SAMO Fund Receives Multiple Grants for Education and Conservation Efforts
The Santa Monica Mountains Fund (SMMF) has recently received generous grants from REI, the John Logan Foundation, and the National Park Foundation. Thank you to all these organizations for supporting our mission to help the National Park Service (NPS) in the Santa Monica Mountains.
In June, REI awarded the SMMF a grant that helped the NPS’s project to add a loop trail to the popular Backbone Trail in the western end of the mountains. This will take hikers to Triunfo Peak’s old firefighters’ lookout post, which will be re-purposed to create a viewing platform. From this look-out, hikers will be able to look back at Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the range, as well as enjoying ocean and mountain views extending from the Pacific to Los Padres National Forest.
Early September 2018, the John Logan Foundation awarded the SMMF a grant to go towards our Nature Neighbor program. This program was created to help educate individuals on how to best live with alongside local wildlife. One of our main features within the program is the Break the Poison Chain campaign, which educates people about the harm anti-coagulant rodenticide has on wildlife while moving its way up the food chain.
Most recently, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was selected to receive an Open OutDoors for Kids Focus City grant for the 2018-2019 school year from the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. This grant will allow us to expand our programming to engage with 25,000 4th graders in the LA and Ventura Counties, and provide valuable work experience for 14 college and university students. The grant is part of the Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program that creates pathways for kids to explore and connect with the national parks. The program makes field trips to the parks possible, and also raises community awareness of the importance of connecting the youth to nature.
