RiverWatch January 2024: New Faces in the New Year
The river park is teeming with wildlife! Our new trail cameras are capturing amazing pictures and videos of bobcats, bunnies, possums, raccoons, coyotes and so much more!
Meet Gary Mitrovich
We are delighted to announce that starting next month, Gary Mitrovich is stepping forward as the new editor of our monthly newsletter!
Gary is a third generation native of San Diego. He graduated from Crawford High School and Grossmont College, and joined the San Diego Police Department in 1980 - retiring as a Sergeant of Detectives in 2012. He is a co-founder of the San Diego Police Museum. Thanks to his family, Gary gained an interest in local history and has published numerous articles about San Diego County. He was a contributing author to "America's Finest: The History of San Diego City Law Enforcement," and later wrote "East of San Diego: The Lost History of the East San Diego Police Department 1912-1923."
After retiring, Gary married and moved to Lakeside, where his family had operated a turkey ranch and chicken farm from the 1930s to the 1960s on Wildcat Canyon Road. He joined the Lakeside Historical Society in 2015 and took over the newsletter operation there as well, which he continues today. A four-year past president of LHS, Gary has written a number of history booklets and edited books for the historical society. We are excited to explore the history of the San Diego River from many different perspectives this year, and we are glad to have someone as kind and community-minded as Gary to help us do it. Please welcome Gary to the river park family!
Volunteers Matter!
Allied Climbers of San Diego
Many thanks to our amazing volunteers from the Allied Climbers of San Diego, who came out to remove trash and invasive species from the river park's Ha Hana Road property. Thank you Shannon Butler and the entire team for your service - great job, we appreciate you so much!
Field Station Progress
One highlight of late December was getting concrete foundations poured for the river park's San Diego River Science Field Station. A big shout out to our generous project partners at the San Diego River Conservancy. Look, it's really happening!! :-)
"I love the night life, I've got to boogie..."
Fun with trail cameras continues! Oh my goodness we are enjoying this!
About Us
Lakeside's River Park Conservancy was founded in 2001 to restore 100 acres of depleted sand mine back into viable riparian habitat. Our public High Trail runs from Channel Road in Lakeside to the eastern edge of Santee, providing an important segment of the San Diego River Trail. Hikers, bikers, equestrians welcome!
The river park is a private non-profit, non-governmental organization, which means that we raise our own funds for operations. We compete for grant funding for large projects but it is you - individual and family donors - who literally keep the lights on.
Donations are tax-deductible and used for expenses like trail maintenance, riverbed cleanups, field equipment, staff overhead, trail cameras, and enhancements to the Field Station. Our mission is to preserve the biological integrity of the San Diego River while offering recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities to the community. Please join us if you can by donating today! Thank you.
