California Native Plant Society

ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACHThis year, CNPS Public Affairs, Education, and Stewardship staff worked to engage the public, industry, and decisionmakers through a wide range of activites. In Education, CNPS partnered to develop and host a sold-out Educators Conference (185 attendees), lead student-created native plant interpretive signage, and begin work on a middle-school native plant curriculum -- all part of the CNPS School Nature Gardens project. Education Staff also worked to update and expand the CNPS Student Research Grants to diversify areas of research and the students eligible to receive grants. (See additional Education highlights under Plant Science.) The CNPS Calscape team wrapped up worked on the updated Calscape.org website, which has seen a 98% increase in traffic since 2020 with 1.3M visits this year. In Public Affairs, the team supported the successful passage of SB 337, codifying the States 30x30 goal into law; lobbied to secure record State of CA budget investments in vegetation mapping; led communications for the Power in Nature 30x30 California coalition; and partnered to support strategic communications across national monument campaigns. Since 2020, CNPS has seen a 125% increase in email subscribers, growing the list to 45k, gained a total 154k social media followers, and increased visitss to the cnps.org website by 69%. The Publications Program worked with Indigenous scholars and authors to produce the special Artemisia journal issue, Indigenous Perspectives: Native Plants and Climate Change. Meanwhile, staff horticulture experts continued the popular Naturehood webinars, with each monthly webinar hosting hundreds of attendees. The CNPS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Committee also worked with staff and volunteers across the organization to finalize the organization's first DEIJ Vision Statement, which was overwhelmingly approved in votes by the CNPS Board and Chapter Council.

CONSERVATIONThe CNPS Conservation Program works with volunteers, staff, and partners to undertake the environmental review, legal action, and advocacy needed to protect California native plants and habitats today and into the future. This year, CNPS played a key role in supporting national monument campaigns and pushing back against threats to sensitive habitat and species. The most notable victory included the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain and the San Gabriel Mountains national monuments, totaling 123,000 acres of new, permanently protected land. Working with partners and the CNPS Public Affairs team, the program organized and hosted visits for leaders and media to the Molok Luyuk expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, including a tour with US Dept of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The team completed natural resource reporting for national monument Objects of Interest reports; published stories on the Supreme Court's Sackett decision and CEQA attacks; and helped advance site-based conservation across the state, including the successful protection of four rare plants in the San Bernardino National Forest and the Inyo Rock Daisy in Conglomerate Mesa, all of which face immediate threats due to mining. The year wrapped up with the preliminary roll-out of the new CNPS online Conservation Advocacy Toolkit.