UC Office of the President NRS Transect
Title Transect 16:1 (spring/summer 1998)
Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nn3b40t
Journal UC Natural Reserve System, 16(1)
Author UC Natural Reserve System
Publication Date 1998-06-21
eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California University of California
TransectSpring/Summer 1 9 9 8 • Volume 16, No.1
Message from the Vice President-DANR
he Natural Reserve System sup- Tports university-level research and teaching in a variety of ecosystems. It is accomplishing these goals in a fash- ion unequalled anywhere.
At the same time, the NRS has proven to be a remarkable educational resource for Californians beyond our UC cam- puses. As this issue of Transect outlines, the NRS provides many settings — actual and virtual — for relating na- ture to science, art, and service for citi- zens who range in age from five to 95. Kindergarten teacher Marsha Ota (back row, third from right) and her class of lively five- and six-year-olds, joined by parent volunteers and UCSB biologist Mark Holmgren (back row, fourth from right, holding Several programs bring primary and shovel), at Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve. Photo by Ralph Clevenger secondary school students to our NRS sites and stimulate their interest in the science, art, and community service natural world. Examples are high- converge when kids meet in the Continued on page 12 Carpinteria Marsh “classroom” arsha Ota, a kindergarten teacher at Canalino Elementary School, 1 Carpinteria Marsh kids had a vision: to use the outdoors as a classroom for her children. She Mwanted her children to develop their observation skills and to study 4 Multilevel outreach at earth sciences, physical sciences, life sciences, math, art, and community ser- SNARL/Valentine Camp vice. The NRS’s nearby Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve seemed to offer the perfect environment. Last year, with the NRS as her community partner, Ota 7 Jepson Prairie docents was awarded a $1,000 grant from the Santa Barbara County Office of Educa- 9 Wilderness medicine at tion to turn her vision into reality. James San Jacinto Mtns. Ota began developing a multidimensional curriculum and taking her class on 11 Many, many thanks to biweekly excursions to the NRS site. Some of the 20 five- and six-year-olds in the Packard Foundation! her kindergarten class had never been to the beach or marsh nor hiked in the In This Issue Continued on page 2 Transect
Continued from page 1 nearby foothills. Some lived egrets, pelicans, ferrets, in city apartments, some on foxes, and raccoons. ranches, some in semirural areas. But all had a budding Mark Holmgren from UC interest in science that first Santa Barbara’s Museum of began to blossom after Ota Systematics and Ecology brought to their classroom met with the group and borrowed items from the helped them to identify the Santa Barbara Museum of tracks. Donna Moore from Natural History. The chil- the NRS campus office pro- dren enthusiastically asked vided each student with questions, and it was then Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve. project materials they could that Ota realized a hands-on cut and fold into a small experience at the Carpinteria Salt searchers use large nets called “beach book of common animal tracks found Marsh Reserve could spark a lifelong seines” to catch fish, including baby at the wetland. They could take the interest in science and nature conser- halibut, that live in the marsh. Once booklet with them on their visits to the vation. Ota also believes strongly in the the fish were captured, Brooks and sev- marsh to help with their identifications. importance of the arts in education, so eral UC Santa Barbara undergraduates The students also made plaster casts of she included watercolor painting and explained to the children that scientists the great blue heron’s tracks, which drawing with pastels in the curriculum. can often tell where in the marsh a spe- were as big as many of the children’s cies lives and what types of food it feet. “I want the students to understand that might eat simply by looking at the artists, like scientists, are careful observ- shape of the species’ body. Brooks also Reserve manager and botanist Wayne ers of nature,” explains Ota in her grant taught the children how to measure the Ferren along with Jason Nelson, a vol- proposal, “and that artists also record height of the changing tides in the unteer with UC Santa Barbara’s Habi- their observations and interpretations.” marsh channels. tat Restoration Club, helped the kin- dergartners learn to identify plants and The goal of Ota’s project was to “The most exciting and, at the same explained ideas like what happens heighten the children’s observation time, the most maddening thing about when nonnative plants are introduced abilities, using all five senses. The ex- working with small children is their into a wetland habitat. The children perience, however, exceeded that goal. seemingly inexhaustible supply of cu- also learned about environmental con- “The scientific gains truly amazed me,” riosity and their unwillingness to ac- servation and damages that are caused says Ota. During their trips to the re- cept ‘because that’s just the way it by pollution. serve, the kindergartners learned about works’ as an explanation,” says Brooks. the habitat and the need for all animals “One of the major differences between On one visit to the marsh, a young boy to have food, shelter, and a place to give good scientists and great scientists is in the class noticed that his long-lost birth. They learned to classify mam- that great scientists have never lost