Pre-Conference Tours, Monday, April 8

Tours are designed to demonstrate the breadth and depth of ANR's work in Southern California. Space is limited, so please register early!

Non-academic ANR employees: Before registering, please be sure to coordinate with your supervisor, county director or program manager to schedule your time at the conference.

Tour #1 ANR's Outreach Projects in the Coachella Valley

Tour #2 ANR's Presence in Rapidly Urbanizing Population Centers

Tour #3 Conducting ANR's Mission in San Diego County

Tour #1 ANR’s Outreach Projects in the Coachella Valley

Planning Subcommittee: John Kabashima, Peggy Mauk, Edie Allen, Cameron Barrows and Etaferahu Takele
Questions, please contact: ANR Program Support Unit, Lauren McNees, 530-752-6996

Departs at 9:00 AM and returns at 7:30 PM
from the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ontario Airport, 222 North Vineyard Avenue

Transportation, lunch and snacks will be provided. Space is limited to 50 people.

The Coachella Valley is an agricultural and recreational area in Riverside County with diverse flora and fauna. The desert valley dips below sea level at the Salton Sea and is surrounded by mountain peaks more than 10,000 feet high. The desert features a wide diversity of irrigated crops, extensive golf course development and green energy development, and it converges on issues that require careful planning to promote sustainable resources. Agriculture, natural and human resource outreach projects in Coachella Valley, Desert Empire, Cahuilla Basin and Salton Trough will be highlighted.

Coachella Valley Agricultural Research Station (CVARS) to see the results of ANR research on the production of dates, pitahaya, grapes and peppers. It will include discussions by ANR advisors on water quality and quantity issues in the Salton Sea Basin and on nutritional research and educational resources for Coachella Valley residents.
Prime Time vegetable packing house fora phenomenal tour of a state-of-the-art facility.
Golf course water recycling to learn about how recycled water can reduce the approximate 1 million gallons of water consumed annually at each golf course.
Wind and solar energy development sites for examples of rapid development of green energy and their associated benefits and environmental issues.
UC Riverside Citrus Research Station to view its citrus variety collection and the turfgrass research program.
Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan is a microcosm for achieving conservation, energy and economic objectives that could be duplicated almost anywhere in the world.

Barbecue lunch will be served at CVARS featuring local produce, tantalizing carne asada, chicken, fresh guacamole and salsa.

Tour #2 ANR’s Presence in Rapidly Urbanizing Population Centers

Planning Subcommittee: Darren Haver, Frank Mitloehner, Nyles Peterson
Questions, please contact: ANR Program Support Unit, Angela Oates, 530-752-2442

Departs at 10 AM and returns at 7 PM
from the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ontario Airport, 222 North Vineyard Avenue

Transportation, lunch, snacks and dinner will be provided. Space is limited to 50 people.

The Santa Ana River Basin is home to over 6 million residents and is the largest basin in the South Coast Bioregion, touching four counties and encompassing over 2,650 square miles. The basin begins in the San Bernardino Mountains at elevations over 8,000 feet and continues to the Pacific Ocean. Most of the basin receives an average of only 11-12” rainfall per year, increasing the basin’s dependence on both imported water and extensive reservoir storage. The tour will provide examples of ANR activities in the lower Santa Ana River Basin (lower San Bernardino County and central Orange County), where over four decades of increasing urban populations have significantly impacted agriculture and natural resources.

Northview Dairy to visit a wonderful example of a dairy and see the challenges dairies face in Southern California. Operating since 1977 on 110 acres with 1,400 milk cows, the dairy raises all its own replacement animals.
South Coast Research & Extension Center (SCREC) with lunch and tour to hear ANR researchers discuss their research and extension projects on avocado, strawberry and pitahaya crops. We’ll also visit an urban horticulture-related project that focuses on landscape water conservation and pollution mitigation strategies.
Newport Back Bay to tour one of the largest of just a few remaining natural estuaries in Southern California. We will hear about the Community-Based Restoration and Education Program and the Upper Newport restoration being conducted with the assistance of a group of dedicated CE Master Gardeners.
Great Park tour of the Second Food Harvest Food Bank’s 121,000-square-foot distribution center where work is being done towards ending hunger in Orange County.
Farm and Food Lab tour featuring themed garden beds, such as: Pizza and Spaghetti Garden, Fruit Salad Garden and Sensory Garden. A group of CE Master Gardeners assist the Great Park staff in maintaining this facility.

Barbecue dinner will be served at SCREC and will be provided by the La Habra Hilltoppers 4-H Club. Orange County 4-H youth will showcase various club service projects, including a project funded through the National 4-H Revolution for Responsibility campaign.

Tour #3 Conducting ANR's Mission in San Diego County

Planning Subcommittee: Jim Bethke and Val Mellano
Questions, please contact: ANR Program Support Unit, Alex Zabelin, 530-752-3932

Departs at Noon and returns at 8 PM
from the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ontario Airport, 222 North Vineyard Avenue

Transportation, snacks and dinner will be provided. Lunch is on your own.

This tour will take you past Palomar Mountain, where the Palomar Observatory, which is visible on most days from the freeway, is located. You will also view the most productive avocado area in the United States as you pass through Rainbow Canyon. Avocado trees will line both sides of the freeway for several miles. Highlights include Cooperative Extension connections to small farmers, water conservation efforts, pest control research and youth development programs, all demonstrating how our ANR Strategic Initiatives resonant with the breadth of research, education and outreach that is best within ANR.

Mellano & Co. Family Flower Farm for a walking tour of the fields and the cold room led by Mike A. Mellano. The Mellano family has partnered with Cooperative Extension, related industry and the local community for generations. Issues to be addressed will be endemic and invasive pests and diseases, integrated pest management, herbicide application training, wildfire and the local 4-H Youth Development Program.
The Center for Applied Horticultural Research (CfAHR) is a newly founded non-profit organization with the purpose of addressing, through research, the practical issues faced by the nursery and floriculture industry. A walking tour of the lab and greenhouses, led by Dr. Lucia Villavicencio, CfAHR director, will highlight CE projects that address horticultural issues in commercial nursery and ornamental plant production, as well as floriculture. All research conducted at the center is done sustainably and with good conservation practices. We’ll discuss issues related to small farms, water use and landscape, goldspotted oak borer, eye gnats, monitoring and scouting demonstrations and more.

South Coast Winery Resort Spa, known for its award-winning wines, will be our stop for dinner and UC displays. While enjoying dinner, you will view displays that highlight some of our top programs: Healthy Families and Communities; Thrive Project-Science Education; Healthy Garden, Healthy Home; Master Gardeners; Nutrition; Personal Finance; Food Safety Education; and more.