Save Rose Creek

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2010-04-30T20:22:00.001-07:00

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Technology and this Website

2010-04-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

The technology that we have been using to update this website is being terminated by Google. Therefore, this is the last new content for now. We intend to switch to new technology soon. In the meantime, please email us for up to date information. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The Friends of Rose Creek
April 30, 2010

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, May 8, 2010 @ 10 AM

2010-04-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening on May 8, 2010 from 10 AM until noon - be prepared for lots of weeding.

Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, May 5, 2010

2010-04-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* Storm Water Department Maintenance Project
* Monthly Garden Project
* Mid Coast Trolley
* Additional items TBA

Home Gardening and Wild Places

2010-04-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

The plants growing in communities surrounding Rose Creek (and other wild places), large and small, have a direct impact on the Rose Creek eco-systems. We have volunteers out at the creek trying to remove the non-native invasive species to make room for native plants that support wild birds and other creatures. What you plant in your yard, has far greater impacts than you might imagine.

The impact goes far beyond Rose Creek. To gain a better understanding of how and why, what you plant at home, impacts Rose Creek and the local wild spaces in your community, check out this series of articles in the Los Angeles Times.

Basically, every plant in your garden can be broken down into three categories:

Natives - plants that grew on that spot or in the immediate area 600 years ago.
Non-Natives - plants that were not found in the area 600 years ago such as an orange tree or a rose bush.
Invasive Non-Natives - a subset of non-natives, but ones that spread rapidly and take over the native plants - along Rose Creek that includes ice plant, pampas grass and many others.

When ever possible, landscape your garden with natives or non-invasive non-natives. This is where things get tricky. A plant that's deemed invasive along Rose Creek, may not be invasive in Northern California. For more information, check out the California Native Plant Society website. For a more detailed explanation of distinguishing the difference between a wildlife frienly non-native and invasive non-native (based the the ecosystems of the mid-atlantic United States), click here.

Earth Fair Sunday April 18 in Balboa Park

2010-04-06T07:07:00.001-07:00

The Friends of Rose Creek are a member organization of San Diego Canyonlands whose mission is to promote, protect and restore the natural habitats in San Diego County canyons and creeks by fostering education and ongoing community involvement in stewardship and advocacy, and by collaborating with other organizations (like us!)

The Friends of Rose Creek will be helping out at the San Diegon Canyonlands booth on April 18th, so stop by and say hi. We'll have the latest issue of Rose Creek Chatter and other cool information. Remember, the best way to travel to Earth Fair is via foot, bicycle or public transit. The wonderful folks at the San Diego Bicycle Coalition will have VIP Bike Parking available so your wheels will be safe and sound while you're checking out the San Diegon Canyonlands booth.

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, April 7, 2010

2010-04-06T07:06:00.001-07:00

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* End of City of San Diego Environmental Services Project :(
* Storm Water Department Maintenance Project
* Earth Fair
* Mission Bay High School Project
* Monthly Garden Project
* Mid Coast Trolley
* Additional items TBA

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, April 10, 2010 @ 10 AM

2010-04-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening on April 10, 2010 from 10 AM until noon - be prepared for lots of weeding. We made great progress last month, but as long as the rain keeps falling, the weeds keep coming.
Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.

SD City Beat Article on Sewage Spills in Rose Creek and Beyond

2010-04-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dave Maass wrote a great article on sewage spills in San Diego and specifically in Rose Creek 2 weeks ago called "Fun with Numbers:The decrease in waste water spills in San Diego depends on how you look at the statistics."

It features the work of the students at Mission Bay High School.

If you missed the print version of the article, you can find it online at SD City Beat.

San Diego Canyonlands Hike/Fundraiser

2010-02-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Friends of Rose Creek is a member of San Diego Canyonlands - a new non-profit, dedicated to restoration and preservation of San Diego's unique canyons and creeks.

San Diego Canyonlands provides Rose Creek with support in a wide variety of ways. Now it's our turn to give back. Make a pledge today and take a hike with Afoot & Afield in San Diego County author Jerry Schad plus a copy of the book and more. For details on joining the hike, click here.

It takes $$ to protect and preserve San Diego's canyons and creeks.

Due to your support, thousands of adult volunteers and youth are learning about and taking care of our wonderful canyons.

Since SD Canyonlands began 10 years ago they have established over 45 new friends groups for the canyons.
With SD Canyonlands leadership, the county-wide Canyons Coalition continues to provide a united front for canyons protection.
The dream of establishing a San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park is marching forward.

