Pacific Region - Regional Reports

Parks & Recreation, April, 2003

Developers in Lancaster, Calif., will have to pay a higher park development fee, now that the City Council has unanimously approved increasing the parkland standard from three acres per 1,000 residents to five. NRPA used to recommend five acres per 1,000 residents; however, we now suggest that communities develop needs assessments to be sure the needs of the community are met.

For the past 13 years, the Wilderness Education Program has been providing a year-round experiential outdoor education program that focuses on teaching wilderness skills and environmental stewardship, and developing leadership potential. The guides and staff have hiked and climbed the local mountains, the Sierras, the Rockies, Africa, Europe and the Himalayas. More than 9,000 kids and adults from local, public and private schools, Ventura (Calif.) Police Department PAL Program, adaptive programs, Foundation for the Junior Blind, corporate programs, youth groups, at-risk kids programs and traditional guiding services, have participated. Yet this valuable nonprofit organization is struggling to stay open, as the unstable economy has left a huge gap in funding. A concentrated fundraising campaign for the organization is underway to raise $200,000 in the next five months. For more information, contact wepwaw@aol.com or go to www.wildernessedprogram. com.

An aerial view of Los Angles basin shows a criss-cross of linear, concrete paths. But these aren't freeways. They're the rivers, arroyos and washes of L.A.'s massive flood control system--the once-pristine Los Angeles River, but now a 52-mile paved sluice that, on most days, carries a ribbon of undrinkable water to the Pacific, and that after heavy rains becomes a torrent of storm drain run-off and trash. Now more than $50 L.A. students are participating in the River School, an "outdoor classroom" started in 1998 that engages middle and high school students in day-long investigations along the Los Angeles River. Working in small research teams of 10 to 12, students collect data on water quality, stream hydrology and habitat assessment, then share their findings with local scientists and an international databank called GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations for a Better Environment). They also work on restoration and clean-up projects, cataloguing the trash they pull from the river, sometimes even turning it into sculptures. For more information on this projects and similar efforts to support youth, go to www.whatkidscando.com.