the beach ball was floating in the marsh; mals, birds, fish, and mollusks. The ability to see the world through the eyes apparently, he had kicked it over his NRS campus office at UC Santa Bar- of a child and ask for the umpteenth backyard fence where it promptly bara helped to find local experts — sci- time, But why?” landed in the creek, destined for entists, museum administrators, UC Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve. Ota faculty, and graduate students — to During one early visit to the marsh, used the example to explain how creeks meet with the class during their marsh Ota asked the kindergartners what and tides can bring in unwanted plants visits to answer questions and to help types of footprints they saw in the mud. and trash. with hands-on projects. “Many of the kids assumed that the footprints were forest creatures, like Ota was also pleased with the artistic UC Santa Barbara ichthyologist Andy eagles or bears,” says Ota. She followed gains her kindergartners made. While Brooks met the children at Carpinteria up with an entire lesson on identifying the pastels became more of a means for Reserve and showed them how re- the footprints of the resident herons, the children to scribble on themselves,
University of California 2 Transect Online guides support wetland lessons at San Joaquin Marsh these young students did work success- fully with watercolors to create their unded by a $10,000 grant from the Chevron Corporation, Tim Brad- own paintings, and they worked in Fley, faculty reserve manager for the NRS’s San Joaquin Freshwater groups to create murals of the marsh. Marsh Reserve, and UC Irvine graduate student Marjorie Patrick have Local professional artists taught the created a series of online teaching guides for this wetlands reserve. The concepts of line, color, texture, back- guides are designed for teachers of secondary school and beyond, and each ground, foreground, and horizon. one summarizes the ecological and cultural significance of this Orange Patricia Morgan, who coordinates the County site, suggests how to structure discussions, and offers detailed in- reserve-support group of artists called structions on how students can conduct biological or anthropological ex- California Painters of Reserves, worked periments and exercises in the field. The guides also list the equipment weekly with the children on their wa- teachers should bring along, such as rubber boots, shovels, binoculars, and tercolors. At the end of the year, with wildlife identification books. Lastly, each guide offers a bibliography of the help of a Santa Barbara frame shop additional readings for teachers. that matted the paintings at no cost, Morgan staged an art show at a local For example, the teaching guide on the marsh’s cattails describes the distri- community center. Many of the kin- bution of Typha angustifolia and Typha latifolia , explains their special ad- dergartners’ parents helped host the aptation to anoxic (oxygen-deficient) soil found in wetlands, and shows show. The children sold their works, which other native plants share San Joaquin Marsh. Colorful photographs earning $56 that they then donated to on the Web site accompany easy-to-follow explanations. The online guides Reserve Manager Ferren for other edu- also describe how the Gabrieliño Indians used the marsh and its cattails cational projects at the marsh. during the past 2,000 years. Other guides include curricula on marsh and coastal sage scrub restora- The kindergarten wetlands study at tion, Native American uses of native marsh plants, plant-insect interac- Carpinteria lasted five months, rather tions at the marsh, and information on two salt-tolerant plants: pickleweed than the entire school year — cut short and salt grass. by El Niño storms. Nevertheless, the wet winter didn’t dampen the quality Bradley has applied for further funding from the Environmental Protec- of the children’s experience of the tion Agency, and he is now preparing teaching guides for other NRS sites: marsh. Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve, Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, and Younger Lagoon. He expects these guides will be completed “The NRS’s Wayne Ferren and Donna during the next three years. Moore made the marsh project a suc- cess for my young students,” says Ota. Bradley and Patrick also created a similar teaching Web page for a Natural “The expert guest speakers generously Communities Conservation Program (NCCP) site near Irvine. Rather than donated their time to help us discover trying to protect a single species, the NCCP aims to set aside large tracts of and understand the marvels of life at land for habitat conservation. The NCCP’s outreach component includes the marsh. My children learned that Bradley’s Web site. Seventh graders throughout the Irvine Unified School here in their neighborhood they have District have accessed the site at:
Natural Reserve System 3 Transect SNARL’s successful public school outreach program continues with the addition of a library component
