"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

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Bill Howell and Cara Furio from the San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers is now available in the Show Archive. 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 in the Treehuggers International Show Archive.

Coming soon on Treehuggers International: a discussion about the future of San Onofre State Beach with Steve Long, retired California State Parks ranger and Senior Advisor to the San Onofre Foundation.

An overcast morning in La Jolla.
(photo courtesy of Patrick Smith)

The Rancho Guejito edition of Treehuggers International is now available in the Show Archive. Comprised of two valleys and 22,000 acres of near-pristine backcountry near Escondido, Rancho Guejito is the largest tract of undeveloped, privately-held land in San Diego County. Of all the original land grants distributed by the Mexican government, Rancho Guejito's intact condition is nearly the same as when the Orzoco Family took ownership in 1845, but potential development marks a growing concern to the wild quality of the area. Treehuggers International chats with guests Bruce Coons of the San Diego Save Our Heritage Organization and Dan Silver of the Endangered Habitats League about development threats facing Rancho Guejito and the need to retain this priceless treasure. Learn more about Rancho Guejito below in the Show Archive.

Rancho Guejito is located about 12 miles east of Escondido.
(photo courtesy of Don Kelsen)

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Ben McCue from Wildcoast is now available below in the Show Archive. Topics include the problem of pollution and sewage in the Tijuana River Estuary, the 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 sudden suspension of the San Diego County Ocean Water Quality Program, which monitors the water quality at area beaches, and the upcoming Playas Limpias Mexico Parks and Beaches Clean-Up Day on November 2nd. Para ver el website de Wildcoast en Español, chasque AQUÍ.

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

TRESTLES UPDATE  (10/18/08): Looks like the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agency has bailout fever with the massive amounts of federal money being handed out these days, and is asking the federal government for a $1.1 billion dollar bailout to help cover their $4.6 million dollar debt. We humbly ask, where is the accountability for this?

Treehuggers International's conversation with Rick Halsey from the California Chaparral Institute and the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum is available in the Show Archive. Topics include holistic approaches to land management and fire prevention, concerns over the prescribed burning of backcountry chaparral, fuel management issues, and Rick's visit to the Tassajara Zen Center in Big Sur. With Santa Ana conditions forecast this weekend, now is a good time to review the lessons of the October 2007 Firestorms with a chaparral expert and fire professional. Give this NEW conversation with Rick Halsey a listen below in the Show Archive.

Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Patrick Valentino, the former Executive Director and current Director of Fund Raising and Development at the California Wolf Center in Julian, is now available in the Show Archive. Topics include the Gray Wolf's removal and subsequent reinstatement to the Endangered Species List, the rescue and reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf, and areas of conflict (and hopefully, resolution) between wolves and ranchers.

Gray wolves were recently returned to the Endangered Species List.

Also coming soon to Treehuggers International:
-  The Marine Life Protection Act with San Diego Coastkeeper.
-  Santa Barbara conservationists cut a landmark deal with offshore oil interests.
-  Getting together with friends from the Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute.

OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE  (9/24/08): Congress has opted to allow the offshore oil drilling ban to expire. First imposed in 1981 and upheld by the previous President Bush in 1990, the current President Bush lifted the decades-old federal ban on offshore oil drilling in June. While Gov. Schwarzenegger insists he will not permit new offshore oil drilling, the possibility of new offshore oil and gas leases has become a reality while oil companies already sit on 68 million acres of leased federal land.

TRESTLES UPDATE (9/23/08): Many thanks for making it out to the Del Mar Fairgrounds for the Commerce Department hearing on September 22nd. The San Diego Union-Tribune, North County Times, Orange County Register, and Los Angeles Times all posted stories on the hearing, as did the Associated Press and USA Today.  Attendance was between 2,000 and 4,000 people both for and against over the course of the day.

The proposed southern extension of the Foothill South 241 toll road is slated to go through the intact San Mateo Creek watershed and backcountry of San Onofre State Beach and Trestles. In February the California Coastal Commission denied the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agency a permit to build the road, and the TCA has since been appealing the Coastal Commission's decsion to the federal government. So now, we wait for a decision.

