The RCDSMM provides educational and active outreach programs. Ronald Reagan was one of the original founders.
By Meg Boberg / Special to The Malibu Times
By taking a look through a microscope at the smallest residents of the Santa Monica Mountains, microorganisms such as plankton, attendants at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM) on Sunday at the Peter Strauss Ranch experienced one of its many educational programs.
Since February of 1961, RCDSMM, a nonprofit organization, has made its mission to improve society’s stewardship of natural resources through educational programs, research projects and watershed awareness. One of the original founders of the organization was former President Ronald Reagan. Five directors operate the RCDSMM board, and former Calabasas Mayor Dennis Washburn serves as its current president.
Various stations were set up on Sunday to give attendants hands-on experience of what the RCDSMM does. Conservation biologists were at each station, which included a replica model of a watershed, a presentation of microorganisms in local creeks with a microscope set-up and bird watching tutorials.
A unique aspect of RCDSMM is the temperate climate, which Executive Officer Clark Stevens compared to the Mediterranean areas.“For a place that’s really urban, we’re also in an ecosystem that is notably bio-diverse,” Stevens said. “We have a lot of unique species, and a number of conservation biologists do a lot of the baseline work to monitor them.”
Although the RCDSMM is nonregulatory and nonadvocacy, it provides information about programs that biologists say will make a difference to the local wetlands, watersheds and native species.
A key event of the evening celebration was a presentation by Rosi Dagit, a senior conservation biologist who has been with RCDSMM since 1987. She gave information about her trips to Antarctica, studying the Adelie and Gentoo penguin populations, and made a case for how those animals relate to the steelhead trout of California.
Dagit has also coordinated research, restoration and monitoring projects throughout the Santa Monica Mountains, starting with studies of Malibu Lagoon, Leo Carrillo State Beach and moving inland to watershed level analysis and sensitive species monitoring.
“The hopeful thing is we are smart and we know how to do better, and all we have to do is make those choices and in so doing we can make sure that the earth and the oceans and the penguins and the steelhead trout are all here for all of our kids for the future,” Dagit said.
Representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) were also on hand to give its support to RCDSMM. Other organizations that partner with RCDSMM include the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, the state Department of Fish and Game and various Los Angeles County departments.
NRCS State Conservationist Ed Burton, who has been with the organization for 47 years and has helped raise significant funding through philanthropic donations, praised RCDSMM directors for their service, including David Gottlieb, who has served on the board the longest, since 1982. Gottlieb, a filmmaker, has contributed videos for government and private clients dealing with conservation.
Burton emphasized that the RCDSMM directors serve voluntarily and have a passion and dedication for conservation.
“Most of our citizens in this state care about the environment, they care about what’s going on and the challenging thing is to have the right kind of science, the right kind of information and have people do the right thing so everyone benefits,” Burton said.
A future concern of the Santa Monica Mountains area will be agricultural advances, Executive Officer Stevens said, including renewed interest in viticulture, or grape production.
Dawn Afman, a member of NRCS, said, “Landscapes like this, in order to stay healthy, we think we should just leave them and preserve them but they need to be managed. We’re living here [and] this is an ecosystem and if we’re not careful it can get out of control.”
The goal of RCDSMM remains the same as it has been since 1961, Stevens said, to serve the environment. This includes implementing riparian and wetland restoration projects, monitoring sensitive habitats and species, working toward the recovery of endangered fish populations and other such projects.
More information about the RCDSMM or how to make a tax-deductible donation can be obtained by calling 818.597.8627 or online at rcdsmm.org.