2024 Annual Meeting Tours and Events
Join us for these great opportunities to experience San Diego and see conservation up close during NACD’s 2024 Annual Meeting! Events and tours require a separate ticket purchase and are not included in the cost of registration.
Host State Event: USS Midway Museum Welcome Reception
Saturday, February 10, 2024
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Join us for an evening on the USS Midway, the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century, now a museum with an extensive collection of aircraft built in Southern California. Shuttle buses will leave from the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina from 5:00-6:00 p.m. and return beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Cost is $150 per person.
Host State Tour: Sustainable Agriculture – Compost, Pollinators, and Wine
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
12:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The tour will begin at San Pasqual Valley Soils, a compost facility located within San Diego County’s only agricultural preserve. Participants will tour the site and learn about their system for creating compost, as well as the waste they take from the San Diego Safari Park and the local utility’s tree trimming service, which helps to divert waste from landfill. Participants will also hear how SPVS works with the local farming community, about the benefits of agricultural preserves, and the ways they collaborate with the RCD of Greater San Diego County.
Next, the tour will visit Domaine Artefact, a vineyard and winery in the San Pasqual Valley, that is committed to sustainable land management practices. Participants will learn about their growing methods, as well as their efforts to maintain a zero-carbon footprint. The Estate is also committed to conservation of natural resources and is working with the RCD of Greater San Diego County to develop a carbon farm plan and to enhance pollinator habitat. At the end of the tour, participants will have the option to taste some of the Estate’s wine.
This tour can accommodate 50 people. Cost is $75 per person.
San Pasqual Valley Soils is approximately 45 minutes from the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.
Tour will include moderate walking over paved and unpaved surfaces.
Host State Tour: Urban Agriculture in Southern San Diego County
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
12:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The RCD of Greater San Diego County manages two urban agriculture sites in a beautiful corner of southwestern San Diego County known as the Tijuana River Valley. This area has a rich agricultural history that is carried on by growers at these sites.
The tour will begin at Wild Willow Farm & Education Center, a regenerative farm in San Diego’s South Bay located a mile north of the US-Mexico border. The farm’s mission is to connect people to the land, food, and each other. This is implemented through a variety of educational programming including farm field trips, public volunteering, and an extensive list of workshops and courses. In addition, the farm sells its produce through a Community Supported Agriculture program, an onsite farmstand, to the local high school district and to a wholesale food hub that supports small farmers and prioritized regenerative land management practices.
The tour will also visit the neighboring Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, a community garden with 210 garden plots rented to local residents, as well as 10 quarter-acre farm plots for beginner farmers, and a pollinator hedgerow. The community garden is one of the longest standing gardens in San Diego County and is unique in offering space for growing for both individual gardeners and commercial growers.
This tour can accommodate 50 people. Cost is $75 per person.
Wild Willow Farm & Education Center is approximately 25 minutes from the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.
Tour will include moderate walking over paved and unpaved surfaces.
Host State Tour: Collaboration for Forest Health
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
12:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
For this tour, participants will travel to the mountain community of Julian to visit Camp Winacka, a camp run by Girl Scouts of San Diego County. The site recently had a forest management plan developed and has just submitted environmental compliance documents through the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) to implement the treatments outlined in this plan. The RCD of Greater San Diego County is partnering with Girl Scouts and others in a capacity building effort funded through the CA Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Prevention Capacity Program (RFFC). Participants will learn about regional partnerships working towards wildfire resilience, the RFFC program, and other forest health conservation efforts. Participants will also go on a walking tour of the sites where the forest management plan is being implemented.
This tour can accommodate 50 people. Cost is $75 per person.
Girl Scouts Camp Winacka is approximately 1 hr 30 minutes from the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.
Tour will include moderate walking over paved and unpaved surfaces.