Save Mount Diablo

“Board members Claudia Hein and Scott Hein are married.”

“FORM 990 IS PREPARED BY AN OUTSIDE TAX PROFESSIONAL. THE FORM IS THEN REVIEWED BYTHE ORGANIZATION'S MANAGEMENT, AT LEAST ONE MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, the audit committee, AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. AFTER A FULL REVIEW, THE FINAL VERSION OF THE TAX RETURN IS PROVIDED TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION'S VOTING BODY. A REPRESENTATIVE OF MANAGEMENT AUTHORIZES THE FINAL FORM 990 WHICH IS THEN E-FILED WITH THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.”

“Members of the board of trustees review all potential conflicts of interest at least annually. The executive director and all board members are required to disclose potential conflicts and any related party affiliations. The organization seeks full transparency on all relationships. Any potential conflicts (in fact or appearance) are discussed openly and resolved in accordance with the organization's policies and procedures.”

“The Executive Committee (comprised of elected Board members) REVIEW THE COMPENSATION OF ALL HIGH-LEVEL PERSONNEL PERIODICALLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH IRS RULES AND REGULATIONS. EFFORTS ARE MADE TO SECURE COMPENSATION DATA FROM INDUSTRY SOURCES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE COMPETITIVENESS AND APPROPRIATENESS OF SALARIES. EVERY EFFORT IS MADE TO ENSURE THAT THE PROCESS IS THOROUGH AND TRANSPARENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH IRS GUIDELINES AND THE ORGANIZATION'S POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.”

“COMPENSATION OF OTHER PERSONNEL IS REVIEWED PERIODICALLY BY MEMBERS OF MANAGEMENT and with the Executive Committee (comprised of elected Board Members). EFFORTS ARE MADE TO SECURE COMPENSATION DATA FROM INDUSTRY SOURCES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE COMPETITIVENESS AND APPROPRIATENESS OF SALARIES AND ALL RELATED BENEFITS. ALL DECISIONS ARE THEN DOCUMENTED IN PERSONNEL FILES.”

“ALL OF THE ORGANIZATION'S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND OTHER LEGALFILINGS ARE MAINTAINED IN A SECURE ENVIRONMENT AND HELD AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION BYTAX AUTHORITIES AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. TAX RETURNS ARE POSTED ANNUALLY TOWWW.GUIDESTAR.ORG (WHERE the documents are AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AS ELECTRONIC COPIES) AND ARE ALSO AVAILABLE by request from the organization's office in Walnut Creek, California.”

“Capitalized Land Acquisition and Related Costs = $785237”

“Change in value of charitable remainder trust = -$19863”

“Prior year activity = $47603”

“Biological diversity, and historic and agricultural heritage; enhance our area's quality of life; and provide educational and recreational opportunities consistent with protection of natural resources.”

“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) and then successfully acquired smith canyon. 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 about 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 years. 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.”

“to encourage more scientific research in the Mount Diablo area; and our Nature Heals & Inspires free public Zoom series that provides lectures from conservationists, ecotherapists, scientists, artists and others.”

