• CONSERVATION – The Other Stuff: Faults and Sand

    By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants ChairSince I’m working on the Cottonwood Sand Mine EIR, having just finished commenting on the De Anza Natural NOP, I figured it’s time to admit something a little weird: not all the issues I deal with in my letters are the CNPS topics of native plants, conservation, and wildfire. Here’s what happens, and here’s what I try to do about it.

  • CONSERVATION: More Rocket Science

    By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants ChairThat bit of irreverence might become my theme for 2022. Environmental planning is “rocket science,” not because it involves complex equations, but because it involves planning for and managing a complex program that takes years to plan, execute, and manage. MSCPs, for example, run for 50 years, and the North County MSCP has been in preparation for almost 25 years now. Working with projects on these timespans is not simple.

  • CONSERVATION: Good Grief. 2022?

    By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants ChairAnother year disappeared somewhere. So, what does 2022 hold?I’m looking out my window at my neighbor’s majestic queen palm. Its fronds overhang my roof, while its trunk is wrapped in Christmas lights. It’s a festive sight, and with the rain, I don’t have to fret about it catching fire and raining embers down on my roof for a while. And people wonder why I advocate for more native plants in gardens, even though I’m supposed to be fighting CEQA battles?