California Coast Grants

52 Projects Help Explore the Coast

At its meeting on October 3, the Coastal Conservancy awarded 52 grants totaling $1.3 million for Californians to Explore the Coast.

The projects range from a festival of tall ships in San Diego to assembly of a whale skeleton exhibit in Fort Bragg. Several projects will transport people from inland areas to the ocean and San Francisco Bay, particularly people from underserved communities and those with disabilities who otherwise have few opportunities to enjoy California's most spectacular natural resource. Many projects provide environmental education about the Pacific Ocean, California's coast, or San Francisco Bay to K-12 students, targeting schools in low-income communities.

The Conservancy approved awards for the following projects, arranged geographically from south to north:

SOUTH COAST

San Diego County
$35,000 to the Ocean Discovery Institute for its Ocean Science Explorers program, which provides 3rd through 6th graders with early and continued exposure to ocean science. The program includes classroom studies, field trips, and hands-on stewardship of natural lands in the students' neighborhoods. The funding will support the program's work with more than 3,250 students in San Diego's City Heights neighborhood, a high-poverty community where the majority of students have never been to the ocean despite living only 15 minutes from the coast.
$30,000 to the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy for its Our Living Watershed environmental education program and to transport residents of the inland community to its Family Discovery Days at the lagoon. Our Living Watershed includes classroom studies and coastal field trips for 3rd through 5th graders in Escondido. The program provides 1,150 underserved students with the opportunity to explore coastal wetlands. The funding will also provide transportation for 450 people to Family Discovery Days, which are seasonal weekend events at the lagoon that include nature-themed crafts and presentations, guided hikes, and interactive exhibits.
$25,000 to WILDCOAST to support educational, recreational, and stewardship activities focused on Marine Protected Areas off the San Diego coast for at least 60 students from three high schools in low-income areas of southeast San Diego. The students"”members of Summer Adventure Clubs"” will engage in several activities including coastal ecology education, tidepool tours, citizen science projects, and cleanups, in addition to recreational activities such as surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling.
$20,000 to the Maritime Museum of San Diego to host the Festival of Sail 2014 to be held in early September at the port of San Diego. The event will feature visits from historic tall ships and working craft from around the world together with multi-cultural educational and recreational activities highlighting San Diego's working waterfront.
$20,000 to The Ocean Foundation for its Ocean Connectors program, which provides bilingual marine-conservation learning opportunities for more than 1,000 low-income 4th through 6th graders in the National City school district. Activities include whale watching excursions, habitat restoration field trips at the South Bay Salt Ponds Wetlands Complex on San Diego Bay, and visits to the Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista.
$9,950 to the San Diego Audubon Society to support its 18th annual San Diego Bird Festival to be held in Mission Bay in late February and early March 2014. The theme of the upcoming festival is "Celebrating San Diego's Coast"¯ and activities will include several workshops and field trips. The funding will support the festival's free Family Day, with hands-on arts and science programming to promote local wildlife and bird watching, and a partnership with Nikon Birding Adventures TV to produce an episode focused on San Diego birds and coastal habitats.

ORANGE COUNTY
$50,000 to Crystal Cove Alliance to support its SNAP! (Science and Nature at the Park) program, a collection of educational programs, outdoor exhibition panels, and on-line resources engaging K-12 students and visitors in conservation research at Crystal Cove State Park. The program includes Citizen Science cruises to a nearby Marine Protected Area for middle and high school students and a half-mile Environmental Study Loop in a newly restored 35-acre natural area.
$20,000 to the Ocean Institute to host the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival to be held in early September 2014 at Dana Point Harbor. The event will feature visits from historic tall ships from around the world together with multi-cultural educational and recreational activities highlighting California's maritime heritage.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY
$20,000 to Heal the Bay for a Stoked on the Coast! video contest, whose goal is to inspire students to share their experiences, passions, and daily activities as they relate to the coast. The contest will be targeted at middle and high school students across Southern California with a special focus on underserved and inland communities. Winning films will be publicly presented, promoted on several Internet sites, and used to communicate to elected officials, educators, and others the vested interest of local youth in protecting the coastal environment.
$20,000 to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps for its Coastal Corps program, whose objectives include training a crew of young adults recruited from low-income areas for conservation stewardship of the LA County shoreline. The crew will be trained to rehabilitate rescued sea life, host field trips and classes, maintain coastal restoration projects, and operate SEA Lab's native plant nursery. The program will be conducted through SEA Lab, the Corps' marine science and education facility in Redondo Beach, and will be designed to serve as a model for similar programs elsewhere.
$9,500 to the Otis College of Art and Design for its third annual Kite Festival to be held in May 2014 on the beach just north of Santa Monica Pier. A major use of the grant funding will be to provide transportation to the festival for inner-city children, many of whom have never been to the beach. The free festival features world-renowned kite artists and on-site kite making.
Los Angeles & Ventura counties