etation and teaches the children how classroom lessons each year. As a to make their own field guides. The supplement to this program, SNARL children take their guides out to the has secured $1,500 worth of donations reserve, identify and measure three spe- for a natural science library at the cies of trees (willow, birch, and aspen) Mammoth Elementary School. The at SNARL, and jot notes on their clip- Mammoth Forest Service Visitors Cen- boards. Dawson designs the field ter donated books, videos, and audio- courses and classroom lessons to match cassettes as part of the ESIA’s environ- the school’s curriculum; each lesson is mental education program. The library appropriate to the age group. includes such useful references as the Peterson and Audubon guides, and Fifth graders study aquatic inverte- books on history and mining in the brates. Imagine a room full of 11-year- region. Dawson says she hopes the li- olds simulating invertebrates: Dawson brary will serve as a pilot program for and Sherry Taylor, a member of the other elementary schools throughout reserve’s teaching staff, not only watch Inyo and Mono Counties, with each NRS Education Coordinator Leslie Dawson teaches second graders at the kids buzz around as different in- library’s contents tailored to the unique Mammoth Elementary School about sects, but teach them about predator/ natural and cultural history of the town forest mammals. prey relationships. When the students and matched to the curriculum of each go out to SNARL for the field trip school. eep snowfall and cold weather component, they receive a hands-on limit the amount of time stu- introduction to identifying aquatic Outreach at SNARL and Valentine Ddents and teachers can spend invertebrates. “They go into the creek Camp has many other components. A at the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research at two different locations and collect a summer school program brings about Laboratory (SNARL) and Valentine variety of invertebrates off the rocks,” 80 students from the cities of Mam- Camp during the winter. But, for 12 explains Dawson. “They’ll have a data weeks each year (six in the fall and six sheet and draw a picture of the critter. in the spring), children in kindergar- They’ll make field observations of its ten through sixth grade, from Inyo and size, shape, and color. And they have Mono County schools, board buses to find the animal in the field guide, destined for SNARL and go to learn including its common and scientific about such topics as riparian vegeta- names, and its position in the food web.” tion, aquatic invertebrates, and stream quality. The field trip program is As sixth graders, the students return to funded through 1999 by a $17,000 SNARL to continue experiments and grant from the Environmental Protec- observations along Convict Creek. The tion Agency. kids check the stream’s odor and color, then measure the temperature and ve- Starting in late April and running un- locity of the water. Using a table of til school is out for summer break, stream-quality indicators and a calcu- SNARL hosts two to three classes per lator, they average the data they’ve gath- day. A $4,800 grant from the Eastern ered. The kids gain an understanding Sierra Interpretive Association (ESIA) of water-quality parameters, detecting helps pay for the hour-long classroom whether dissolved oxygen in the stream lessons that complement the field trips. Seventh grader Patrick McBride is high, medium, or low. holds a trap containing a ground For example, for the first graders, Edu- squirrel, captured temporarily cation Coordinator Leslie Dawson pro- Currently, 2,000 children from 10 for closer examination. Photo by vides an introduction to riparian veg- schools participate in the field trips and Leslie Dawson
University of California 4 Transect
moth, Bishop, Santa Barbara, and Editor’s note: More than half of the NRS’s • Hastings Natural History Reservation Davis out to Valentine Camp to learn 33 reserves have hosted field trips for pri- (Monterey Co.) about a variety of natural history top- mary- and secondary-level students. Some • Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve ics; the curriculum is specialized for of the K-12 activities that take place at (Monterey Co.) children in grades 2 through 9. Classes the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research • Sedgwick Reserve (Santa Barbara Co.) vary in length from two to three hours Laboratory (SNARL),Valentine Camp, • Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve per day for one to two weeks, depend- and the Carpinteria, Santa Cruz Island, (Santa Barbara Co.) ing on the age group. Class size is lim- and San Joaquin Marsh Reserves are de- • Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert ited to 10 students per teacher so that scribed in this issue of Transect. Addi- Research Center (San Bernardino Co.) children can receive more individual tionally, the following NRS sites, from • Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Moun- attention. — PP north to south (by county), act as “class- tains Reserve (Los Angeles Co.) rooms without walls”: • James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve For more information, contact: • Eagle Lake Field Station (Lassen Co.) (Riverside Co.) Leslie Dawson • Angelo Coast Range Reserve • Scripps Coastal Reserve (San Diego Co.) Education Coordinator (Mendocino Co.) • Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve • Quail Ridge Reserve (Napa Co.) Reserve (San Diego Co.). Phone: 760-935-4334 • Bodega Marine Reserve (Sonoma Co.) E-mail: [email protected] • Jepson Prairie Reserve (Solano Co.) Outreach at SNARL/Valentine Camp benefits grown-ups, too
mall-group public tours, advertised through the Mammoth Branch S Library, are led several times a year by UC faculty, NRS staff, and univer- sity-level students, who discuss the natural history of SNARL and Valentine Camp, two sites administered jointly as Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve. Ev- ery summer an open house at Valentine Camp draws about 225 people; their donations benefit the Mammoth Lakes Hospital Auxillary. Each year from May to July, the reserves hold weekly evening seminars — a series popular with community members interested in what kind of research is underway on site.
