Dear Hillside Supporter,
With the holidays fast approaching, please keep in mind anytime you shop Amazon you could actually be supporting Hills For Everyone by selecting our organization as your charity of choice. Simply bookmark this AmazonSmile link, shop as normal, and we will get a small percentage of the proceeds of eligible transactions when you make a purchase. We only get a check from AmazonSmile, so we don't know who contributed. Please accept our upfront gratitude. Also, many thanks to those of you that voted in the November 8th election. While Hills For Everyone cannot support / oppose any particular candidate, it is clear we will be able to build relationships with some newly elected leaders across the hills in newly configured and numbered districts. We will keep you apprised of this effort. In the meantime, we are grateful for your support of our conservation work.
Sincerely,
Claire Schlotterbeck
Executive Director
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We Need More People Like Bruce
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Our little corner of the world recently lost a remarkable man, Bruce Douglas. He served not only on the Board for Hills For Everyone, but also on the La Habra Heights City Council, its Planning Commission, General Plan Advisory Committee, and Roads Committee. His tireless efforts helped secure the permanent protection of Powder Canyon which became a vital link to the saved lands in Whittier. The consummate volunteer, if there was work to be done, to help his community he raised his hand, stepped forward, and took it on through completion. We are so very grateful he graced our lives—devoting his tremendous energy to saving the hills. We need more people like Bruce.
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HFE Welcomes New Board Member
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We are pleased to announce that Yorba Linda resident Josh Schroeder has agreed to join the Board of Hills For Everyone. A native Californian (and former Eagle Scout) he now works in computer programming. He spends his free time saving land in Yorba Linda when development forces try to build on previously protected land.
Josh has an MSc in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh, and a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University. He has worked as a visual effects artist in Hollywood, published academic research on natural language processing, and is currently a Senior Software Engineer at a Fortune 100 tech company. An Eagle Scout, Josh spent his childhood hiking and camping throughout the Golden State. He now enjoys taking his children on the same trails he explored in his youth. Josh and his family reside in Yorba Linda, where he has worked with other residents to ensure the preservation of open spaces adjacent to Chino Hills State Park.
We are glad to have you on board Josh!
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The California Environmental Quality Act
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While Hills For Everyone aims to use every possible means to modify a proposed project, sometimes we are forced to use legal means. One of the state laws our organization has depended on is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pronounced see-quah. Passed under then Governor Ronald Reagan, this is California's premier environmental law. It requires that the impacts of a proposed project be thoroughly analyzed, these impacts be mitigated (reduced), and that the public has an opportunity to comment on the environmental review. When jurisdictions don't follow these rules, lawsuits can be filed.
Hills For Everyone has used CEQA on several projects like: Madrona/Canyon Crest, the Metropolitan Water District road in Chino Hills State Park, Esperanza Hills, and Cielo Vista. Advocates with CEQA Works recently published the first in a series of short videos on how and why this law makes a difference. The first video (~9 minutes): Boxed In: CEQA Protecting Public Health in South Fresno is online.
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