“CONCORD NAVAL WEAPONS STATION REUSE PLANWE LAUNCHED AN E-BLAST CAMPAIGN FOCUSED ON CONCORD RESIDENTS TO DISCOURAGE THE CITY COUNCIL FROM CHOOSING SEENO AND PARTNERS AS MASTER DEVELOPER. WHILE WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN GENERATING HUNDREDS OF ON-THE-RECORD PUBLIC COMMENTS, WITH MORE THAN 90% OF COMMENTS ASKING THE COUNCIL TO NOT CHOOSE SEENO, UNFORTUNATELY A MAJORITY OF THE COUNCIL SELECTED THEM. WE ARE CAPITALIZING ON THE DISBELIEF AND ANGER AT THE COUNCIL THIS HAS GENERATED TO ORGANIZE RESIDENTS, ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN ENGAGED ON THIS PROJECT BEFORE, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC BENEFITS WE WON A DECADE AGO IN THE REUSE PLAN ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED. ANTIOCHOUR COALITION SUCCESSFULLY EXTENDED THE URBAN LIMIT LINE FOR THE CITY AND MADE IT UNCHANGEABLE EXCEPT BY A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE, BUT ThE OTHER OPEN SPACE GAINS OF OUR MEASURE T CAMPAIGN WERE STRUCK DOWN BY THE COURT FOR INTERFERING WITH SB 330. WE ARE NOW WORKING WITH THE COALITION AND CITY COUNCIL TO INCLUDE OPEN SPACE PROTECTIONS THAT WERE IN MEASURE T IN OTHER PLACES SUCH AS THE CITY GENERAL PLAN. PITTSBURGWE FILED THE SECOND CEQA LAWSUIT IN SMDS HISTORY TO CHALLENGE THE CITY COUNCILS APPROVAL OF THE HILLTOP-DESTROYING 600-ACRE FARIA/SOUTHWEST HILLS ANNEXATION SEENO PROJECT, WHICH WOULD CONSTRUCT MORE THAN 1,600 HOUSES DIRECTLY NEXT TO AND ABOVE CONCORDS NEW THURGOOD MARSHALL REGIONAL PARK.TASSAJARA VALLEY WE SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATED FOR THE CONSERVATION BENEFITS OF THE TASSAJARA PARKS PROJECT, INCLUDING THE CREATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL PRESERVE OVER THE ENTIRE TASSAJARA VALLEY AND FORMALLY PROTECTING 700+ ACRES OF OPEN SPACE ON THE VALLEYS WEST SIDE TO FORM A GREEN WALL AGAINST FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVED THE PROJECT ON A 4-1 VOTE. WHILE THERE ARE SEVERAL LEGAL CHALLENGES TO THE DECISION, WE CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND ARE CONFIDENT THE CONSERVATION GAINS OF THE PROJECT WILL BE UPHELD. URBAN LIMIT LINESWE CONTINUED TO WATCH FOR THREATS TO THE URBAN LIMIT LINE (ULL).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: SAVE MOUNT DIABLO CURRENTLY OWNS AND/OR MANAGES 19 PROPERTIESTOTALING 1,900 ACRES.SAVE MOUNT DIABLO ALSO HOLDS PERPETUAL CONSERVATION EASEMENTS ON 2 PROPERTIES, TOTALING 22 ACRES.MORE THAN 278 VOLUNTEERS COMPLETED OVER 2,874 HOURS OF SERVICE IN 2020. THEY HAVE SUPPORTED LAND MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. RECURRENT VOLUNTEERS INCLUDE: 28 PROPERTY MONITORS AND 84 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 HELP MAKE THIS ORGANIZATIONS EFFORTS SO SUCCESSFUL.RESULTS: OVERSEEN BY OUR SKILLED STAFF, OVER 1,292 VOLUNTEER HOURS AND 4,400 STEWARDSHIP STAFF HOURS WERE FOCUSED ON WORK PROJECTS INCLUDING ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION, MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE. AMIDST WORKDAY CANCELLATIONS BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE (WHICH IS CAUSING EXTREME HEAT, HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY, AND HIGH FIRE-DANGER RISKS) AND COVID-19, WE COMPLETED 55 VOLUNTEER STEWARDSHIP WORKDAYS, INCLUDING SOLO PROJECTS AND EXTRA FIRE ABATEMENT. WITH VOLUNTEER HELP, WE TARGETED NOXIOUS WEEDS ON NINE PROPERTIES, PRODUCED GIS FIRE FOOTPRINT MAPS, FINISHED ANNUAL FIRE ABATEMENT, AND COMPLETED EIGHT SUMMER WATERING OUTINGS TO NOURISH RESTORATION PLANTINGS AT THREE PROPERTIES. STEWARDS ALSO CONTINUED MONTHLY PROPERTY MONITORING OUTINGS, AND ORGANIZED SMALL WORKDAYS TO WEED, MULCH, AND CLEAN UP OUR PROPERTIES.STAFF HELPED ORGANIZE AND FACILITATE A COLLABORATIVE CLEANUP OF GRAFFITI, TRASH REMOVAL, AND RETRO BOLTING OF CLASSIC ROCK-CLIMBING ROUTES AT PINE CANYON IN MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK, WITH THE MOUNT DIABLO INTERPRETIVE A”