$24,000 to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for its Transit to Trails program, which will offer free trips to coastal areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties for families and community groups from disadvantaged areas. The trips will include guided talks and activities designed to develop interest in the coastal environment and encourage future visits to the coast.

VENTURA COUNTY
$49,925 to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to expand its environmental education and stewardship program aimed at disadvantaged inner-city students. The program includes teacher training in ocean science and related subjects, development of classroom curricula, and student/teacher field trips to the Santa Clara River Estuary, County Line Beach, and Channel Islands Harbor.
$9,882 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand its Citizen Science Phenology Field Studies Program through field trips that will serve more than 300 students from ten K-12 grade schools in Ventura County. USFWS biologists will lead site visits to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area where students will gather year-to-year data on seasonal changes in plants and animals (phenology) for use in studying the effects of climate change. The program will bolster the schools' science curricula and introduce many students to the natural environment of the coast.

SOUTH & CENTRAL COASTS
$48,000 to KCETLink for its production of Coastal Trail Then & Now " From San Diego to San Luis Obispo, a series that will combine journalism, photography, and video to create a web-based "Docu-logue"¯ that rediscovers the past, reveals the present, and imagines the future of the Southern California Coastal Trail. Then & Now will be designed to encourage Southern California residents and visitors to explore the Coastal Trail as it winds for 320 miles from the Mexican border through San Luis Obispo County.

CENTRAL COAST
Santa Barbara County
$27,000 to the City of Santa Barbara for web-based coastal education and outreach including development of a coastal walking map and a central source of information about the city's waterfront. The walking map will be available in multiple formats, including a mobile platform, and will link to interpretive signs installed along the California Coastal Trail and in parks, viewpoints, and other public areas along the city's 6.3 miles of shoreline. Additional online information will enable residents and visitors to get information about such subjects as Chumash Indian culture, the history and ecology of the waterfront, and potential effects of sea level rise.
$25,000 to the University of California, Santa Barbara for its Kids in Nature program to provide opportunities for teachers and students to explore the coast. The goals of the program include reconnecting children to nature and engaging underserved children in activities that will develop an appreciation for and stewardship of the local coastal environment. The program will include classroom studies and student/teacher field trips to coastal areas. In addition, coastal focused activity boxes and lesson plans will be developed, a two-day summer institute for local 5th grade teachers to highlight the local coastal regions and the resources available will be offered, and funding for bus transportation for the teachers to bring their classes to one of the coastal locations will be provided. The program will also expand opportunities for UCSB students to serve as mentors through the KIN program.
$15,000 to the Santa Barbara County Trails Council to improve visitor experience along a 22-mile length of the Gaviota Coast. The council will prepare a printed brochure, web-based maps, and additional information about visitor opportunities and associated historic, natural, and cultural resources along the coastline between Isla Vista and Gaviota State Park. The information will help people get to and appreciate this spectacular and largely undeveloped area.
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and inland counties

$10,000 to the Central Coast State Parks Association to provide transportation for underserved students to the Museum of Natural History at Morro Bay State Park and the Morro Bay National Estuary. The transportation will allow disadvantaged elementary and middle-school students from San Luis Obispo, northern Santa Barbara, and Central Valley counties to experience the coast and receive hands-on learning in life sciences and physical sciences through existing nature education programs.
San Luis Obispo and Fresno counties

$16,853 to McCabe Elementary in Mendota, Fresno County, to support five student field trips to Morro Bay State Park and Museum of Natural History. A total of 250 underserved 4th grade students will participate in the field trips, whose activities will include tours of the museum, hiking along the California Coastal Trail to tide pools, and hands-on natural science education.
San Luis Obispo County