Please Help -There are hundreds more canyons that are in need of a friends group and there are many threats that need our swift attention and organized advocacy.

To donate online, click here.

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, March 3, 2010

2010-02-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* Storm Water Department Maintenance Project
* Earth Fair
* Mission Bay High School Project
* Monthly Garden Project
* Additional items TBA

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, March 13, 2010 @ 10 AM

2010-02-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Weeds to the left of us, weeds to the right, come out all volunteers and fight fight fight (or at least pull, pull, pull) !

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening on March 13, 2010 from 10 AM until noon - be prepared for lots of weeding.
Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.

Memorial Tree planting and celebration of Dennis Sabella's life on Feb 20

2010-02-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Feb. 20. 9:00AM to Noon - Work party.

Noon to 12:30 a rest break with snacks.

12:30 to 1:30, Memorial Tree planting and celebration of Dennis Sabella's life.

Dennis was a volunteer who was dedicated to removal of non-native invasive plants from canyons, especially Stevenson Canyon - part of the Rose Creek Watershed and just east of Rose Creek.

He suffered a heart attack and died on September 19 (during Coastal Cleanup Day) while removing palm fronds from Stevenson Canyon. We will finish his work by removing the remaining palm fronds.

Meet at the canyon entrance in the 3425 Block, Idlewild Way. Directions: From Clairemont Mesa Blvd., go south on Moraga, then left (east) on Idlewild. Look for the San Diego Canyonlands Banner on the right (south) side. If you'd like to join the work party, please wear sturdy, close-toed shoes, long pants and long sleeved shirt, hat and sun protection. Or feel free to join us just for the memorial tree planting and celebration at 12:30.

Questions? Call Betsy Cory, 619-656-8669.

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, February 13, 2010 @ 10 AM

2010-02-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

Weeds to the left of us, weeds to the right, come out all volunteers and fight fight fight (or at least pull, pull, pull) And a pre Valentine's Day Gift to make you love pulling weeds!

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening and Tree Watering on January 9, 2010 from 10 AM until noon - be prepared for lots of weeding.
Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages. However, due to liability concerns, all minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian during the event.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, February 3, 2010

2010-01-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* Storm Water Department Creek Dredging Project
* New Intern (until June)
* Creek to Bay Cleanup
* Additional items TBA

Western Tracking Institute

2010-01-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

Offers training in becoming a certified wild life tracker. The Friends of Rose Creek would love to have some volunteers untake the training. Unfortunately, it costs money and we cannot reimbure you. For a list of upcoming classes, click here.

First Five Years

2010-01-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

December marked the five year anniversary of the Friends of Rose Creek. We owe many thanks to The Nature School, which planted the way for us.

At our last meeting of 2009, we put together a list of what we've done with a wide range of individuals and groups in the last five years.

FiveYearAccomplishments.pdf

2009 has been a busy year for the Friends of Rose Creek.

2009-12-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

The Friends of Rose Creek celebrated five years of loving Rose Creek. A list of our five year accomplishments will be posted here by the first week of January.

We've been working with the City of San Diego in lessening the impacts of their proposed Intermittent Stream Water Discharge Program - dumping the excess recycled water from the water recycling facility off Miramar Road into Rose and San Clemente Creeks (we don't like the idea).

The City of San Diego Storm Drain Division has also proposed removing native vegetation from our creek beds to hasten the flow or storm water into our oceans and bays (we don't like that idea either).

On a more positive note, the City of San Diego started laying sewer pipe under a stretch of Santa Fe Street. The stretch in the creek bed will be abandoned - lessening the need for the City of San Diego to drive in and out of the creek (WE LOVE THIS PROJECT).

The State of California is proposing putting a high speed rail adjacent to Rose Creek with eight foot high fences to prevent human crossing. (We don't like this idea either).

In all of the above projects, we've have other groups working in San Diego as our allies. Probably our closest ally is the Friends of Rose Canyon. They are working diligently to protect
the upper portion of Rose Creek, North of Hwy 52, and in Rose Canyon Open Space Park. Since
we focus on the portions of Rose Creek South of Hwy 52, we work very closely together on these and other issues. The Friends of Rose Canyon is a 501(c)3 and we are not. Hence one can give tax deductible donations to them and the money helps fund the wonderful lawyers they hire to make sure the City of San Diego and the State of California don't treat our beloved creek as open space for their transportation projects. Lawyers, as we all know, help keep our governments honest.

