Save Mount Diablo

“Board members, scott hein and claudia hein, are husband and wife.”

“Form 990 is reviewed and approved by the Audit Committee. The board receives a complete copy before the form is filed.”

“All key employees and all board & committee members are required to fill out a form annually. If there is a conflict with any staff, the Executive Director shall determine whether a conflict of interest exists. If it is a board or committee member, the board shall determine if a conflict of interest exists. The person(s) involved with the transaction shall not be present during the board or committee's discussion. Any recusal of a board or committee member from the meeting is also noted in the minutes.”

“The Executive Director reviews compensation with the Executive Committee (composed of elected board members) based on other non-profit comparisons; the Executive Committee reviews the compensation for the Executive Director. This is an annual review prior to year end.”

“The Executive Director reviews compensation with the Executive Committee (composed of elected board members) based on other non-profit comparisons; the Executive Committee reviews the compensation for the Executive Director. This is an annual review prior to year end.”

“The form 990 is posted on the organization's website and is also available upon request.”

“AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.”

“Acquisitions of conservation land = $80000”

“Unrealized gain on charitable remainder trust = $8551”

“Organization mission or significant activities:our mission is to forever preserve the remaining 70,000 acres of natural lands around mount diablo through a conservation approach that integrates perpetual land preservation, advocacy, stewardship, land use planning, and education programs. We work to preserve mount diablos peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds through land acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the mountains natural beauty, biological diversity, and historical and agricultural heritage; enhance our areas quality of life and provide recreational opportunities consistent with the protection of natural resources.”

“Land use planning (continued):concord naval weapons station reuse planafter almost two decades of advocacy work by save mount diablo, we celebrated the hand-over of over 2,000 acres of land for the new regional park to the east bay regional park district and encouraged parties to work together to achieve common goals on the specific plan and city development part of the project.antiochour coalition was successful in building city of antioch support for our initiative to add more protections to the sand creek focus area, rich in conservation values. We built a successful foundation so that we can bring our initiative to the voters in the next fiscal year.coalitionswe continued coalition work in response to ongoing efforts at the concord naval weapons station and strengthened our coalition in antioch for a 2020 campaign for our initiative to better protect the sand creek focus area which includes thousands of acres of important open space.urban limit lineswe continued to watch for threats to the urban limit line (ull).legal reviewwe successfully fended off legal challenges to our initiative in antioch.east contra costa county habitat conservancy plan we participated in the public advisory committee of the hcp/nccp and encouraged creation of an hcp/nccp in antioch.stewardship (continued):more than 350 volunteers completed over 7,400 hours of service in 2019. They have supported land management and education activities throughout the year. Recurrent volunteers include: 35 property monitors and 90 volunteer stewards.volunteersour volunteers are the heroes and heroines of land preservation. They help make our work possible, whether it be by helping restore ecological systems, becoming a hike leader, assisting with event registration, staffing aid stations, taking photos or setting up equipment. Their hard work and generosity are what make this organizations efforts so successful.results: overseen by our skilled staff, over 7,400 volunteer hours were spent on over 52 work projects including ecological restoration, monitoring and maintenance; and over 13 big events like moonlight on the mountain, four days diablo and bioblitz.the diablo restoration team (dirt) completed 21 workdays nurturing five creek restoration projects, including 11 sites spread across six properties. We responded to wildfire damage from the 2018 marsh fire that burned three of our properties. We replaced split rail fence, reopened restoration sites to our dirt workdays, and replaced our water pump system, which is used to water planting sites in the dry months. Stewards designed and built an upgraded, eco-friendly, solar-powered water pump system that automatically refills the water tank at the top of the hill. We no longer need to rely on gas-powered generators to provide enough energy to push the water uphill.amidst workday cancellations because of climate change (which is causing extreme heat, hazardous air quality, and high fire-danger risks) and covid-19, we have focused our workdays on safety trainings as well as more fire abatement year-round. We completed 18 stewardship workdays, including extra fire abatement. We accomplished 12 integrated pest management workdays to remove non-native and invasive species on our properties and manage the spread of sudden oak death.we finished major capital projects on several of our properties. We repaired the compromised roof at wright canyon. We replaced thousands of feet of degraded fencing with wildlife-friendly fencing at curry canyon ranch, mangini ranch, and anderson ranch.all planned improvements were finally completed at the curry canyon ranch field station, including a deck and pergola for shade next to the creek, and safety features like hand railing at steps and ramps to major entrances into the field station.we hosted a coastal cleanup workday in kirker creek. Students from pittsburg high school and other community members removed all sorts of trash, finding mostly micro-sized trash this year. In total, 507”

