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Brown Property Success Story

In 1999 four volunteer County Parks department Preserve docents, common local residents, became worried about the possibility that a 155-acre parcel in the heart of Hellhole Canyon was being sold for development. It was not commonly known at the time that the west and the east ends of the Canyon had been conserved as the Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve, but the essential, critical, heart of the Canyon was not slated for conservation. Alarmed that the middle section of the canyon could be lost forever if it were developed, the four Preserve docents formed the nonprofit Friends of Hellhole Canyon. The docents approached the owner, Mary Anne Brown, about selling the land to them to be conserved with the rest of the Preserve. Mrs. Brown was delighted with the idea that her land could be conserved and sold a purchase option to the Friends. The initial funds for that purchase option, $50,000, were loaned by Friends board members and local residents Todd Ruth, George Ridley, Carol Gartner, Kris Preston and Rick Landavazo. During the next three and a half years the young Friends organization raised nearly $450,000 with appeals to the public, Key Donors, grants from the state Wildlife Conservation Board, the state Transportation Commission's Environmental Enhancement Mitigation Fund and the San Diego Foundation. The campaign was difficult - during the fundraising period the state experienced a budget crisis that threatened grant funds and a mild recession that dried-up private contributions. Tragically, the Preserve burned during the 2003 Paradise Mountain fire, and the community focused on recovery and healing. Eventually, however, the acquisition funds were finally assembled, when State Senator Christine Kehoe stepped in to restore previously rescinded state grant funds and the community rallied to make the purchase a reality. The Friends celebrated with County Supervisor Bill Horn in 2005 when the Preserve was reopened after restoration from the fire damage and the Brown property was finally added to the Preserve's conservation footprint.

Please help us create another success story! Other lands critical to the protecting wildlife corridors and the biological integrity of the Preserve are available. We are racing now to raise necessary acquisition funds. Would you please help us protect and expand the Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve by making a contribution to our Acquisition Fund? Because the Friends is an all-volunteer organization your contribution to our Acquisition Fund goes 100% to land acquisitions and is matched, in some cases, with grant and foundation support. Thank you!

Thank you for visiting our web site. Contact the Friends President, Kenny Goldberg by e-mail: kgoldberg@kpbs.org for questions, concerns, support! Thank you!