Retired NRS campus Last fall, the reserve celebrated its 25th anniversary. On October 4, a special director Henry J. Offen. open house was held at Valentine Camp to honor Henry J. Offen (photo left Photo by Tim Snyder top), who served from 1972 to 1994 as NRS campus director at UC Santa Barbara, and Carol Valentine (photo left bottom) and the Valentine Founda- tion for their 1972 donation of Valentine Camp to the University of Califor- nia. Reserve Manager Dan Dawson hosted the event, while John Melack, fac- ulty reserve manager at UC Santa Barbara, provided an overview of research occurring at SNARL and Valentine Camp, including stream ecology, the di- version of Mono Lake waters, the effects of acid rain on high-altitude lakes, studies of dialects among cowpers (birds), and kinship recognition in ground squirrels.
After more than a quarter of a century of affiliation with the NRS, Henry Offen remains as passionate as ever about the role the reserve system has to play in environmental research, teaching, and public service — and he is con- NRS donor Carol Valentine. fident about its future. “The NRS is here to stay,” he said simply. “It has achieved Photo by Tim Snyder critical mass.” — PP
Natural Reserve System 5 Transect
Island experience teaches “Learning Through Nature” to most people. The kids met the staff, scientists, and graduate stu- dents working there, and they re- ceived a unique view into what it’s like to do field work.”
All of the kids came from low- income homes, and most of them were struggling at school. The mentoring they received from trained 4-H staff, volunteers, UC scientists, and NRS personnel in this natural setting helped expand their horizons and motivate them to stay in school, says Marzolla.
On the first day of their experien- tial education excursion, the kids Santa Barbara County urban teenagers discovered nature in the wild — were amazed at the “wildness” of and themselves — at Santa Cruz Island Reserve. Their beach clean-up, an Santa Cruz Island. The teens acted unglamorous activity, is nevertheless both necessary and important. like reserved little adults, says Photo by Michael Marzolla Marzolla. But day by day, as the sunshine, sand, and ocean waves “I know of a cure for everything: salt with video cameras, rubber gloves, and cleared their inhibitions and discom- water … sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.” plastic bags, the group of kids set out fort, they began to work cooperatively — Isak Dinesen, author of Out of Af- for Santa Cruz Island, one of on beach cleaning and to document rica, from “The Deluge at Norderney” California’s Channel Islands off the their experiences on camera. Santa Barbara coastline, to undertake like it here, but it’s so grassy and a beach cleanup while learning all about “It was rewarding to see the teens mak- dirty,” a streetwise teenager com- the ecosystem and the effects people ing eye contact for the first time, speak- Imented as she looked around at the have on the environment. ing to one another, playing in the wa- grassy hillsides and trees of Santa Cruz ter, and just plain enjoying themselves,” Island. The natural world was alien to “The project is designed to introduce Marzolla says. this teen — as were the concepts of kids to the environment around them peace and quiet. She was more at home and to give them positive things that Learning Through Nature was paid for with car alarms and ambulance sirens they can do to make a difference,” ex- by a $5,000 grant from the 4-H Series than with ocean waves and wild tur- plains Michael Marzolla, the 4-H Program at UC Davis. Marzolla is seek- keys. For teenagers who had never been Youth Development Advisor. “For in- ing funding to continue the program outside the concrete jungle, spending stance, they cleaned the beach and at Santa Cruz Island and to re-create it four days at Santa Cruz Island Reserve gathered environmental data (such as at other NRS sites. — PP was like being abducted and shipped the volume, type, and origination of to Mars. the trash), and they shared that infor- For more information, contact: mation with others.” Michael Marzolla Three years ago, a group of 20 teenag- 4-H Youth Development Advisor ers from Santa Barbara County partici- “Visiting the NRS station (the reserve’s UC Cooperative Extension pated in the four-day Learning Through headquarters) at Santa Cruz Island was 105 East Anapamu Street, Suite 5 Nature, a project of the UC Coopera- the plum of the experience,” Marzolla Santa Barbara, CA 93101-6053 tive Education 4-H Youth Develop- adds. “It put kids into a place that is Phone (and fax): 805-568-3330 ment Program and the NRS. Armed very special and not generally accessible E-mail: [email protected]
University of California 6 Transect
Docents generate public appreciation of prairie site
