Hike to save the Monterey pines - the ones in Monterey!

Saturday morning, February 18, Del Monte Forest, Monterey County.

The Monterey pine is one of California's iconic trees. Though planted around the world for lumber and as an ornamental, it survives in its native habitat in only a handful of forests. Now a developer wants to cut down 17,000 trees in the Del Monte Forest, the largest of the remaining stands - to build one more golf course. The California Coastal Commission has scheduled a hearing on this development for this spring.

If decision-makers allow this project, they will at the same time be helping to cut down one of California's strongest environmental protection laws. The California Coastal Act, under which the commission acts, is unique among conservation laws because it respects Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA). In other words, it is not just an individual species of pine or frog or bird or flower that is worthy of protection, but the area in which the critter or plant lives. The Del Monte Forest has long been considered an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area, for the Monterey pines are threatened not only in themselves, but also as protection for the wildlife that depend on them.

There is still time to save this forest. This is why on Saturday morning, Feb., 18, Sierra Club's coastal director Mark Massara will join outings leaders and hikers from throughout California to visit this beautiful and threatened forest. With this fun and easy hike Sierra Club hopes to raise awareness of the importance of this forest. Come learn simple things you can do to help protect this forest for future generations.

For more information on the hike, or about how you can help protect this forest and California's coastal protection laws, contact the Sierra Club's Great Coastal Places Campaign at (831) 659-7046 or email savethecoast-at-sierraclub.org