$24,000 to Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers to prepare multi-media informational materials to help people get to and appreciate the Point San Luis Lighthouse and the nearby area. The informational materials will consist of inter-related modules that can be used through the internet and mobile devices in classrooms and on site. Information will be made available about visiting the Lighthouse and its relationship to navigation, shipping, and the historical, cultural, and economic life of the area.
Monterey and Santa Cruz counties

$20,000 to the Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove for its regional LiMPETS (Long-term Monitoring Program and Experimental Training for Students) program that will engage students in hands-on scientific research along the coast of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The students, many from underserved populations in inner-city and rural areas, will be recruited from middle schools, high schools, and colleges in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. LiMPETS has its roots in the 1970s, operates from San Diego to Bodega Bay, and annually serves about 4,000 students.
$10,000 to O'Neill Sea Odyssey to provide bus transportation that will enable students to participate in its ocean-going science and environment education program. About 18 classes of 4th through 6th grade students from lower-income communities within and outside Santa Cruz County will receive hands-on lessons about the marine environment and the importance of the sea. The program includes a field trip aboard a 65-foot catamaran sailing the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and follow-up lessons at the Odyssey's shore-side education center at the Santa Cruz Harbor.
Santa Cruz County

$20,000 to Open Streets Santa Cruz County for two Open Streets events where several miles of coastal roads in Santa Cruz and Capitola will be closed to vehicular traffic and opened to the public along the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary coastline. These events will give visitors and residents a rare opportunity to appreciate this natural treasure without the dangers associated with motor vehicles. Displays about ecology, conservation, and opportunities for coastal recreation will be featured at the Open Street events, which will take place on weekends in the summer and fall of 2014.
$25,000 to Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge for community-based restoration of coastal bluff habitat along the West Cliff Drive portion of the California Coastal Trail in Santa Cruz. Oikonos will recruit students and local residents to restore the bluff's ecosystem by removing and replacing invasive ice plant with native vegetation. The work will reduce bluff erosion and provide nesting and roosting habitat for seabirds.
$8,805 to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History for its On the Spot program that encourages wildlife viewing, offers coastal recreation and educational opportunities, and inspires stewardship of the coast. The program provides visitors with binoculars and spotting scopes to observe first-hand the birds, whales, otters, seals, and sea lions of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and offers a variety of hands-on exhibits. Web-based applications will allow remote viewing of sea life in the sanctuary through mobile devices and social media.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
$50,000 to the Association of Bay Area Governments' San Francisco Bay Trail Project to create a San Francisco Bay Trail application for mobile devices that will provide users with a set of trailside tools including geolocation maps, histories of specific sites, current points of interest, photos, and audio tours. Areas to be initially covered by the app are Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Napa River and North Bay Salt Pond Restoration in American Canyon, Hamilton Wetlands Restoration in Novato, and South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project sites in East Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale.
$49,471 to Point Bonita YMCA to engage underserved middle and high-school students in environmental education and service-learning programs to be held at the Point Bonita YMCA campus in the Marin Headlands, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County. Participating students will be recruited from schools that serve a high percentage of low-income families in Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Alameda counties. Programs will introduce students to overnight camping, hands-on science training in coastal ecosystems, and habitat restoration.
$37,500 to Environmental Traveling Companions to expand its accessible sea kayaking program for disadvantaged youth and people with physical or developmental disabilities. The program brings people onto the waters of San Francisco Bay and Tomales Bay, offering a break from their normal routines and an opportunity to learn first-hand the value of healthy coastal ecosystems. The funding will enable more people to participate in the program and increase its educational and stewardship components.
$35,000 to The Watershed Project for its Wild! Oysters education program designed to increase underserved Bay Area students' knowledge of San Francisco Bay and ocean ecology and highlight the critical role that the native Olympia oyster has played in those environments. The program includes classroom lessons and hands-on learning with field trips to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, where native oyster beds are to be installed, and an oyster farm in Tomales Bay. The funding will support the program at four high schools in Richmond, San Francisco, and San Rafael.
$33,000 to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy for a community shuttle program to address an obstacle that keeps many people from visiting parks"”lack of transportation. The program will provide free shuttle service to an estimated 5,000 people from lower-income and underserved neighborhoods in the Bay Area to four key coastal park sites: Muir Beach in Marin County, Lands End and the Presidio in San Francisco, and Mori Point in San Mateo County. The program includes neighborhood outreach activities, shuttle ambassadors (high school and college interns), and greeters at the parks.
$20,000 to the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) for its disability cycling project, which makes it possible for people with physical disabilities, including paralysis, blindness, and cerebral palsy, to experience natural lands along the coast and bay on specially adapted cycles. BORP will use the funding to provide cycle rides for the disabled in the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas, provide year-round access to cycles and training in the East Bay, train disabled volunteers to be cycling guides, and augment its cycle fleet.
$15,000 to Shark Stewards, a project of Earth Island Institute, for its Shark Watch program designed to develop an increased public appreciation for sharks and their role in the San Francisco Bay and coastal environments. The program contains three elements"”"Paddle for Sharks, See Sharks,"¯ which provides guided on-the-water outings using sea kayaks to explore local piers and observe marine wildlife; "Citizen Science,"¯ which engages the public in the collection and reporting of shark data using a mobile application; and "Sharktober Outreach,"¯ a series of eight public events that present information about the value of sharks to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem.