he Jepson Prairie Reserve has Last year, the flowers burned out in the value of the prairie as a research site. had a lot to celebrate recently. April, cutting the tour season short by In particular, the docents describe work T Abundant and extended rain- a month. The wet El Niño winter will being done to restore native grasses and fall this winter brought a vibrant spring keep the flowers in bloom a little longer habitats, and research on grazing, burn- to the vernal pool reserve, with dozens this spring, says Mawdsley, so visitors ing, and management of invasive species. of brilliant wildflower species in bloom. may still want to take advantage of the The reserve also celebrated its transfer reserve’s self-guided trail walk. Jepson Faculty Manager Thorp praised the in stewardship from The Nature Con- Prairie is one of the few NRS sites with Jepson Prairie Docents, saying they servancy to the Solano County Farm- a self-guided interpretive trail open “play a key role in generating and fos- lands and Open Space Foundation during all daylight hours. tering public interest in the natural his- (SCFOSF) on April 19, an event that tory of the vernal pool ecosystem. We drew over 400 people to the site near A perfect accompaniment to a self- are fortunate in having an active corps the town of Dixon. guided reserve tour is hot off the press: of volunteer docents, willing to share a handsome handbook published by the lore of vernal pools and the sur- An active season of weekend public the docent program and entitled Jepson rounding upland habitat with the large tours of the reserve, plus the transfer- Prairie Preserve: A Native Perennial number of visitors entertained each of-ownership open house, kept the 50 Grassland & Vernal Pool Habitat. Un- wildflower season.” — PP members of the Jepson Prairie Docent derwritten by SCFOSF, the guide de- Program especially busy. They also scribes reserve history, management, For more information, contact: handled their everyday responsibilities and research; its rare and endangered Solano County Farmlands and Open of giving school and group tours orga- species; its climate, geology, topogra- Space Foundation (SCFOSF) nized by SCFOSF. Moreover, docents phy, and soils; plant habitats and com- Phone: 707-428-7580 staff most excursions of the “Wild- munities, wildflowers and grasslands; E-mail: [email protected] flower Prairie Train,” which runs week- and the variety of wildlife found at —or— ends from late March through mid- Jepson Prairie — invertebrates, fish, Kate Mawdsley May from the Western Railway Museum amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mam- Jepson Prairie Docent Program on Highway 12 to the Old Dozier Sta- mals. The guidebook is easy to read, E-mail: [email protected] tion at the northern boundary of the well designed and illustrated, and in- reserve (reservations: 1-800-900-RAIL). cludes a list of recommended readings. Copies are available for $10 from Kate Mawdsley, coordinator of the do- SCFOSF (707-428-7580). cent program since 1992 (and a vol- unteer since 1986), says their member- The Jepson Prairie docents work coop- ship has grown in size and popularity. eratively with UC Davis faculty and There are now enough docents to run reserve managers. Each February, do- a more ambitious public tour program: cents undertake thorough in-class and two tours, instead of one, each Satur- field training on reserve history, flora day and Sunday. The tours run from and fauna, soils, and current research early March through mid-May, when and management issues. The classes are the black gnats come out in force, driv- taught at UC Davis by experienced do- ing away even the thickest-skinned do- cents and guest lecturers, including cents and visitors. Robbin Thorp, professor emeritus of Robert Holland, local botanist entomology and the reserve’s faculty and ecologist, does his impres- sion of 19th century, pioneering Springtime at Jepson is “short, intense, manager. Three weekend field trips botanist Willis Linn Jepson, for brilliant, and inspiring,” says complete the training. Mawdsley says whom Jepson Prairie was named. Mawdsley. “Then, around mid-May, outreach at Jepson Prairie includes in- Photo by Kate Mawdsley the flowers burn out, becoming dry and forming the public about the roles of brown.” At that point, the tours end. the NRS and SCFOSF, and explaining
Natural Reserve System 7 Transect Big Creek hosts extended learning in wildlands study