San Clemente's Talega Reserve would also be affected by the proposed toll road.
(photo courtesy of Pamela Marches)

Crucial issues remain, including retaining the integrity of California State Parks, and keeping a destructive six-lane freeway out of the backcountry of San Onofre State Beach and the San Mateo Creek, which ultimately empties onto Trestles Beach. The message is simple: SAVE TRESTLES.

Like Eddie Vedder says, "Save Trestles."
(photo courtesy of Elizabeth Willes)

Rogue Wave supports the fight to Save Trestles.
(photo courtesy of Elizabeth Willes)

The proposed Foothill South 241 toll road won't just compromise the surfing quality, clean water, and wild character of Trestles, it will also throw into jeopardy long-protected burial and cultural sites of the ancient site of Panhe, close miles of backcountry trails, force the closure of the San Mateo Campground, further dissect wildlife habitat area and corridors into ever-smaller pockets, and set a terrible precedent for the disposability of parks and protected places.

Interestingly, according to the Orange County Register, toll road supporter Congressman Gary Miller of California's 42nd District (Brea/Mission Viejo) has a financial stake in seeing the Foothill South 241 toll road built through San Onofre. Coincidence?

An earier rebuttal from the Transportation Corridor Agency in the North County Times seems to indicate whatever wild character the backcountry of San Onofre State Beach still has isn't worthy of the protection it was originally granted because it's not 100% wilderness; therefore, the logic goes, it's okay to build a six-lane toll road through it. Unfortunately, the original sin proposition of building a toll road through a state park in the first place is not addressed.

Click on the video below to see Clint Eastwood talk about why Trestles and San Onofre State Park need to be saved and preserved, as was the case when the park was set aside by Governor Reagan in 1971.

One of Treehuggers International's first guests, environmental geologist Jacques Lord, recently appeared on NBC 7/39 along with Lauri Walker of the Center for Sustainable Energy to talk about his plans to rebuild his Rancho Bernardo home to green standards and LEED certification.  Jacques and his family lost their home in the Witch Creek Fire in October.  Click HERE to see Greg Bledsoe's piece about Jacques Lord on NBC 7/39!

CARLSBAD DESALINATION UPDATE  (8/22/08): 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.

SUNRISE POWERLINK UPDATE  (6/30/08): The California Public Utilities Commission has sent the Sunrise Powerlink back to the drawing board by ordering changes to the plan's draft environmental impact report and requesting additional information on alternate routes. Meanwhile, Governor Schwarzenegger has thrown his support behind the construction of the Sunrise Powerlink, despite repeated, consistent objections from citizens around the region.  To hear Treehuggers International's recent conversation with Micah Mitrosky of the Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions campaign and learn more about the proposed Sunrise Powerlink, scroll down to the Show Archive.

Keep our California State Parks open!

STATE PARKS UPDATE  (5/19/08): Governor Schwarzenegger's 2008-2009 budget proposal sought to close 48 California State Parks, but it caused such an uproar the Governor is hoping a new tactic will cover budget shortfalls, leaving threatened California State Parks open...for the time being. To see the entire list of parks threatened with closure and to encourage Governor Schwarzenegger to keep them open, with help from the California State Parks Foundation, click HERE.

Tommy Hough is honored to be named a 2008 Clean Water Award recipient from the San Diego Chapter of the Surfider Foundation. Many thanks, especially to Bill Hickman and Elizabeth Willes from Surfirder who stopped by the FM 94/9 studios to present the award on the air.

Former San Diego fire chief Jeff Bowman and Rick Halsey of the California Chaparral Institute have been in the news recently as the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum issued its list of recommendations regarding the 2007 Wildfires.

Kama Dean and Pro Peninsula recently made front page news in the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Read the article HERE.

Listener Christina hugs a tree in San Francisco.

