CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST
CONSERVATION FUND

One of the 18 most threatened wilderness areas in the world encompasses Southern California's mountains, which hold a great diversity of wildlife. This wilderness is known as the Cleveland National Forest.

High flowered meadows encircled by dense, majestic stands of cedar, fir, live oaks, and century-old Jeffrey Pine are green in summer, painted in a thousand colors in the fall, and pure white in winter. Cleveland National Forest is home to mountain lions, deer, and many other specie, showing the ecological vigor of Southern California's last wilderness now threatened on all sides.

This natural treasure belongs to all generations.

In 1909 President Theodore Roosevelt established the Cleveland National Forest, embodying 2,000,000 acres from Mt. San Jacinto to the Mexican border. Of Teddy's original vision, only 650,000 acres remain, fragmented over three counties (San Diego, Orange, and Riverside). In San Diego County, the forest is further segmented by 80,000 acres of private inholdings.

United Eco-action Fund (UNECO) aims to acquire wildlife corridors to preserve what is left of the wild splendor that still makes California worthy of being called "the Golden State" by people all over the world. Are you aware of the many treasures nourished by this forest? CLICK HERE TO SEE.

MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES IN SAN DIEGO, ORANGE, RIVERSIDE COUNTIES

An overwhelming two-thirds majority of voters passed the Forest Conservation Initiative in 1993. This proposition achieved success with the strong active support and collaboration of UNECO's founding members and other grassroots groups. Community supporting corporations and groups such as Buck Knives, A-16, The Astronomers Society, Pacific Scenes, Center for Conservation Strategies, Laguna Observatory, mayors of Chula Vista, Escondido, Oceanside, El Cajon, La Mesa, National City, Coronado, Imperial Beach, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Del Mar, Poway, Vista, Lemon Grove, enthusiastically approved protection of this precious treasure in their own backyard.

Unfortunately, efforts are surreptitiously being made by County authorities steered by vested interests to set aside the public will and the victory achieved at the polls in order to gradually develop private inholdings beyond the 40-acre per house minimum. Unless the public and community-spirited business maintain a tight front to stem the tide of misplanned development, San Diego will forever lose this magnificent wilderness and with it its healthy environment and only natural water source. Another East Los Angeles will be born with all the horrors of crime waves, grid-locked traffic, more freeways, and a permanent end to the Golden State legend.

The answer to this urgent problem is to buy property rights at fair prices. Let's face it. Only money can answer the absolute value vested into private property by contemporary society. Money alone can stem the tide of destruction and preserve California's way of life. We ask all citizens and all businesses in Southern California to help, even as we ask across the nation and as far as Europe to save one of the most beautiful and most endangered regions on earth.

UNECO's protection must gradually embrace the entire Peninsular Range Ecosystem by a strategy of continuous acquisitions, disseminating free environmental education, and active and generous public support.

"We need a real corridor system, one that goes from the Mexican border, from Campo, from Julian, all the way up to the Transverse Ranges, that is, we need to connect the Peninsular Ranges with the Transverse Ranges. It's not impossible. It's going to be hard, but unless we think about it, it's not going to happen. Otherwise eventually, I'm afraid, we'll lose the mountain lions in Southern California and that part of our mystery, of our wildness." Michael Soulé, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, originator of science of Conservation Biology. "Whether in the tropics or the temperate zones, forests represent the single most important stabilizing feature of the earth's land surface, and they cushion us from the worst effects --particularly those associated with global warming--of the environmental crisis." Vice-President Al Gore, Earth In The Balance. "If you look at the map of the Cleveland National Forest...you can see the scenario. If we don't protect those forests and the connections among them, this cougar population really doesn't have a chance at all." Paul Beier Ph.D., Northern Arizona University.

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It is imperative to stop further shrinking of our spectacular wildland. To that end UNECO has created the Cleveland National Forest Conservation Fund to acquire wildlife corridors and make our forest wilderness whole again.

For San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties, the Cleveland Forest is a vital backyard, a breathing space, and the only local source of clean natural water. For California it is part of what makes the Golden State still worthy of its name.

As a donor you will gain immeasurably by giving to all who love the wild beauty of our region. You will be listed in the honor roster of:

You can justly be proud of having made your mark by protecting the well-being of all Americans now and in the coming century. You will have placed your name in the history of California.

Your participation in this noble endeavor is critical. Please give as you can.