ne of the many unique as- The course description reads some- The goal of the two-week course is to pects of the NRS is that its thing like what you would find in a provide the students with a heightened O reserves are available for use catalogue of environmental expeditions awareness of the principal ecosystems by universities around the world, across or adventure tours — but at far, far less of Big Sur and some of the pressing the country, and throughout the state. cost ($485): conservation issues facing the region. Each summer for the past four years, Throughout the course, the students the Wildlands Studies Program at San Team members will take part in exciting work together in teams, write papers Francisco State University (SFSU) has onsite ecological investigations of the red- (without the aid of computers), and offered a two-week, three-credit course wood forested canyons and rugged coastal give presentations around the campfire. using the Landels-Hill Big Creek Re- environments … the Big Sur coast is one serve on the Big Sur coast. of the most spectacular and dynamic “The students learn how to make ob- stretches of coastline along the west coast servations, how to do sampling, how The course, Field Studies in Biology, is of North America … elevation gains of to analyze their data, recognize pat- offered through SFSU’s College of Ex- over 5,000 feet, pristine streams with sen- terns, and make associations,” explains tended Learning. Deidre Sullivan, who sational waterfalls, and a rich shoreline Sullivan. “It takes time to do all of this, teaches it, is also an instructor of earth home to thousands of marine mammals but they are enthusiastic. They become sciences at Hartnell College in Salinas, … the geology of the region is just as critical thinkers. No matter what ca- as well as the curriculum and industry breathtaking as the wildlife with hot reer they choose, field courses teach manager for the Marine Advanced Tech- springs, gem-quality jade that can be students how to ask questions.” nology Education Center (MATE) at beachcombed, and a dramatic history to Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). tell of a region once formed on the sea Hands-on field explorations include floor then subducted to great depths only assessing the abundance and behavior She teaches this field class because “stu- later to be uplifted by dynamic tectonics of marine mammals, including sea ot- dents lose a lot of interest in science that today creates this showcase of an ever- ters and seals; investigating stream early on when we teach them abstract changing environment… . habitats; and surveying and mapping theories and mathematical formulas in plant and animal communities in the the classroom without the basic field No wonder the course fills up each intertidal zone and on the reserve. observations to accompany them.” summer. The course is offered twice Strenuous hiking along the rugged Big each summer, with each session lim- Sur cliffs, snorkeling, and camping out Sullivan co-teaches the wildlands study ited to 12 students. are part of the wildlands experience. course at Big Creek Reserve with MATE program director Nicole Crane, an in- Students aren’t required to have previ- structor of life sciences at ous fieldwork experience; MPC. Sullivan, a marine ge- Sullivan and Crane will ologist who specializes in teach them field biology mapping the habitat of and geological methods. California’s coastal ecosys- Reserve Manager John tems, says Big Creek offers a Smiley teaches fire and rare opportunity for students. plant ecology. Reserve Stew- ard Feynner Arias-Godenez “It’s one of the few places you and Education Coordina- can go and find a pristine en- tor Kim Smiley also partici- vironment. It’s a well-bal- pate in the program. anced ecosystem, so students get to see much more diver- The program brings in sity. There’s a healthy moun- researchers from other tain lion population; we see Students monitoring steelhead trout in Big Creek. agencies, such as the U.S. their marking spots and their Photo by Deidre Sullivan Forest Service and the Cali- tracks all over the place.” fornia Department of Fish
University of California 8 Transect and Game, who assist with stream hy- drology and steelhead trout surveys. One project last year brought in fly fishermen to the protected reserve for research purposes. The fishermen taught the students how to flyfish and capture steelhead. Students learned how to take fin clips from the steel- head that would later be used for DNA analysis. The government agencies have a limited number of field biologists to cover large regions, says Sullivan, so the data collected by the SFSU course help In the wilderness, a helicopter can be the fastest them as well. way to evacuate a sick or injured person. Photo courtesy of Out There, Inc. According to Reserve Manager Smiley, hands-on field courses, such as this one, Wilderness medics teach “staying make a large impact on students. And, alive” at James Reserve he notes, “the program gets students to contribute real research data.” He uch of the stewardship that concerns the NRS reserves focuses on praises the course as “scientifically rig- how we can take better care of our environment and its resources. At orous and immensely satisfying for the Mthe James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve in Riverside County, people students” and says: “I wish more stu- also have an opportunity to learn how to take better care of themselves in the dents could get this type of training. It environment. would help us as a society, in making practical, compassionate, and wise de- Five to six times each year, wilderness