Save Rose Creek

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.

Putting a dollar value on our creek

2009-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

I know for many people who love Rose Creek, the idea of putting a dollar value on it seems silly. However, if you're interested in how dollars can be assigned to Rose Creek, here's a great study that looks at the dollar value of our canyons and creeks in the City of San Diego (it's over two billion dollars). Check it out here.

Los Angeles Creek Freaks

2009-10-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Some great working being down on urban creeks and rivers in Los Angeles. Check out the LA Creek Freaks blog for info.

High Speed Rail in San Diego - Presentation Nov 12

2009-10-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Rose Creek Watershed Alliance is convening a meeting on Thursday, November 12 from 7 PM to 9 PM at Standley Recreation Center in University City. (3585 Governor Drive, San Diego, CA 92122, (858) 552-1652)

A representative from the California High Speed Rail project will present a project overview. Then we will be working on comments and ideas on how to create a positive high speed rail project for San Diego that meets the needs of our community and protects our natural resources. For more information on this project, visit the High Speed Rail web site. To be part of the online discussion, visit the CAHSR Blog.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free event.

For more information on the Rose Creek Watershed Alliance, click here. Or email info@rosecreekwatershed.org.

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, October 10 @ 10 AM

2009-09-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening and Tree Watering on October 10 from 10 AM until noon.

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, October 7 @ 6 PM

2009-09-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

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
California Coastal Cleanup Day wrapup
Watering trees/plants
Transportation Projects in Rose Creek Watershed
Additional items TBA

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

Rose Creek Watershed Alliance Meeting - Oct 5

2009-09-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

The Rose Creek Watershed Alliance is convening a meeting on Monday, October 5 from 6:30 PM to 8 PM at Standley Recreation Center in University City. (3585 Governor Drive, San Diego, CA 92122, (858) 552-1652)

Our focus will be on transportation projects being proposed for the watershed. We hope to have a representative from the California High Speed Rail project for the first 30 minutes of the meeting to present a project overview.

We are also setting aside time to talk amongst ourselves on how to respond to the situation at hand.

For more information on the Rose Creek Watershed Alliance, click here. Or email info@rosecreekwatershed.org.

Coastal Cleanup Day Volunteer Thank You

2009-09-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

A bit thanks to Campland on the Bay and Henry's Marketplace in Pacific Beach for providing our volunteers with ice cream and fruit. We had 70 people turn out to pick up nearly a ton of trash from Rose Creek.

You helped keep more trash out of the "Garbage Patch" in the Pacific Ocean that's as large as the United States. For more info on marine debris, click here.

Here's the update from the local cleanup day coordinators':

On behalf of I Love A Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper, we would like to sincerely thank you for your involvement in the 25^th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) in San Diego County.

Site captains show steadfast enthusiasm and stewardship, without which the event would not be possible. Thanks to your endeavors, we were able to properly honor the 25^th anniversary of CCD with a 25% increase in volunteer support from last year! Your San Diego County Coordinators are thrilled to have worked with each of you as well as the 10,143 volunteers that took to the beaches, bays, canyons, rivers, creeks, and urban areas resulting in a cleaner and greener community. This combined effort prevented an astounding 133,453 pounds of debris from continuing to contaminate the outdoors that we strive to protect each year through this event.

Not only did you partake in a countywide environmental feat locally, you added to the success of a statewide event that hosted a total of 74,724 volunteers that removed over one million pounds of debris from close to 1,000 locations. The State of California in only one part of the International Coastal Cleanup, which took place in all 50 states, 5 U.S. territories, and 104 countries for a united worldwide effort to support our shared ocean. Everyone involved in this far-reaching event deserves a resounding thank you on behalf of our oceans, communities, and environment.

For more information on the overall event, we invite you to visit this year

Rose Creek Cleanup for Coastal Cleanup Day

2009-09-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

25th Anniversary of California Coastal Cleanup Day
Saturday, September 19th, 2009 - 9am to 12 noon

Join the Friends of Rose Creek, San Diego Coastkeeper and I Love a Clean San Diego as we clean up Rose Creek. After the Cleanup join us for an Ice Cream Social provided by Campland on the Bay (Thank you!). Meet at Mission Bay High School (Faculty/East parking lot) in Pacific Beach. 2475 Grand Avenue. A great big shout out to Henry's Marketplace in Pacific Beach for kicking down fruit for cleanup volunteers.

