To our supportive community,
On November 5th the world shifted.
The broad progress on climate change, clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice that the Inflation Reduction Act promised is now in doubt. Basic human rights are under assault. The United States standing as a world leader addressing the greatest threat ever faced by mankind, global climate change, will be set back decades just as our standing as defenders of human rights diminishes. As this is happening, in the past year global average temperatures lifted 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the threshold NASA scientists (I hope they still have their jobs in 2025) have indicated will lead to catastrophic sea level rise and extreme weather events, as San Diego experienced with historic flooding in our poorest neighborhoods this February, and as all of California is experiencing with ever more frequent and devastating wildfires. Just when we were hoping to take a significant step forward, now we are taking a frightening leap backward…
So, what exactly can we do now?
First and foremost, get involved. San Diego Canyonlands is a nonprofit, so I can’t recommend who or what party to vote for. But please, please do not assume someone else will step into this breach. All of us need to step up together. Become politically active, make your voice heard, stand united for humanity and the planet in whatever way, and through whatever action group best fits you. That might be through environmental organizations like us, political action groups, indigenous and immigrant rights groups, LGBTQ+ rights groups, women’s rights groups. All these concerns are part of a unified vision for a progressive future, really the only actual future for humanity. We have created a global environmental crisis through division and exploitation. We will overcome the crisis only through unification and a shared vision for a brighter future.
Second, please give how and in what ways you can to the nonprofits like Canyonlands, the organizations that are on the front line of these issues. Nonprofits are the local foundation of crucial social and environmental change. We are the boots-on-the-ground, the area experts, the change agents who make a real difference in the lives of everyday people. The promise of the Inflation Reduction Act was to be effected through a distribution of financial support across a spectrum of social and business ventures, including to nonprofit organizations across the nation. It was to be the rising tide lifting all boats. That new hope is now fading.
Should you wish to support Canyonlands in this moment of need, this is how we are putting your donations to work.
In the past five years, Canyonlands has gone from being a small environmental advocacy group focused on canyons to being a local environmental leader focused on protecting regional biodiversity, providing a positive vision of environmental justice reconnecting underserved communities and populations to nature, and we have become a significant contributor to local conservation planning and land management.
We are building out a Conservation Workforce Initiative that includes our full-time Restoration Team (recruited from local underserved communities) who implement our many environmental and fire resiliency projects, and who receive on-the-job training in a variety of specializations. This year, Canyonlands hopes to complete the San Diego Natural Resource Certification Program, in partnership with other nonprofits and academic institutions, that will form the core training for our field team and provide curricula for our other training and educational programs, which include the Environmental Careers Opportunities program providing 4-month basic environmental training to those at-risk of homelessness or transitioning back into the workforce.
This means that Canyonlands is a small business employer supporting the local green economy. Our staff scientists, Restoration Team, and ECO trainees comprise 20-40 full-time/benefited positions each year! Our full-time employees receive generous health benefits, and when folks are on a short-term contract, the training they have received with us often helps them get jobs with for-profit environmental consultancies and agencies like the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department. Four former Canyonlands employees are currently rangers with the City and County of San Diego.
Along with our continued support of volunteerism, including many Canyons Friends Groups and volunteer work projects every weekend, the Canyonlands Outreach Department has established a popular youth internship program called the Canyon Connections Internship Program (CCI) at schools within the City Heights Community. Our last CCI cohort of 12 had 48 applications! We paired our student interns with scientists at the San Diego Natural History Museum, and the students completed a Monarch habitat restoration project, trailhead native gardens on the City Heights Canyon Loop Trail, and created laminated field guides on local native plants, native critters, and invasive weeds that we provide to volunteers working in City Heights. Key to the success of this program within this low-income neighborhood is that we provide living wage rate stipends to the students. Kids who otherwise would need part-time employment after school now have the opportunity to spend healthy time outside, forming close friendships, and crafting a relationship with nature.
You may know that Canyonlands specializes in removing invasive and fire-prone fan palms by helicopter from steep and difficult access canyon areas. To date we have cleared five canyon systems just west of Mission Trails Regional Park of fan palms, with a fifth canyon underway, and restored the canyons’ riparian habitats. Over the past two years we have also developed a close partnership with the City of San Diego Open Space Division brush management team. Through that partnership, our team has mobilized in 18 canyons and many other natural spaces to reduce the presence of invasive, flammable plants and replace them with deep-rooted, hardened, native species, which create natural firebreaks and prevent further ecosystem degradation in the interface between private property and canyon Open Space, protecting communities throughout San Diego.
Keeping faith for a brighter future.
In the face of mounting climate change impacts and political setbacks, Canyonlands is moving forward to craft a resilient conservation future for the San Diego region. Over the past few years, we have been working with a score of local environmental and social justice partners to develop an integrative vision to address environmental threats and persistent environmental injustice. People healing nature and nature healing people. From pioneering innovations like streambed bioengineering to stewarding complex habitats through workforce development, and by deepening our connections to local communities, our programs are leading the charge for environmental and community resilience. And more than ever, this essential work is only possible because of the support from donors like you. Your contribution today is more than a response to a political emergency—it’s a deeply impactful investment in the future of our region. Together, we can transform San Diego’s vulnerable landscapes into resilient, thriving ecosystems that protect and sustain our community for generations to come.
Best regards,
Clayton Tschudy
CEO & Executive Director
San Diego Canyonlands