“Education & recreation (continued):dr. Mary bowerman science & research programthe dr. Mary bowerman science and research program provides grants for research projects on save mount diablo properties and the network of protected lands in the diablo range. In 2019, seven grants were awarded to researchers from academic institutions around the bay area. All of the studies will enhance the ecological understanding of the diablo region and inform conservation and land management practices.conservation collaboration agreement program save mount diablo staff and volunteers completed four conservation collaboration agreements with local schools and businesses in 2019-2020. The first agreement was with campolindo high school (sponsored by compass realty), the second was with pittsburg high school (sponsored by mount diablo resource and recovery), the third was with antioch high school (sponsored by diamond construction) and the fourth was with joaquin moraga intermediate school (sponsored by bedell frazier). With all agreements, students, instructors, and sponsoring business employees alike received in-class/in-office educational instruction in land conservation and then had the opportunity to participate in hands on outdoor field experiences all four took part in identifying and pulling invasive plant species at marsh creek 8 (also known as big bend), a save mount diablo owned property. After the service projects, students and employees went on interpretive nature hikes. Following the hikes, participants did contemplative solos in nature with journaling exercises reflecting on the meaning of nature and their respective roles in it. A total of 150 students and sponsoring business employees partiicpated in the four agreements.diablo trails challengesave mount diablo and brazen racing partnered again to host a 50k, half marathon, 10k and 5k. More than 1,000 people enjoyed a beautiful day out on the trails.four days diablo14 participants enjoyed learning more about mount diablos treasures while hiking and camping along the diablo trail. Dedicated volunteers set up the campsites and local restaurantsincluding prima ristorante, esin restaurant and sunrise bistro & cateringprepared delicious meals for the adventurers. Mount diablo challengenow in its 38th year, this event is now hosted by the valley spokesmen. Over 520 cyclists rode 11.2 miles, climbing 3,249 feet in elevation, to the summit of diablo. Thanks to the support of the nathan m. Ohrbach foundation, smd added 145 new and renewed members to our organization from this event. "discover diablo" hikes313 hikers attended 17 free public educational hike outings on save mount diablo properties and collaborating agencies land. Staff and volunteer hike leaders hosted this series as part of save mount diablos discover diablo program sponsored by martinez refining company. Education & outreach effortsstaff and volunteers tabled at 9 events and participated in numerous speaking engagements across 8 cities in the bay area.”

“Land acquisition (continued):save mount diablo also secured a purchase agreement for the strategic 28.73 acre smith canyon in the morgan territory area, contiguous with other conserved save mount diablo lands. Further, save mount diablo advanced other land acquisition opportunities in and around the mt diablo area.this fiscal year was a year of enhancing how we manage our properties while continuing long-term, complex negotiations to protect several very high-priority areas of land.for decades, smd was able to buy properties and then quickly transfer them to a public park agency. That model kept our land management responsibilities very limited, and the projects we undertook were mainly focused on trash removal, fire abatement, and some restoration work.about a decade ago, the transfer time started to slow down. In part, the slowdown in transfer time was because california state parks stopped acquiring new land in order to focus on maintaining the parks it already owned.it has been more than 15 years since a property was added to mount diablo state park, something we have been working diligently to change. However, as our ambitions about preserving the diablo wild lands grew, we began to buy more land further away from existing parks with a strategy to connect them in the future. We continue to negotiate complex property transactions, the fruits of which will be brought to bear in the coming year. Our partners, especially the east contra costa habitat conservancy and east bay regional park district, have continued the work to encircle the marsh creek and morgan territory areas in open space and place critical protections over essential habitat corridors. We meet with landowners and developers alike to push for high-quality mitigation associated with new developments. We coordinate closely with our partners on strategic additions to the overall network of preserved lands on and around mount diablo. As part of our forever wild capital campaign, we are working to raise acquisition funds to ensure we are ready and able to act on transactions quickly. For now, we continue to build a strong foundation for future land conservation.”