San Francisco
$35,000 to Literacy for Environmental Justice for its Candlestick Point Eco-stewards project to increase public use and ecological stewardship of Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, the largest public access point to the bay in southeast San Francisco. LEJ will host events to connect the community to the area's natural heritage and coordinate regular stewardship programs to grow, plant, and monitor 5,000 native plants at four restoration sites.
San Mateo County

$24,000 to the Pacifica Land Trust to develop a virtual tour of the Pedro Point Headland that will serve as a guide for both on-site and remote users. The tour will be tied to learning stations that provide descriptions and photos of the immediate surroundings along with videos about the ecology, geology, and cultural history of the area. Pedro Point Headland contains 245 acres of open land at the nexus of Montara Mountain, Pacifica State Beach, and Devil's Slide.
$15,000 to San Mateo County for its Devil's Slide Trail Ambassadors project that will create a corps of about 20 volunteers who will educate and assist users of the new 1.3-mile segment of California Coastal Trail at Devil's Slide. The project includes preparation of a training manual, purchase of safety and communications equipment, outreach to attract volunteers, classroom workshops, and field training.
$35,000 to Acterra to engage the East Palo Alto community in hands-on opportunities to learn about, beautify, protect, and enjoy San Francisco Bay along a section of the San Francisco Bay Trail. Project activities will include a series of community events to draw people to the Bay Trail, creation of a Junior Bay Steward Program targeting underserved young people from East Palo Alto, Citizen Science opportunities that involve local families in water-quality monitoring, and informational signs and web-based materials to increase trail users' understanding of the plant and animal life along the trail.
$10,000 to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to design and install two interpretive panels to engage people with cognitive disabilities such as autism. By using distinctive visual imagery and tactile learning with 3D models, nontraditional trail users will better understand the different ecological habitats of San Francisco Bay. The panels will be placed along a 1.4-mile round-trip trail at a recently restored salt pond at the western end of the Dumbarton Bridge. The trail provides an easy walk and great wildlife viewing along mudflat, managed pond, and salt marsh habitats.
Santa Clara County

$24,900 to the Environmental Volunteers to attract more people, particularly underserved populations, to the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve through use of the preserve's recently opened EcoCenter. Goals of the project include bringing lower-income young people to the preserve for education and exploration, developing stewardship opportunities for the community, and producing audio and printed tour guides and outreach materials for Spanish speakers.

Alameda County
$1,500 to the Berkeley Racing Canoe Center at the Berkeley Marina to expand its youth dragon boat paddling program through maintenance of one of BRCC's three 48-foot dragon boats and purchase of additional lifejackets, paddles, and a storage locker. The new supplies and refurbished boat will enable the volunteer members of the center to host additional paddling sessions for children from local schools and camps, helping them gain a new appreciation for the bay environment and continued access to water-borne recreation and competition.
Alameda and Contra Costa Counties

$35,000 to KIDS for the BAY, a project of Earth Island Institute, for the Watershed Action Program. The program will enable low-income students in Alameda and Contra Costa County schools to learn how their neighborhoods connect with their local creek, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean through classroom lessons, Environmental Action Projects, and field trips. The field trips will bring students to local creeks, the bay, and the ocean where they will participate in science and stewardship activities, demonstrating how their actions make a difference in their own neighborhoods and the greater Bay Area.
$40,000 to the East Bay Regional Park District for its Parks Express Program, which provides very low cost transportation by bus and lift van to underserved children, seniors, and the disabled to regional shoreline parks throughout Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The transportation can be chartered to take advantage of the recreational and educational programs run by the EBRPD or for self-guided visits.

