Pete Dangermond to Speak at Redlands Forum

Pete Dangermond, President of the Dangermond Group, Will Speak about the Redlands Emerald Necklace Project and State Parks Rescue Initiatives

Redlands, California — June 08, 2010 — The next Redlands Forum event, which will be held Wednesday, June 16, at 5:30 p.m., will feature Pete Dangermond, who will speak about his 1980s design of Redlands' own Emerald Necklace Project as well as recent conservation projects and legislation. California's open spaces provide people, wildlife, and plants with a guaranteed place of refuge from urban expansion, but today they are in danger. The presentation—Land Conservation Challenges: Redlands Emerald Necklace, the Save the Redwoods League, and the Save State Parks Initiative—will take place at the ESRI Conference Center, 380 New York Street in Redlands. Admission is free.

Dangermond is a Redlands native and president of the Dangermond Group, a Sacramento, California-based planning and implementation firm with an emphasis on park, recreation, and resource conservation projects. He also serves as president of the Save the Redwoods League and consultant for the Riverside Land Conservancy. He is also a former director of the California State Park System.

He will speak on issues that affect California's open spaces, beginning with the status of the Emerald Necklace Project, which establishes a cohesive plan for open spaces around Redlands. Dangermond will explain how that project represents a link in a larger conservation chain that includes the proposed San Timoteo Canyon State Park south of Redlands and other areas in the region. The San Timoteo park project will encompass more than 10,000 acres and will be the first state park established in conjunction with habitat preservation for multiple endangered species. The park's historical features include Native American sites; stagecoach and railroad routes; a schoolhouse; and a eucalyptus grove planted by the Smiley brothers, who established the A.K. Smiley Public Library in 1889.

Dangermond will also touch on what various individuals and conservation organizations are doing to preserve these open spaces and wildlife habitats. He will speak specifically about what people can do to support a current initiative to secure a dependable source of operating funds for California's 278 state parks, which are suffering from extreme state budget cuts. The measure will also support the operation of state wildlife areas and conservancies and urban rivers throughout California. The California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010, a statewide ballot measure, will secure these funds if voters pass it in November 2010.

Following the June event, the Redlands Forum series will be on hiatus for the summer and return again in the fall.

Redlands Forum events are sponsored by ESRI and the University of Redlands through the university's Town & Gown organization. To guarantee seating, attendees should register via the Internet at www.esri.com/culturalseries or call 909-748-8011.

About University of Redlands Town & Gown

The Town & Gown organization strives to promote a positive relationship between the university ("gown") and the Inland Empire area ("town"), provides scholarships to qualified area students, and showcases the cultural and entertainment activities on campus. Town & Gown membership, which costs $30 annually per household, provides access to specific events as well as a variety of other arts and cultural events on campus. To join, contact the university's Alumni Relations office at 909-748-8011.



Contact:

Susan Harp
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-2860
E-mail: Email Contact
E-mail: Email Contact