available at the Show Archive page. Listen in as Tommy and Ben discuss the problem of pollution and sewage in the Tijuana River Estuary, strides being made on both sides of the U.S. / Mexico border to clean up the Tijuana River, and the new Monte de Los Olivos sewage treatment plant in Tijuana. Also discussed is the suspension of the San Diego County Ocean Water Quality Program, which monitors the water quality at area beaches, and the recent Playas Limpias Mexico Parks and Beaches Clean-Up Day. Para ver el website de Wildcoast en Español, chasque AQUÍ.


August 23, 2008

CARLSBAD DESALINATION UPDATE: The State Lands Commission joined the California Coastal Commission in approving the permit for a $300 million desalination plant at the Encina Power Plant in Carlsbad, with only token mitigation of its environmental impacts taken into account. While creating much-needed fresh water, the plant will irrepairably harm marine life, not to mention use more energy to power it's reverse osmosis process of filtering seawater than it takes to pump water from the San Joaquin Delta to Southern California, a process which is already energy-intensive to the extreme. Desalination has the potential to be a smart component to meeting our fresh water needs in San Diego, but this is a poor approach to an otherwise good idea.


July 6, 2008

Help keep California State Parks open.

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with author, retired California State Parks ranger, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park paleontology expert Paul Remeika is now in the Show Archive. Currently working on a revised edition of his landmark book Geology of Anza-Borrego: Edge of Creation, Paul Remeika provides a fascinating look into the layers of fossils, rock, and time captured in the Salton Trough and on natural display at the "outdoor museum" of Anza-Borrego, and discusses the myriad of fault blocks and tectonic forces which make Anza-Borrego one of the most seismically active areas in North America. Now available at the Show Archive page.

Treehuggers International friend Rick Halsey landed some prime real estate in the November 26th, 2008 edition of the Los Angeles Times to talk about the California Chaparral Institute and his work preserving and protecting California chaparral.  Read the article HERE, and scroll down to the Show Archive to hear Rick's most recent appearance on Treehuggers International discussing the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum, holistic approaches to land management and fire prevention, his experience as a Type II wildland firefighter, concerns over the prescribed burning of backcountry chaparral, fuel management issues, and Rick's visit to the Tassajara Zen Center in Big Sur. Review the lessons of the October 2007 Firestorms with a chaparral expert and fire professional at the Show Archive page.
 

Listener Christina a.k.a. Treehugger Girl in San Francisco.