Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy is a non-profit organization that is based in Palos Verdes, CA, whose mission is "Preserving land and restoring habitat for the enjoyment and education of all." Founded in 1988, the PVPLC has protected 1600 acres of open space as nature preserves on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Preserves

White Point Nature Preserve

The White Point Nature Preserve is located in San Pedro and features 102 acres of restored coastal sage scrub habitat, hiking and handicap access trails, and a new Nature Education Center overlooking the ocean and Santa Catalina Island.

Linden H. Chandler Preserve

The Linden H. Chandler Preserve is a 28.5-acre property located in Rolling Hills Estates. Owned jointly by the City of Rolling Hills Estates and the Land Conservancy, intensive habitat restoration efforts have added native wildflowers and shrubs to the hillsides. Trails traverse its slopes and grasslands, passing by a recently restored wetland area. The Linden H. Chandler Preserve was created in 1993 through a sale and donation of property by the Chandler heirs, who wanted to see the land preserved in their father's name, who was the founder of Chandler's Palos Verdes Sand and Gravel in Rolling Hills Estates.

Defense Fuel Supply Point

The Defense Fuel Supply Point in San Pedro provides storage for military fuel reserves and is also home to the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis), the “rarest butterfly on earth”. The DFSP mission is a restricted facility which receives, stores, and distributes diesel and jet fuels for military use in California, Arizona and Nevada. Coastal sage scrub is juxtaposed within pipelines and storage tanks, providing habitat for the Palos Verdes blue butterfly as well as the threatened California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica), a small gray bird that is that is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Palos Verdes Nature Preserve

The Palos Verdes Nature Preserve is the largest of the PVPLC's preserves consisting of approximately 1400 acres of rolling hills, steep canyons and rock outcrops, with natural habitat and views of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Catalina Island. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes owns most of the land, which has been acquired over the past twenty years and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy manages the preserve. The preserve is made up of several properties including: Abalone Cove Ecological Reserve, Agua Amarga Reserve, Alta Vicente Reserve, Portuguese Bend Reserve, Forrestal Reserve, Three Sisters Reserve, San Ramon Reserve, Vicente Bluffs Reserve, and Vista Del Norte Reserve.

Lunada Canyon Reserve

The Lunada Canyon Reserve is a 20 acre canyon that was given to the Conservancy by the E.K Zuckerman family in 1992. It makes up part of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve.

George F. Canyon

The 36-acre George F. Canyon Nature Center is owned by the City of Rolling Hills Estates and operated by the Conservancy. A nature trail passes through one of the largest canyons on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Visitors walk or ride on horseback through willow-riparian and coastal sage scrub habitats, culminating in a view of the Los Angeles basin. The George F Canyon Nature Center provides educational and recreational programs which invite the community to enjoy and learn more about the Canyon. The Nature Center provides a variety of changing exhibits so that visitors hopefully see something new with each visit. Exhibits focus on themes such as butterflies, birds of the canyon, insests, plant habitats, animals and wildflowers. The 36-acre space was contributed to the city of Rolling Hills Estates by Robert and Roland Stein, Sandra Stein Haveson and Arthur Hale Sr. in Memory of David N. Stein, Francis H. Stein and Marie D. Hale.

Science and Education

The Conservancy is strong in its effort to save it's landscape from past degradation from urbanization, agriculture uses, and the introduction of invasive foreign species. Through their Nursery and Education programs they hope to effectively restore the habitat.

RECIPE

RECIPE's (Research, Education, and Community Involvement Program for the Environment) goal is to develop a systematic approach for initiating, tracking, and completing Science projects that will satisfy the mission the of Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy. This vision became a reality through generous funding by Alcoa Foundation in June 2006. Through RECIPE, the science program coordinates the development of scientific and management information to be communicated to the restoration community and public at large. The program is intended to reach students from elementary through university level work to foster sound scientific education for youth as well as research opportunities for academia.

Local Partnerships

Partnerships with local schools provide learning opportunities for many students. The PVPLC has developed an exciting partnership with the Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Environmental Science AP class. In 2009, local students helped plant several acres in the Lunada Canyon preserve and then returned to weed their plantings. The PVPLC has worked with numerous Eagle Scouts, Girl Scouts and local groups such as the Lions Club to develop projects for them to help them achieve their awards while benefiting the local environment.