Urban Conservation

Regional Collaboration and Strategic Planning are musts for Urban Conservation     By Frank Schiavone As an environmentalist and as a longtime proponent of an integrated, cooperative effort to preserve open space, I know firsthand that collaboration is easier said than done here in the West Valley. Long range and strategic planning, coalitions, and information sharing seems to be an...

Land – We Take it for Granted

What We Take For Granted   By Frank Schiavone At the base of Cucamonga Peak with her two big sisters, Mount San Antonio and Ontario Peak looking on, lies Rancho Cucamonga. The specter of these three magnificent spires makes Rancho a beautiful place to live and raise a family. Our community rests on a massive alluvial fan composed of sedimentation gathered over eons from multiple canyons...

Saving Land is not Easy

Saving Land Is Not Easy, But We Need To Try   By Frank Schiavone Being a proponent of land conservation can be frustrating. Learning the “processes”, the rules of the game, and all the players can be daunting. Garnering community support and convincing decision makers can be darn near impossible. The competition for land acquisition grants can be fierce. Developers and...

Citizenship and The Man

Citizenship and The Man in the Arena   By Frank Schiavone “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because...

How ‘green’ is a valley…

How ‘green’ is a valley that doesn’t protect all species?   By Frank Schiavone A new wave of “greenness” is washing over our valley. Politicians are talking up something called the “Green Valley Initiative.” My city, Rancho Cucamonga, is the latest convert. It wants to be a leader. Our City Council has voted to include green initiatives in our...