Thank you for considering membership in the California Chaparral Institute. Before you join, we would like to let you know how your financial contribution will be used and why it is needed.
There are a lot of worthy causes out there. Why help preserve and promote a better understanding of the chaparral? Because chaparral defines California like no other native plant community. It provides Californians with a sense of place. And chaparral offers vital natural resource values that help maintain California's ecological health, such as providing watersheds to protect our water supplies, carbon sequestration to combat climate change, and habitat that creates some of the highest levels of biodiversity on earth. Chaparral remains one of the last bastions of the California condor.
We travel nearly 10,000 miles a year to give presentations about the chaparral to dozens of groups including schools, community organizations and government agencies. In addition, we have provided free educational materials to numerous individuals and groups in order to help them better understand and learn to appreciate the chaparral ecosystem. Scientific research has been and continues to be conducted. Current projects include studying the impact of increased fire frequencies on shrubland plant communities and how much chaparral has been lost due to development and habitat "type conversion" (where shrublands have been converted to weedy grasslands due to fires or other disturbances). Here is an example of one of our recent research projects.
Unfortunately, there remains a segment of society that does not believe type conversion is a problem and advocate broad scale destruction of native plant communities in the name of fire protection. This is why our educational mission is so important! For more on this problem, please see our Threats to Chaparral page.
Your support will help fund our educational and research programs with the ultimate goal of assisting others to reconnect with the natural environment in which they live and to recognize the importance of making long term plans to maintain wild places for our families to enjoy in the future. Yes, we focus on the chaparral, but our message is universal; nature is a wonderful place to enjoy life.
If you feel you would like to support our mission, please select from one of the three membership levels listed below. You can either contribute directly by credit card through PayPal or mail a check with the membership form found below. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation so your donations are tax-deductible.
Thanks!
Richard W. Halsey Director California Chaparral Institute
To Make a Donation to the California Chaparral Institute
If you would like to make a donation to the Institute or increase your support as a member (see below), you can do so here. You may increase your donation in increments of $25 by updating the quantity in your shopping chart. We will send you one of our Chaparral Pocket Naturalist guides as a thank you! Please see our Plants & Animals page for a photo of the guide. All donations are tax-deductible. Many Thanks!!!
Three Levels of Membership
1. Citizen Naturalist: $40. Benefits include The Chaparralian (our periodic journal that covers the chaparral ecosystem and the importance of nature delivered via email) and news alerts about chaparral conservation issues. First time members receive a signed copy of the second edition of Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California.
If this is a gift membership please send us the name, address, and email of the individual you would like to send the gift to via EMAIL after you place your order. If you are renewing your membership and would still like to receive a copy of the book, you can let us know that too via EMAIL. Thanks!
2. Chaparralian: $65. Benefits include The Chaparralian (our periodic journal that covers the chaparral ecosystem and the importance of nature delivered via email) and news alerts concerning chaparral conservation issues. First time members recieve: - Signed second edition of Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California - Secrets of the Chaparral DVD (details below)
If this is a gift membership please send us the name, address, and email of the individual you would like to send the gift to via EMAIL after you place your order. If you are renewing your membership and would still like to receive the book and/or DVD, you can let us know that too via EMAIL. Thanks!
3. California Grizzly Bear: $100. Benefits include The Chaparralian (our periodic journal that covers the chaparral ecosystem and the importance of nature delivered via email) and news alerts on conservation issues. First time members receive: - Signed second edition of Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California - Secrets of the Chaparral DVD (details below) - Special chaparral issue of the California Native Plant Society's journal Fremontia (details below)
If this is a gift membership please send us the name, address, and email of the individual you would like to send the gift to via EMAIL after you place your order. If you are renewing your membership and would still like to receive one or all of the first time member benefits, you can let us know that too via EMAIL. Thanks!
If you would prefer to join the Chaparral Institute by mail please download the membership form here
The 2008 second edition of Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California is the only readily available book that describes in detail California's most characteristic plant community, the chaparral. It not only provides the basics of chaparral natural history, but also how wildfires are fought, what we have learned about them, and why it is so important to reconnect with one's surroundings. Also included is a color photo identification section describing 64 of the most common Southern California chaparral plants and animals. For more details about content or how to purchase additional copies, please go to Book Excerpts.
“Secrets of the Chaparral” DVD
as part of Huell Howser's California's Green PBS television series
Join Huell Howser and Richard Halsey as they explore several beautiful types of chaparral, discuss the chaparral’s misunderstood relationship to fire, and discover the true home of the California grizzly bear. This is by far the best introduction to the chaparral plant community you will find on film anywhere. It is perfect for classroom use as well as for anyone interested in obtaining a clear explanation about California's most characteristic wilderness.
Running time: About 25 minutes. See a sample video clip below.
Special Issue: CHAPARRAL.The fall 2007 issue of the California Native Plant Society's quarterly journal, Fremontia.
With beautiful color photographs and articles by experts in the field, this is an outstanding overview of the chaparral ecosystem. Articles include "Chaparral: Pure California" by Richard W. Halsey, "Diversity and Evolution of Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus" by V. Thomas Parker, "Chaparral Zonation in the Santa Monica Mountains: The Influence of Freezing Temperatures" by Stephen D. Davis, et al., "Chaparral and Fire" by Jon E. Keeley, "Chaparral Geophytes" by Claudia M. Tyler and Mark I. Borchert, "Man and Fire in Southern California: Doing the Math" by Hugh D. Safford, "From Ashes to Life: Effects of Fire on a San Diego Chaparral Community" by David M. Cohn III. 33 pages.
