Giant wakerobin (trillium chloropetalum) in late winter/early spring, Garber Park.
In the fall of 2022, the Conservancy circulated a questionnaire among its members and friends. Here is a summary of the results which the Conservancy is using to guide it moving forward.
More than 80 percent of the respondents said they enjoy the canyon simply by driving through it. Eighty percent also stated they walk along the trails at least occasionally. Seventy percent said that they interact with Claremont Canyon by viewing it from home or work. Almost 30 percent said they walk their dogs at least occasionally and 20 percent said they ride bikes along the roads.
We asked people to rank their top three goals for what the Conservancy’s priorities should be and gave them a list of five goals from which to choose: access for recreational activity; education about the canyon’s wildlife, geology and history; wildfire safety; restoring native plants and trees; and preserving the overall beauty of the canyon. While all goals received support, wildfire safety was clearly the respondents’ top priority. Accessibility for recreation was a close second followed by restoring native plants. Preserving the beauty of the canyon was fourth with educational programs trailing.
When asked specifically about educational programs the Conservancy could offer, there was strong support (between 70 and 80 percent) for programs covering the history, geography, plants and ecology of the canyon, and bird walks, which the Conservancy presently sponsors. There was somewhat less support for education on how to build defensible space and home hardening, both of which reduce the wildfire risk; but those subjects are covered by other organizations.
When asked about what the Conservancy could do to improve trails, the top priority was adding directional signs, followed by a navigation app, handrails, and building new trails. Providing paper maps received somewhat less support.
Finally, when asked what groups within the community the Conservancy should focus on there was agreement that families, neighborhood groups, students and individuals were all important. Click here for tabulations from this survey.