first aid courses are taught at the James cisions about how to get through the Reserve by OUT THERE, Inc., an Idyllwild-based organization that specializes next century and beyond. It would also in experiential education program development and conference and retreat plan- help us to find ways to preserve and ning. This year, for 40 days, OUT THERE will use the James Reserve for its restore wilderness to the American Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) and its Wilderness First Responder landscape.” — PP (WFR) courses, which are taught by instructors provided by the Wilderness Medical Association (WMA), based in Bryant Pond, Maine. For more information, contact: Wildlands Studies Most of the courses are taught by WMA instructor John Jacobs. The advanced 3 Mosswood Circle first aid is a 36-hour, four-day certification course, while the wilderness first Cazadero, CA 95421 responder is a 72-hour, eight-day course. OUT THERE offers the courses as a Phone: 707-632-5665 community service, charging just $345 for the WAFA and $695 for the WFR Web site:
Natural Reserve System 9 Transect Continued from page 9 for what might be viewed as simply an Editor’s note: Many people are unaware Course participants come from a range outdoor recreation activity. Again, Re- of the opportunities the NRS offers groups of backgrounds and experience. “At our serve Manager Hamilton answers the interested in learning about California’s recent WAFA course in November, we question: “We have found the OUT wildlands. Many NRS sites invite use by had students from California, Utah, THERE staff very sensitive to their en- community and environmental organi- Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, a vet- vironmental impact, and they respect zations, government agencies, private erinarian from Cleveland, kayak guides areas we have designated for research businesses, and ecologically minded vol- from the Aleutian islands, and a moun- purposes. They also offer their courses unteers. A few allow self-guided walking taineering guide from Africa,” explains during our least active time of the year tours. Thousands of public users visit our Jim Zuberbuhler, who directs OUT (late fall and winter) and when fragile reserves each year. The following list de- THERE and has, as a volunteer, spent or sensitive species are dormant or sea- scribes a few of the public access opportu- 10 years on the Idyllwild Mountain sonal. My staff and I feel our ability to nities presented by the NRS. Rescue Team. Most students range in respond to medical emergencies is greatly age from 20 to 60 and include wilder- enhanced due to what we have learned • Hastings Natural History Reservation ness guides, mountain rescue team per- from the OUT THERE curriculum.” (Monterey Co.) offers occasional public sonnel, outdoor enthusiasts, and, oc- seminars and holds an open house every casionally, nurses and doctors. The next WAFA course is November other year. The next open house will be 20-23; the next WFR courses are Au- held in 1999. Contact: Reserve Manager “Backcountry first-aid scenarios often gust 18-26 and December 1-9. — PP Mark Stromberg, 408-659-2664. require caregivers to work with limited resources, slow or no transportation, For more information, contact: • An annual count of rare grasses is held and nothing more than a first-aid kit,” Jim Zuberbuhler at Jepson Prairie Reserve (Solano Co.), Zuberbuhler says. “There is no ‘golden OUT THERE, Inc. usually in July, an event coordinated with hour’ out there.” Golden hour is a term P.O. Box 3394 the California Native Plant Society. Con- used in the medical field, referring to a Idyllwild, CA 92549 tact: CNPS/Jepson Prairie volunteer patient’s enhanced chances of survival Phone: 909-659-7006 Carol Witham, 530-753-5872. Other if he or she reaches a hospital within E-mail: [email protected] NRS sites host similar flora and fauna one hour of sustaining a trauma or Web site: counts by environmental groups. other medical emergency. But time in
University of California 10 Transect Public access Stunt Ranch enhanced at joins in Earth Carpinteria marsh Many thanks to Day Outreach he public will enjoy enhanced the Packard he Stunt Ranch Santa Monica access to Santa Barbara Foundation Mountains Reserve, in Los TCounty’s popular Carpinteria TAngeles County, had cause for Salt Marsh — and the entire ecosys- celebration when Earth Day ‘98 coin- tem will get a boost — when work is he NRS will be able to expand cided with the 20th anniversary of the completed on the “Carpinteria Salt Tits activities in environmental Santa Monica Mountains National Marsh Enhancement Project for the research and education thanks to a Recreation Area. Ash Avenue Wetland Area.” The $4-million endowment received project is expected to be finished later June 11 from the David and Lucile The most dramatic event of this year’s this summer. Packard Foundation. Earth Day was the “Hands Across the Parklands” in which 10,000 people Earnings