Community is the bedrock of Laguna Canyon Foundation, and we always appreciate the opportunity to participate in community events in and around Laguna Beach. Last weekend, we had the pleasure of joining other incredible organizations and agencies to welcome the return of KelpFest, hosted by Laguna Ocean Foundation right on Main Beach! This annual celebration of marine ecosystems, ocean health, and of course, kelp, was on a brief two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, but it was back in full force this year, drawing a crowd of locals and tourists alike to learn more about how special the natural resources of Laguna Beach are.
Sara Gottschalk and Dulce Cortez from Laguna Canyon Foundation were present at KelpFest, offering visitors a display of native plants that can be found throughout Laguna Canyon. Why did we, an organization focused on the terrestrial aspect of Laguna Beach, attend an ocean event? Well, in a community, everyone has an important role to play and our impact on ocean health is no different. The health of the ecosystems within a watershed is paramount to ensuring a healthy ocean, and LCF does just that by improving the native habitat, including our waterways that drain to the ocean, throughout the 22,000+ acre South Coast Wilderness.
Thanks again to Laguna Ocean Foundation for hosting another fantastic KelpFest, and thank you to all of the other exhibitors who came out with the common goal of promoting good stewardship of the environment!
And, what’s not to love about a late afternoon hike on a beautiful Laguna Beach Saturday? Executive Director Hallie Jones and Senior Director Paula Olson were happy to host several folks from Outdoor Alliance on a trek up Laguna Bowl Trail to take in some coastline views and scents of sage.
After more than two years of Zooming, Outdoor Alliance was finally able to host an in-person board meeting. Most of the desk work was done at Surfrider Foundation’s offices in San Clemente, but, as this group would surely be partial to, the afterhours festivities were, of course, outdoors.
Their first afternoon was spent surfing – or learning to surf – at San Onofre. On their second afternoon, they met at Laguna Beach Beer Company but before they lifted a glass, they had a choice of mountain biking or hiking.
Up the 600+ ft incline of Laguna Bowl the group saw the habitat turn from degraded mustard to pristine coastal sage scrub habitat. The group learned a little more about LCF’s fuel mod program having seen the goats at the start of the hike rock-climbing by the old incinerator. The group asked about prickly pear cactus and lemonade berry. Hallie and Paula even got to show them a Tarantula Hawk in all her striking red-winged glory before they headed down to enjoy some brews with the biking group.
Outdoor Alliance works to protect the wild places where we recreate. Like Laguna Canyon Foundation, we understand the balance of preservation and recreation to respect and therefore protect the land that we love.