Editor’s note: Rubio Canyon Preserve and AFC’s cabin were destroyed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025.
This year, PCF funded several nonprofits in the focus area of the Environment and Animal Welfare. These organizations are invaluable in helping our community better understand the critical importance of land connectivity, wildlife, and biodiversity, and their combined impact on the health of our local ecosystems.
A 2024 PCF Capital Grant will help Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy (AFC) make essential repairs to an existing cabin at its Rubio Canyon Preserve. The 41-acre sanctuary, nestled in the Altadena foothills, was acquired in 2011 by AFC to safeguard critical habitat for native plants and animals, including bears, bobcats and mountain lions. The cabin – although in disrepair – is used as a meeting place for AFC’s community trail crew and camera research team and serves as an educational center for field trip groups. PCF’s grant will enable AFC to make repairs so that AFC can broaden its environmental stewardship and conservation mission.
“Rubio Canyon has a series of historic trails and many locals know that the Mt. Lowe Railway came through this area, so our preserve features ruins and trails from more than a century ago,” noted AFC’s Land Manager and Community Liaison, Tim Martinez, during PCF’s site visit in late August. “This area has the most public access of any of AFC’s preserve – it’s regionally known, and we have a lot of amazing nature and history here, as well. Showcasing that history, improving that access, and building community is a big part of this project,” Martinez explained.
AFC Program Coordinator Kyle Cavazos elaborated on Tim’s comments during our visit. “AFC approaches conservation as a way to engage the community, to teach people how to have a relationship and a connection with the land and how to properly take care of it. The restored cabin will give AFC a landing space for our educational programs, and that includes our summer interns, fellowship participants, and the many students and teachers who visit the preserve each year.”
We believe strong communities thrive when philanthropy tackles real needs. To create lasting impact in Greater Pasadena, we focus on six key areas that that drive opportunity, build resilience, and improve well-being.
The mission of the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is to protect California’s native plants and their natural habitats, today and into the future, through science, education, stewardship, gardening, and advocacy. Its programs, field trips, workshops, plant walks, and outreach events help our community understand the importance of native […]
In 2021, PCF’s Animal Welfare Initiative debuted to support local domestic and wildlife populations and habitat conservation. The funding comes from the Garfield Gilbert Family Endowment for Animals. Pasadena Audubon Society (PAS) is PCF’s 2022 Wildlife Welfare grant recipient, and the organization will use the funding to support its broad range of educational programming for […]
Editor’s note: Eaton Canyon and its Nature Center were destroyed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025. It is not open for public use. Eaton Canyon is a natural area in northeast Pasadena that holds an incredible array of plant and wildlife biodiversity inside its nearly 200 acres. Visitors can enjoy its myriad hiking trails, […]
The mission of the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is to protect California’s native plants and their natural habitats, today and into the future, through science, education, stewardship, gardening, and advocacy. Its programs, field trips, workshops, plant walks, and outreach events help our community understand the importance of native […]
In 2021, PCF’s Animal Welfare Initiative debuted to support local domestic and wildlife populations and habitat conservation. The funding comes from the Garfield Gilbert Family Endowment for Animals. Pasadena Audubon Society (PAS) is PCF’s 2022 Wildlife Welfare grant recipient, and the organization will use the funding to support its broad range of educational programming for […]
Editor’s note: Eaton Canyon and its Nature Center were destroyed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025. It is not open for public use. Eaton Canyon is a natural area in northeast Pasadena that holds an incredible array of plant and wildlife biodiversity inside its nearly 200 acres. Visitors can enjoy its myriad hiking trails, […]
