"They said it was a dumb female idea."

[SoCalDem]

News from my area.. a good story, for a change..
Santa Ana River's long-time advocate gets satisfaction


10:48 PM PDT on Sunday, March 14, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_W_wriver15.449fb64.html



Terry Pierson / The Press-Enterprise


Ruth Anderson Wilson, 87, is happy the city embraced a plan for the Santa Ana River that runs by Martha McLean-Anza Narrows Park along the De Anza Trail. When Ruth Anderson Wilson started campaigning to save the Santa Ana River in 1966 from being contained in a concrete channel, people were "laughing, jeering, and really quite nasty," the 87-year-old activist said.

"They said it was a dumb female idea."

After years of work, Wilson can now have the last laugh when she considers the miles of multi-use trails and acres of public parkland that line the Santa Ana River, and a new plan by the city of Riverside that recommends an ambitious slate of restoration and amenities.
The City Council earlier this month accepted a plan that would restore wetlands and add trailheads, concessions, a visitor's center and more in dozens of places along the nine miles of river within Riverside city limits.

Highlights of the plan include creating areas to keep sediment and debris out of the river and Lake Evans at Fairmount Park; adding concessions, restrooms and bike rental at Tequesquite Park; restoring native fish and plants at Martha McLean-Anza Narrows Park; creating a golf course at the Hidden Valley Wildlife Area; and improving access and adding trailheads, signs and interpretive features at various points. It's not clear how much the improvements would cost, but officials expect to seek grants and funds from parks-related bond issues, and to form partnerships with utility companies, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit groups.

snip

The latest plan is particularly gratifying to Wilson, because it includes ideas she thought were only pipe dreams in the late 1960s when she and her friend and fellow activist Martha McLean were strategizing how to save the river. When Wilson and her friend heard the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wanted to pave the Santa Ana River, they knew they couldn't let that happen.

snip

"We'd say this is what happens to a river when nobody cares about it," Wilson said. "Everybody joined (our group) right away." By the mid-1970s, people realized the women were serious and they weren't going away. Eventually Riverside County agreed to do a 10-month study of the river, and Wilson pushed to get its recommendations carried out.

snip

Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-368-9461 or [e-mail]

[Skittles]

1. K&R for Ms. Wilson

:thumbsup:

[SoCalDem]

7. She's a determined woman.. it's taken her 44 years, but she never gave up

An undeveloped, non-concreted greenspace around here ADDS value to all who live near it.:)

[Hekate]

2. That makes my day

:toast:

[Swamp Rat]

3. Thank goodness for dumb female ideas.

I wish Ruth Anderson Wilson was here years ago to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from fucking up New Orleans.

[Triana]

6. +1 n/t

[dmr]

4. I can't imagine why they wanted to concret the river in the first place.

Does anyone know the reason why?

Three cheers for Ruth, Martha, a natural flowing river and its beautiful surroundings !

:bounce:

[SoCalDem]

5. Most of our rivers here are concrete ditches

:(

ugly as sin..

Here's the LA River now




how it used to be

[Raejeanowl]

8. Bravo

Congratulations and THANK YOU on a life's work well done.

[roguevalley]

9. looks like my mama. :) Only Mama always did her hair. :) Lovely lady

warrior.

[Last_Stand]

10. Great story...

Yo patriarchy, it might help to listen to "dumb female ideas" more often...

[NuttyFluffers]

11. so similar to the "dumb female idea" that saved SF Bay from being paved over, too!

thank goodness for "dumb female ideas" that think of sharing beautiful resources with others and future generations!

:applause: :grouphug:

[Richard Steele]

12. What a great person! K&R