Latest Update: See a list of our 2009 accomplishments

FACTS: High Speed Rail would devastate
Rose Canyon Park and many residences

• 134 trains per day (every 4-5 minutes during 6-9 am and 4-7 peak hrs) (this figure is from the High Speed Rail Authority’s 2008 Business Plan)
• Two new tracks running along the north side of the existing tracks
• Multiple overhead wires supported by large poles (like the trolley)
• 12 foot high chain link security fences, big retaining walls
• Huge noise and visual impacts on Rose Canyon Park and nearby residences
• People from all over San Diego use the park to jog, bike, birdwatch, enjoy nature
• Hundreds of students walk to Rose Canyon Park for environmental science field trips
  (over 4,000 students from Spreckels, Curie, Standley Middle School and UC High are within walking distance of Rose Canyon Park)
• The city has committed to protect Rose Canyon Park as habitat for plants and wildlife

"Opponents to high-speed rail route through Rose Canyon stand firm" Read SDNN Article

• City Councilmembers Sherri Lightner and Donna Frye call for full study of I-15 route for high-speed rail
• Assemblymember Lori Saldaña calls for consideration of any negative impacts on canyons and creeks with substantial natural habitat and full study of the I-15 route
• Statement Opposing High Speed Rail through Rose Canyon by John Lee Evans, San Diego Unified School Board Member who represents University City

GOOD NEWS!
$1+ Million Project Underway To Plant Native Plants, Enhance Rose Canyon Habitat
Look for the areas of wooden fencing along the dirt road in Rose Canyon Park. These areas have had the non-native plants removed and replaced with native plants. This is a five year project. The irrigation is temporary to get the plants started and will be removed once the plants are established and can survive on their own. The City's Metropolitan Wastewater Department (MWWD) is doing this project to compensate for environmental impacts caused when it replaced a sewer line in Rose Canyon east of Genesee Ave. Native plants benefit native wildlife - you'll see lots of birds and other wildlife in these areas. Native plants benefit people as well - they are much nicer to look at than the dried stalks of the invasive mustard plants that look pretty when they cover the hills with yellow blooms in the spring but then dry up and leave brown stalks for the rest of the year..
View an aerial of the project areas

Want a free guided walk for
your group? (See below)

Den 8 Cub Scouts at Rose Canyon. Photo ©Den 8

Cub Scouts, Parents Explore Nature's Secrets
It was a fine adventure we had when the boys from Den 8 and their parents came on January 25th for a Friends of Rose Canyon nature walk in Rose Canyon Open Space Park. We watched an aerial battle between two Red-tailed Hawks and two attacking ravens, the ravens croaking and one of the hawks striking back. I asked the boys whose side they were on, and they all yelled "the hawks, the hawks." The boys loved finding tracks and especially scat as a way to figure out what animals had been there. "Here's some more scat," they kept calling out. They learned about bobcats and coyotes, sycamores and coast live oaks, all the things that eat gophers, why iceplant is bad, and where Rose Creek goes. One of the parents told me afterwards: "We could have come here by ourselves, but we wouldn't have known anything about what is here." Everyone got to take home postcards of the plants and animals of Rose Canyon. All in all, a day of great fun in the canyon. - Debby Knight
Free guided nature walks: We welcome schools, scouts, seniors, religious groups, parents at home with young children.
Contact: Debby Knight, 858-597-0220
Email: rosecanyon@san.rr.com