Save SoCal's Santa Clara River -- Public comment window closes March 17, 2010

March 8, 2010 - PRLog -- Animals on the Edge, a global conservation group, is urging the public to help save Southern California's last major wild river from urban sprawling. The Lennar Corporation, a Florida-based company, has set its sights on building a massive community along the banks of the river in an un-incorporated area of Los Angeles County between Interstate 5 and the Ventura County line.

The Newhall Ranch Resource Management and Development Plan was re-circulated on February 1. It is a plan, however, that conservationists say may create potential impacts to aquatic resources of national importance that should be avoided.

Shortly after the vital ecosystem was determined to be one of America's most endangered river systems. Animals on the Edge president Leo Grillo commissioned notable landscape photographer Peter Goin to take photographs of the river in all its stages.

A portfolio, containing a total of 52 historic images were presented to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on March 2.

The photographs, in larger-than-life form, will travel the nation in a major museum exhibition.

International wildlife photographer Chris Weston is teaming with some of the region's top biologists to document the estimated 38 species of threatened, endangered and rare species on plants and animals. Their findings will be the topic of the second in a series of "Animals on the Edge" books.

Animals on the Edge has provided a contact list and sample letter for residents and business owners. The following agencies must hear from the public no later than March 17.

Enrique Manzanilla, Director
Communities and Ecosystems Division
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION IX
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

Aaron Allen, North Coast Branch Chief
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Ventura Field Office
2151 Alessandro Drive, Suite 110
Ventura, CA 93001

Diane Noda, Field Supervisor
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura Office
2493 Portola Road, Suite B Ventura, CA 93003

L.B. Nye, Regional Program Manager
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
320 W. 4th Street, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Ed Pert, Regional Manager
California Department of Fish and Game
South Coast Region
4949 Viewridge Ave
San Diego, CA 92123

Dennis Bedford
California Department of Fish and Game
South Coast Region
4949 Viewridge Ave
San Diego, CA 92123

Jill Whynot
South Coast Air Quality Management District
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

Matt Carpenter, Director
Environmental Resources
Newhall Land and Farming Company
23823 W. Valencia Boulevard
Valencia, CA 91355

SAMPLE LETTER

March 8, 2010

Enrique Manzanilla
Director
Communities and Ecosystems Division IX
United States Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

Dear Mr. Manzanilla:

On behalf of the many rare and endangered species of plants and animals which inhabit our Santa Clara River, please do not allow the Lennar Corporation's Newhall Land and Farming Company go through with a plan that could result in permanent negative impacts to the last major wild river we have in Southern California.

This river is not ours exclusively.  It is an archaeologically important national landmark that belongs to the world. It is an aquatic resource of international importance. The Santa Clara River represents the diversity of life on Earth.

My family and I support the Environmental Protection Agency in its rejection of this developer's Proposed Project Alternative 2 because it is environmentally harmful. Not only will our water resources and air quality be affected adversely by this blueprint, we will also lose 157 acres of our 100-year floodplain. This is where we work, live and prosper.

More than 12 million productive citizens and taxpayers depend on the Santa Clara River yearround. I'm one of them.

I appreciate the opportunity to express my concerns. Thank you for doing the right thing for my generation and for our posterity. Do within your power to help save the Santa Clara River from possible extinction.

Sincerely,


Jane Doe
Street Address
City, State & Postal Code