"This generation must come to terms with nature, and I think we're challenged, as mankind has never been challenged before, to prove our maturity and our mastery...not of nature, but of ourselves."   -   Rachel Carson

We live in a beautiful corner of the United States, with a coastline admired the world over and a backcountry ripe for exploration, but environmentally, there's no denying it: we've got our hands full in San Diego.

Southern California may be one of the most densely populated urban areas in the nation, but if you look around and study the land, it's easy to see how inhospitable the region can be. While our dry Mediterranean climate has made our region justly famous with vacationers, beach lovers, and sun worshippers, it also leaves us with little annual rainfall, irregular and unpredictable hydration cycles, and an overall deficit of fresh water.

Enabled by water pumped in from dams and rivers hundreds of miles away across several faultlines and two deserts, we live in an artificially-created bowl of sustainability, as we share our dwindling fresh water supply with other thirsty southwestern cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, and Los Angeles. Our ability to be a thriving civilization or a threatened outpost, clinging on the dry edge of the continent, will continue to be determined by our access to fresh water. The next time we have a major earthquake, and we're due in Southern California (the last "Big One" in our end of the state was in 1857) it won't just be your cellphone that doesn't work; it'll be your toilet, your shower, and the availability of fresh water.  Save some now.

Instead of staying out of river basins and flood zones, we've enabled construction in nature's "keep out" areas by corralling and straightening our river channels into concrete culverts, which "flush" litter and other built-up material onto our beaches during rainy weather. We thoughtlessly throw cigarette butts and trash out the windows of our cars and trucks and pour toxic materials into storm drains, all of which eventually winds up on the beach when we receive our occasional rainfalls. Studies continue to show our oceans becoming more sick from pollution and overuse every year, as an area of trash twice the size of Texas floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Despite the toughest air pollution regulations in the country and the rise in popularity of hybrid vehicles, we continue to treat our skies like a sewer from the sheer volume of humans on the road, ships in our harbors, and aircraft in our skies. We in California even have to sue the EPA in order to receive waivers to regulate tailpipe emissions to make our air cleaner. Even in Southern California's highest mountain ranges, the effects of air pollution can be found in slowly-strangled pine trees on the highest peaks, as the odor of emissions and air pollutants rise and collect in canyons and along hillsides, smogging out the views of our mountains.

Nature has genetically designed much of Southern California's chaparral-covered landscape to burn, since our long, hot summers and brief, damp winters don't allow enough time for organic matter to decay and break down. Yet developers continue to encroach upon and build in highly fire-prone areas, and our city and county remain deficient in terms of basic fire-fighting services.

We choose to live here, yet slowly, humans are extinguishing what we love best about living in Southern California in the first place. As environmental geologist Jacques Lord describes, "we're at war with nature," and when we fight with nature, "we're gonna lose."  It doesn't have to be this way.

On Treehuggers International we look for solutions to Southern California's environmental challenges, in a laid back, conversational atmosphere with newsmakers, activists, community leaders, public officials, environmental professionals, and academics, all working to keep Southern California green and clean.

We'll get you up to speed on volunteer opportunities in your neighborhood and in California's world-class national and state parks, open spaces, and wilderness areas, we'll dispense day-to-day wisdom about little things you can do to keep our region environmentally unique and special, and we'll let you know about community events and activities with environmental organizations, as well as hiking trails and outdoor activities you may not have realized are right in your backyard.

Yes, Tommy is on My Space, click HERE to be connected.

To hear previous editions of Treehuggers International broadcast on Seattle radio, click HERE and scroll down.  Installments include a two-part series on Stehekin, Washington, a conversation with The Wilderness Society, and catching up with the crew from Grist.

Keep e-mailing us your photos of you hugging trees outdoors on the trail, in your yard, or anywhere. We're slowly building a photo gallery of Treehuggers International fans from around the world. Be sure to include your name, where the photo was taken, and (if possible) what kind of tree it is. Thanks.

"Eventually we'll realize...if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves."   -   Dr. Jonas Salk