NORTH COAST
Sonoma County
$38,000 to Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods to help people experience Campbell Cove on Bodega Head at the southern end of Sonoma Coast State Beach. The Stewards will reopen a parking lot, make trails accessible to wheelchair riders, bring underserved students to the coast, and develop educational and outreach materials. The work will be done in conjunction with the planned opening of a new marine education visitor center at Campbell Cove.
$6,000 to the Sonoma Land Trust to increase opportunities for people to visit the 127-acre Estero Americano Preserve on the border of Marin and Sonoma counties. SLT currently offers limited guided hikes and occasional group access to this highly scenic property but there is strong unmet demand for more access to the Estero Americano, most of which is in private hands. The funding will enable SLT to pioneer new "On the Land"¯ programs at the preserve to inspire the next generation of conservation enthusiasts.
Mendocino County

$41,500 to the Mendocino Land Trust to develop a California Coastal Trail mobile device application and supporting website to provide information about the trail and adjacent areas on the Mendocino coastline. The information will include trail maps, natural and human history, locally available services, and announcements of community and volunteer events.
$32,000 to the City of Fort Bragg to establish a blue whale exhibit and related educational program at the Noyo Center on the former Georgia-Pacific mill site. The exhibit will display a 73-foot blue whale skeleton, yet to be assembled, that is expected to attract thousands of visitors annually. The Noyo Center will be directly linked to 4½ miles of the California Coastal Trail along the city's newly opened waterfront.
Humboldt County

$37,000 to Humboldt Baykeeper for a public education and outreach program designed to encourage and assist people in discovering Humboldt Bay and its surrounding lands. The program will increase the number of boat and shoreline tours offered by Humboldt Baykeeper that showcase the Eureka waterfront and natural lands along the California Coastal Trail. A special outreach effort will be directed toward the Spanish-speaking community.
$32,500 to Friends of the Dunes to develop an outreach and education program to attract more visitors to the Humboldt Coastal Dunes Center near Manila, the nearby dunes, and natural lands along Humboldt Bay. The program will develop print and video materials directed toward local students, families, and prospective visitors from outside the area. Volunteers will be recruited to expand the services offered by the center and underserved students will be brought to the center for guided field trips.
$18,328 to Redwood Community Action Agency to promote public use and awareness of the Elk River Wildlife Sanctuary, 300 acres of marshes, estuary, coastal forest, and dunes tucked behind Highway 101 and commercial businesses in southwest Eureka. The promotion will include two Sundays in the Sanctuary events that will offer pedestrian/bicycle and kayak tours, family activities, and free kayak, bike, and roller skate rentals. A completed portion of the planned Eureka Waterfront Trail"”the 1½-mile Elk River-Hikshari' Trail"”winds through the sanctuary and can be reached from four parking areas.
$1,800 to the Mattole Restoration Council to produce and install student-created signs encouraging the protection of coastal lands. The work follows a 1996 project in which local students painted signs urging drivers of off-road vehicles to stay on the road and protect natural habitats. Where previous official government signs had met with gunshots, the kids' colorful signs were not vandalized and succeeded in eliminating destructive off-road driving. Signs will be installed at public lands along and near Prosper Ridge Road and at the Mattole Beach parking lot.

$45,000 to Turtle Island Restoration Network for its California Sea Turtle Hero Outreach Project, which will encourage the exploration, enjoyment, and protection of California's coast with a focus on building awareness of and appreciation for sea turtles. The campaign will include photo contests and will use a website, social media, and bilingual advertising to reach new audiences.
$20,000 to Pelican Media for environmental education tied to Pelican Dreams, a documentary being produced about California brown pelicans for a broad general audience. Pelican Media will use the funding to create short-film extras and video clips for mobile devices and distribute them via social media and to nature centers. Pelican Media is the nonprofit organization that produced the award-winning documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.