from the endowment will A new nature trail, a marsh overlook, held hands to form a human chain support new and renovated labo- an interpretive center and kiosks, and along Mulholland Highway from Dirt ratories and lodgings, equipment, a teaching amphitheatre will all ben- Mulholland to the Pacific Coast High- and environmental monitoring at efit the public. Plans for the project also way. Stunt Ranch Reserve was desig- NRS sites throughout the state. include public restrooms and a life- nated a “Discovery Site” along the route. This will enable the NRS to con- guard facility. tinue to attract and retain top- The reserve offered public tours of the notch researchers and to expand its Although this project does not increase Stunt High Trail, led by the Cold Creek public education and outreach the size of the 120-acre NRS reserve Docents, and invited scientists from programs. within the 230-acre marsh, it does add UC Los Angeles to explain their re- 15 acres to marsh itself — acres that The Packard endowment is the search in such areas as the archaeology were originally coastal salt marsh habi- largest single private gift ever re- of the Santa Monica mountains, com- tat, but later filled in during local de- ceived by the NRS and among the munication and foraging behavior of velopment. Digging out soil, restoring largest endowments ever received the western scrub jay, the ecology of natural grades, excavating channels, by the University of California. It horned lizards, and noninvasive track- and replanting native wetland species is a positive starting point for ing of wild carnivores. The Cold Creek make up the restoration component of NRS’s decade-long, $33-million Docents, who coordinate K-12 out- the Ash Avenue project. capital campaign, now in the reach at Stunt Ranch, also gave instruc- works, and lays the cornerstone for tion in acorn grinding, cave wall paint- The project goes back over 10 years to our successful future development. ing, and Chumash games. 1987, when the California Coastal Conservancy, City of Carpinteria, Land The Natural Reserve System de- Hands Across the Parklands was spon- Trust for Santa Barbara County, and pends on financial support from sored by the Santa Monica Mountains the NRS’s Carpinteria Salt Marsh Re- the University of California, foun- Fund, the national and state Park Ser- serve first began to coordinate efforts, dations, and many other sources, vices, the Santa Monica Mountains which included the purchase of six including individuals. Gifts and Conservancy, state and local legislators, marsh properties from 17 different grants, designated for the NRS or neighboring schools and businesses, landowners and required an overall any of its 33 reserves are always wel- and individuals. budget of approximately $4.5 million. come and may be sent to: For more information, contact: For more information, contact: Julie Monson Carol Felixson Wayne R. Ferren, Jr. Special Assistant for Development Director of Education Reserve Manager Natural Reserve System and Community Outreach Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve UC Office of the President UCLA Stunt Ranch UC Santa Barbara 1111 Franklin Street, 6th Floor Santa Monica Mountains Reserve Phone: 805-893-2506 Oakland, CA 94607-5200. Phone: 310-206-3887 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Natural Reserve System 11 Transect Message from the VP-DANR gift (p. 11). We intend to build upon Transect Continued from page 1 their encouraging support to develop Spring/Summer 1998 • 16:1 a continuing base for NRS programs lighted in these pages, including op- and sites. Transect is published triannually by the Natural Reserve System (NRS), part of the Di- portunities for learning along the coast vision of Agriculture and Natural Resources of California (pp. 1, 6) and in the Si- Transect was created to bring informa- (DANR), in the University of California erra Nevada (p. 4). Adult learning is tion about the NRS to our users and Office of the President (UCOP). enhanced through formal coursework, friends. We welcome suggestions for Subscriptions are free, available upon request. often provided by our non-UC sister the newsletter and ideas about our pro- Contact: Transect Editor, Natural Reserve Sys- tem, University of California, 1111 Franklin institutions (p. 8), or by volunteers who grams in general. — W. R. Gomes Street, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607-5200; help us communicate widely the won- phone: 510-987-0150; fax: 510-763-2971; ders of our sites (p. 7). Outreach activi- Vice President e-mail: [email protected]. Agriculture and Natural Resources ties range from teaching people survival Recent Transect issues are also available for skills in primitive settings (p. 10) to mak- viewing on the World Wide Web at: We have moved!
04-UJ14 Nonprofit Org. Natural Reserve System U.S. Postage University of California PAID 1111 Franklin Street, 6th Floor Berkeley, CA Oakland, CA 94607-5200 Permit No. 1