Please wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, and a hat. We will be providing water and some gloves; however, volunteers are welcome to bring extra water and strongly encouraged to bring heavy-duty work or gardening gloves as we won't have enough for everyone. We are hoping to send a crew into an area of the creek with Poison Oak. If you're interested in pulling trash out of the jungle, please wear long sleeves and volunteer for Poison Oak territory.

We'll be cleaning up Rose Creek between Mission Bay High School and Mission Bay Drive as well as a site along Santa Fe Street if we get enough volunteers. - click here to sign up and preregister. If you're not preregistered, please come 15 minutes early.

This is a great opportunity to obtain community service hours for students and learn about wetlands eco-systems.

Special Volunteer needs: We need someone with a pickup truck who can help haul trash from various points along the creek to our dumpster. We also could use someone with a mini-van to drive a crew of volunteers up to a site along Santa Fe Street that is over a mile away.

Check back for more info as we get closer to the event.

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of California Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) - that's 25 years of protecting and restoring our beautiful California communities! San Diego Coastkeeper and I Love A Clean San Diego, in partnership with the California Coastal Commission, will continue to coordinate San Diego's largest volunteer event in support of the marine environment. The mission of CCD is to engage people to remove debris from the California's beaches and waterways; to identify the sources of marine debris; and ultimately change the behaviors that cause pollution.

Monthly Meeting, Sept 2 @ 6 PM (NEW DAY)

2009-09-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

~ We meet the First Wednesday of every month ~ NOTE: This is a change in week of month!

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

Agenda
California Coastal Cleanup Day
Watering trees/plants
Transportation Projects in Rose Creek
Additional items TBA

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

Native Plant Weed & Water Saturday, September 12 @ 10 AM

2009-09-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

The Nature School - Native Plant Garden Maintenance *

Join us for Native Plant Gardening and Tree Watering on Saturday September 12 from 10 AM until noon.

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.

Native Plant Watering Party - Saturday, Sept 26 @ 10 AM

2009-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

10 Am until Noon!

We've got 9 trees and a heap of coastal sage scrub plants that need water. If you've been wanting to help out, we can really use your help this weekend.

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

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.

High Speed Rail Project

2009-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

UPDATED 9/10/2009
DATE CHANGE: High Speed Rail Route Meeting

DATE CHANGE: The California High Speed Rail Authority is moving its public scoping meeting dates for its San Diego high speed rail segment. They will no longer be held on Sep. 29, Sep. 30, and Oct. 1, as previously announced. The new dates and times have not yet been decided, but will likely be in mid-October. We will inform you of the new dates and times as soon as we receive them.

****************************************************

Last year the State of California passed a bond measure to support moving forward with a high speed rail project linking California's major metropolitan areas together. The bond measure included proposed corridors that include Rose Creek and Rose Canyon as well as language indicating that enviromental impacts would be taken into consideration where feasible.

To find out more information or to be involved in the planning process, there will be meetings in San Diego over the next two months or so. Here is the information:

California High-Speed Rail Authority Public Meeting
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has proposed University City be one of three high-speed rail stops in San Diego County, the other two being Escondido and Lindbergh Field.

The purpose of the meeting will be to inform the public about proposed routes for the high-speed rail line through the area, and allow the public to express concerns about the proposed routes through the area. One proposed route enters a tunnel in Carroll Canyon near I-805, travels underground to an underground station at UTC, and exits the tunnel into Rose Canyon near Regents Road. The second proposed route would enter a tunnel at Miramar Road near I-805 and otherwise follow the same route. The train would travel along the I-15 corridor between Escondido and Carroll Canyon.

The comments collected at the meeting, as well as the CHSRA's response to each comment, will be published around January 2010 as a Scoping Report. Around January or February of 2010, the CHSRA board will select a preferred alternative route for the high-speed rail line.

The format of the meeting will be a workshop or fair, with displays, staff on hand to answer questions, and handouts, but no scheduled presentations. From 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. the meeting will be tailored to public agencies, and from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. the meeting will be tailored to members of the public, although anyone can come and go at any time.

CHSRA representatives are also expected to present at the September meeting of the University Community Planning Group, which will take place on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at the University Town Center Forum Hall. There will also be two additional scoping meetings in the San Diego area: in downtown San Diego on September 30 and in Escondido on October 1.