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Our Mission - Friends, Artists
and Neighbors of Elkhorn Slough (FANS) is an association of citizens
committed to preserving and enhancing the Elkhorn Slough and its
watershed through public education, citizen activism and advocacy. We
are dedicated to maintaining a management plan that will protect the
environmental, cultural and agricultural integrity of the Slough and
its surrounding watershed, while restoring, and preserving Elkhorn
Slough as a legacy for future generations.
Why FANS FANS has a unique voice in the
effort to protect this area. There are at least 17 different
organizations and agencies involved in the research, planning,
restoration and management of the Elkhorn Slough and its watershed.
However, this host of professionals must remain silent when it comes to
the political struggle of protection. The constraints under which they
operate prevent them from speaking out in a way that our grassroots
organization can. These professionals cannot enter the political fray.
A group of private citizens like FANS has no such constraint and have
become the political advocates for the Elkhorn Slough.
Non-profit Status While not a formal non-profit
organization, we have a Fiscal Sponsor relationship with the Sacramento
based Planning and Conservation League Foundation (www.pcl.org). This allows us to receive
tax deductible donations to support our work. FANS is prepared to take
destructive projects to the courts if the County approves them. This is
a very expensive, time sensitive undertaking. We must be financially
prepared for the job.
Gary Patton is an attorney with a
statewide reputation as a leader on land use policy, and is current
Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County, a local land use
policy group.
Patton says, "FANS exemplifies the very best kind of public involvement in land use issues. What began with some neighbors getting concerned about a local development has led to the creation of a sophisticated and effective organization that is deeply involved with land use policy concerns. FANS will not only be successful in helping to protect the incomparable resources of Elkhorn Slough; their work will lead to better land use throughout the entirety of Monterey County."  The project that initially brought
the residents together to form FANS is the proposed golf course
expansion and an upscale development of the Pajaro Valley Golf Club
(PVGC). The development would be precedent setting in that it would be
the very first project to locate a residential development directly on
the shoreline of the Elkhorn Slough and on the bluffs of the watershed.
Nearly four years ago FANS began as a small group of neighbors, lead by the vision and passion of a fine artist and her engineer husband, Mari and Klaus Kloeppel. FANS learned early in the game that being advocates for preservation in the face of the high stakes of immensely profitable development brought with it hundreds of hours of public hearings, strategy meetings and reading through stacks of county, state and federal regulations, hydrogeologic studies, and local newspapers. Pajaro
Valley Golf Club/ Elkhorn Slough
Some of our members had
been at
this kind of work for a long time and
brought diverse and highly relevant experience. Our group includes a
former planning department enforcement officer, a retired member of the
County Board of Supervisors and a Monterey County Planning Commissioner
to name a few, but, most of us were new to environmental advocacy,
bringing determination and our own special forms of expertise to the
cause.
Mari, our co-founder,
explains her initiation into environmental activism in this way: "As a
full time fine artist living and painting in the watershed, Elkhorn
Slough is much more than just an area in which to live - it is a way of
life. Unfortunately we were lulled into a false sense of security
thinking that the area was already protected from proposed damaging
development since Elkhorn Slough is a National Estuarine Research
Reserve and part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
But we soon found out that only about 10% of the watershed was
protected with thousands of parcels vulnerable to commercial
subdivision and development."
"It has been exhausting work as our organization of volunteers has succeeded in obtaining temporary regional hydrogeologic development moratoriums, stronger development policies and establishing strong working relationships with the decision makers of the region. It has also been our honor to share in the stewardship of this critically sensitive and precious area. The members of FANS believe that it is crucial that the aesthetic, cultural and environmental wealth of this sensitive region continue to be protected." |
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