Ventana Wilderness Alliance
P.O. Box 506
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
(831) 423-3191 phone/fax
www.ventanawild.org
The Ventana Wilderness Alliance is now a California nonprofit corporation. The founding directors are Steve Chambers, Boon Hughey, Gordon Johnson, Tom Hopkins and Jon Libby. Additionally, the VWA has received tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status from the IRS and tax-exempt status from the California Franchise Tax Board; effective March 7, 2000 dues and donations to the VWA are tax deductible.
Saturday, September 16th from 11:00 am until 3:00 or 4:00
Ventana Wilderness Alliance to host member gathering at Jack's Peak Regional Park near Monterey. It will be a great opportunity to meet some of the other VWA folks and finally put some faces to all those email messages. We'll hang around the Monterey Pines group picnic area for a couple of hours discussing issues and projects and getting to know each other, then those who care to can join in on a hike. Jack's Peak has some wonderful trails with great views of the whole of Monterey Bay and Point Lobos. The event is also open to non-members interested in finding out more about the VW A.
Where: Jack's Peak Regional Park at the Monterey Pines Group Picnic Area: take Olmstead Road south off of Highway 68 directly across from the entrance to the Monterey Airport just outside Monterey. In less than a mile you'll come to Jack's Peak Park Road on the left, which is the way to go. After entering the park you turn left at the gate, which will get you to the group picnic area. There's a $3.00 per car entrance fee, so carpool where you can. Bring: A picnic lunch for yourself, and a little something to share if you feel like it. For more information please contact event organizer Tzila "Z" Duenzl at ZDuenzl@aol.com.
In order to establish an Operating Reserve that will ensure financial stability for the VWA, the Board has set a goal of $25,000 to be raised from within the membership for this purpose. This amount is in addition to member's annual dues. These funds are to be held as a reserve to be used to insure the permanent existence of the VWA. It may also be used to temporarily fund emergency projects in advance of targeted fundraising to finance those projects. Said subsequent targeted fundraising would be used to reimburse the Operating Reserve.
To initiate the fund, the Board committed $5,000, which had been previously donated to the VWA by a member who wished to remain anonymous. A second anonymous member pledged $10,000, as a one-to-one matching grant, to motivate the VWA members to raise an additional $10,000 from among themselves. Upon completion of this phase, the $25,000 Operating Reserve will be funded.
To raise the $10,000 from the membership, and thus secure the $10,000 in matching funds, each Board member will be asked to make a significant one-time contribution. After each of the Board members have made their pledge, all individual members will be asked to make a significant one-time contribution. It is anticipated that this process will generate a minimum of five contributions of $1,000 each five contributions of $500 each and fifty contributions averaging $50 each, thus achieving the goal. The Treasurer has volunteered to undertake the leadership of this campaign.
We already have a good core of volunteers (lawyer, CPA, web monkey, computer guru, publicist, public speakers etc). But, in order to keep this all volunteer organization going we could use: Graphic Artist to design brochure and promo materials, Newsletter Editor, Field trip Coordinator, major donors, etc. For info, or to volunteer, call or email:
(831) 423-3191, intouch@ventanawild.org
Give the Gift of the Wilderness: use this brochure to make the tax-deductible gift of a VWA membership to a friend or relative as an early holiday gift or to celebrate the autumnal equinox!!
The entire board of directors of the VW A plus an additional 8 VWA members attended the Wilderness Conference in Sacramento in May 2000. The VWA was not only well represented at the conference but also received several commendable references in some of the presentations as an up and coming organization in the field of players involved with wilderness expansion and preservation.
In April the VWA issued a press release opposing the pending proposal for helicopter assisted backcountry hunting in the Monterey Ranger District of the LPNF. Several major bay area papers picked this up and the VWA received a good deal of publicity. Additionally, VWA member Tzila Duenzl was on a local radio show discussing the VWA's position on the proposed heli-hunting permit. Thanks also to all of the VWA members who called or wrote to the Forest Service regarding this issue. On June 7, 2000, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD; http://www.biologicaldiversity.org) and the VW A filed a formal notice of intent to sue the LPNF should it approve the proposal to allow helicopter assisted hunting in remote areas of the back country near Big Sur. On June 28, 2000, Monterey District Ranger William Metz denied the proposal to allow heli-hunting in the District.
The CBD and the VWA filed suit on June 9, 2000 in the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California that would require the Forest Service to conduct a full environmental impact analysis before reopening the Indians-Arroyo Seco Road. The USFS has subsequently withdrawn their decision to reopen the road.
As they come up for review the VWA is monitoring and commenting on all grazing allotments in the Monterey Ranger District. A draft Environmental Analysis was due out this September for the coastal grazing allotments but has been postponed until "maybe December" according to District Ranger Metz.
The VW A has received a grant of $3,000 from the California Wild Heritage Campaign to help fund our work on the proposed Ventana and Silverpeak Wilderness additions. This grant will fund a slide show of potential wilderness additions and Wild and Scenic River designations in our region and tours of potential wilderness areas. VWA Board member Gordon Johnson is heading up this project.
The VWA has been following the National Park Service's interest in acquiring portions of FHL. The NPS has held several public hearings recently which were attended by VW A members. The VWA has gone on record as supporting the NPS involvement in the FHL lands and has submitted scoping comments on the National Park Service - Fort Hunter Liggett Feasibility Study.
Boon has made several additions to the website recently. Take a look to see press releases, the calendar, breaking news and other changes: www.ventanawild.org
The email server list is the easiest and quickest way for VW A members to communicate. For those of you who may have opted off of the list in the past, please re-consider. The messages going out are more germane to VWA issues and the volume of messages is way down from last fall when it peaked during the fires. To re-establish yourself, contact Gordon at gjohnson@c-zone.net.
The Coastal Watershed Council of Santa Cruz has worked closely with the VWA in organizing an all-volunteer in-depth study of the Arroyo Seco River to analyze water quality, sedimentation, turbidity, etc. The project began in the summer of 1999, with follow-up readings being taken periodically thereafter. A number of VWA members have volunteered to participate, and more are needed. To get involved or for more info contact Steve Chambers at kestrel@cruzio.com or (831) 423-3191.
Ventana Wilderness Alliance
P.O. Box 506
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
(831) 423-3191 phone/fax
www.ventanawild.org