The Friends of Rose Canyon has an end of year fund raising campaign running just now, and if you could kick them a few dollars, it would help us keep a high speed train out of our creek.
To see their year end campaign and make a donation and find out how to get chocolate brownies, click here. Without their assistance, we would not be able to do what we're doing.

A couple of shout outs also go to San Diego Canyonlands and all their hard working getting our children into San Diego's wild spaces, providing financial support, and making sure our Canyons are protect. San Diego Audubon is always available to provide the scientific information on why bull dozing our creeks is a bad idea Last but not least, San Diego Earth Works has donated trees to Rose Creek, obtained funding for all sorts of important scientific studies that prevent bad things from happening to our creek and illuminate the way for good projects and put together the big Earth Fair in Balboa Park every year.

And thank you, the volunteers, for all the trash you've picked up, the weeds you've pulled, the plants you've dug holes for and the letters you've written to protect our creek. Your children's, children's children will thank you for it. SWe thank you for it. Have a wonderful and safe New Year.

No January 2010 Monthly Meeting

2009-12-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

Due to the first Wednesday being so close to the first of the year, we are skipping our monthly meeting for January 2010.

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, January 9, 2010 @ 10 AM

2009-11-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

(Please note, there is no garden party in December. Thanks for all your help over the last few years)

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening and Tree Watering on January 9, 2010 from 10 AM until noon - be prepared for lots of weeding.
Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages. However, due to liability concerns, all minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian during the event.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, December 2 @ 6 PM

2009-11-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

Please join us in celebrating five years of trash pickups, bird walks, native plant gardening, water, tree planting and all around saving Rose Creek. You did it! Come celebrate our 5 year birthday.

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* Five years of accomplishments (we will work up the list)
* Rose Creek Bikeway
* Additional items TBA

For more information, contact Karin 858-405-7503.

High Speed Rail in the News

2009-11-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

"The Interstate 15 corridor between Mira Mesa and Qualcomm Stadium would be the preferred route for the southernmost leg of California’s proposed $40 billion high-speed train network, not a path that would take it through University City, a coalition of San Diego-area elected officials said Tuesday." Read the entire article @ SDNN.com

Read the press release from Councilmember Lightner's Office (with map of proposed routes).

Rose Creek Bikeway

2009-11-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

For many years now, there has been a project to put a third bridge over Rose Creek connecting the west end of North Mission Bay Drive to the east end of Pacific Beach Drive in Pacific Beach. The bridge would be primarily for non-motorized traffic such as bikes, pedestrians, and other wheeled toys, but it would also be usable by emergency services personnel to insure ingress and egress to Pacific Beach during those crowded summer weekends when traffic is backed up on the other routes.

The project is moving forward due to funding from President's Obama's stimulus funds for "shovel ready" projects. According to the City of San Diego, plans are not yet finalized, but I do have a few PDF documents showing the plans as they currently exist.

Enjoy!

Documents received from the City of San Diego on November 4, 2009:

01-15 Civil.pdf
16 Landscape.pdf
17-22 Electrical.pdf
23-35 Bridge.pdf
Bridge Details

Monthly Meeting Wednesday, November 4 @ 6 PM

2009-10-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Inviting all residents, business owners, recreational users and others who have an interest in Rose Creek.

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~

Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street (one block south of Ingraham @ Gresham/Diamond) Enter on Gresham St.

Agenda
* Transportation Projects in Rose Creek Watershed
* Additional items TBA

For more information, contact Karin 858-405-7503.

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, November 14 @ 10 AM

2009-10-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening and Tree Watering on November 14 from 10 AM until noon. (NOTE: This is our last garden party for 2009. Our next Weed and Water event is January 9, 2010.) We'll be putting in some new plants, so come prepared to dig.

Meet behind the Rose Creek Cottage 2525 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. Park on Fogg Street just South of Garnet.

Join the Friends of Rose Creek on the Second Saturday of every month from 10 AM until Noon while we work on The Nature School’s native plant interpretive garden behind Rose Creek Cottage. Enjoy weeding, watering and planting native species and get involved with your creek and your community. We'll have snacks and beverages.

Easy one to two hours project - great for children of all ages. However, due to liability concerns, all minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian during the event.

Perfect for community service credit hours. Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. Volunteers should bring water and heavy-duty work or gardening gloves. More information Karin Zirk 858-405-7503 or kzirk@earthlink.net

* Part of the Rose Creek Wetlands & Salt Marsh Restoration and Nature Education Preserve project by The Nature Institute. New habitat restoration supported by The Nature Institute and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Dept.