Nearly 200 residents trained in past seven years by program, a part of UC Environmental Stewards  

On one of her darkest days, Tammah Watts stood in front of her kitchen sink to fill a pitcher of water. Outside of her window, the San Marcos resident noticed a flutter in the distance. She spotted a small yellow bird emerge from the tree and her eyes grew in admiration.

Bird-watching from her kitchen window became an escape for Watts while she was temporarily homebound after a surgery. It's where she found connection beyond the interior space of her home.

“I started noticing other birds that had always been there. The yard didn't change, but my mind and my perspective did,” she said.

Eager to learn more and expose others to her new hobby and its healing power, Watts joined the University of California Environmental Stewards program, a statewide program housed under UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, to become a certified California Naturalist.

The program offers two environmental education certification courses: the California Naturalist course, which introduces people to the wonders of California's unique ecology and engages the public in the study and stewardship of the state's natural communities, and a separate Climate Stewards course.

One of the many strengths of the program is that it allows people from diverse backgrounds to find common ground in nature even if how they became interested varies, said Eliot Freutel, a community education specialist for the UC Environmental Stewards program in Southern California.

 “Our partners that help us administer the course are organizations that already have access to the public and provide informal science education, such as natural history museums or Audubon societies,” Freutel added.

Welcoming a new cohort of environmental stewards

In early March, the longest-standing California Naturalist course in San Diego County graduated 25 new members, Watts being one of them, under Karen Merrill and Paige DeCino's instruction. For seven years, Merrill and DeCino have served as co-instructors at the Buena Vista Audubon Nature Center in Oceanside and graduated 166 members prior to their most recent and final class.

Transitioning into retirement, DeCino and Merrill reflected on their seven years of service and are proud to see younger and more diverse faces join the California Naturalist program. Tucker Shelton, who recently graduated alongside his mom, is among the few young people who have joined the program over the years. A love for nature began when Shelton discovered tide pools when he was just a boy. At 14 years old, Shelton wants to inspire a generation of youth with a passion and care for nature.

“When you're younger and your brain is still developing, you're the most interested in new things. If you find a passion at a young age, you'll most likely grow up with it becoming a part of you,” said Tucker, whose capstone project focuses on an essay about the endangered Townsend's big-eared bat and uses stamp art to raise awareness. His art will be featured and sold at an upcoming exhibit and all proceeds will be donated to the Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve in Julian.

Hannah Marquez, another recent graduate, was born and raised in San Diego. She values its cultural diversity and believes connecting the public to nature begins with language. In working with Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center in Mission Valley to establish an updated native plant library, Marquez is providing relevant information and resources in English and Spanish.

“A lot of people aren't comfortable using technology, and relying on Google Translate isn't going to cut it,” said Marquez, adding that her parents' limited English inspired this project.

Marquez hopes to interest more people in growing native plants in their backyard and believes accessible information is the first step to doing so.

“This has been so rewarding for us,” said Merrill. “Typically, our students are already involved in the community, but for those who aren't, it's amazing to see them become a part of the community and engage in a way that they haven't before.”

DeCino agreed and said that she really hopes to find new instructors to keep the momentum of California Naturalists in San Diego County alive. “Even though we're retiring, we'll still be around here and there, but its important to us that we pass the torch,” DeCino said.

The future of California Naturalists in San Diego County

What's next for San Diego County, you ask?

“We definitely want to expand in the area. But right now, we're looking for alums who are interested in taking over the program held at Buena Vista Audubon Nature Center,” Freutel said. “I'm also hoping to secure more partnerships throughout San Diego County so that the course is offered in various places, not just North County, which can lead to accessibility concerns.”

Like other students, Marquez commuted an hour, each way, to participate in the UC Environmental Stewards program. “It's a worthwhile course, one that helps people have a positive impact in their own community,” said Freutel. 

For Watts, helping people find healing and connection to the world around them – an experience her book, a guide to the powerful healing of bird-watching, discusses – is a priority. “It's not just about watching birds,” she said. “It's about noticing the tree the bird lives in, and the ground the tree is growing in.” 

During a nature walk that Watts led for a group of kids, she noticed two sets of footprints in the dirt. Immediately, she could differentiate the two. “One belonged to a raccoon and the other belonged to a deer,” Watts said. “I was so excited that I could tell them apart, and I promise I didn't know this before taking the CalNat course.”

To learn how you can join the UC Environmental Stewards program and become a California Naturalist or Climate Steward, visit: https://calnat.ucanr.edu/Take_a_class/

California Invasive Species Week is June 3-11. This is the perfect time to raise awareness about the impact of invasive plants on our natural ecosystems and the importance of making informed plant choices. Invasive species can have detrimental effects on local flora and fauna, often outcompeting other plants for resources and disrupting local ecosystems.

By selecting plants that are well-suited to your environment and not invasive, you can make a positive contribution to preserving California's diverse landscapes. Many invasive plants can be aesthetically pleasing and low-maintenance, making them a popular choice for gardeners. However, invasive plants can spread rapidly, taking over natural habitats and causing significant environmental damage. Invasive species often have few natural predators, enabling them to grow uncontrollably and outcompete other plants for resources like water, sunlight, and nutrients. This can lead to the loss of biodiversity, reduced habitat quality for wildlife, and increased risk of erosion and wildfires.

Examples of Invasive Plants in California:

1. Periwinkle (Vinca major)-This evergreen groundcover is a popular species because of its beautiful purple blooms. Periwinkleforms dense mats that can smother native plants and alter soil chemistry. Instead of periwinkle, try planting native groundcovers like California lilac (Ceanothus spp.) or hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea).

2. Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum)-This ornamental grass is highly adaptable and has invaded many natural habitats, including grasslands and coastal sage scrub. Instead, opt for native grasses like purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra) or deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens) or the smaller version (Muhlenbergia dubia).

3. Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana)-A tall, clumping grass with feathery blooms that can quickly dominate landscapes and outcompete native species. Consider planting native ornamental grasses such as blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) or switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) as alternatives to pampas grass.

4. Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)-This fast-growing tree can release chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants and can sprout vigorously from root fragments. Plant California native trees like sycamore (Platanus racemosa) or western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) instead of the invasive tree of heaven.

Celebrate Invasive Species Week! 

Program with Foothill Indian Education Alliance teaches healthy eating to young people of many tribes

More than a tutoring center, the Foothill Indian Education Alliance facility in Placerville also provides cultural activities for youth in El Dorado and Amador counties affiliated with a broad diversity of Native American tribes.

In addition to traditional crafts like drum- and jewelry-making, the center began offering a food component last summer, through a partnership with CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California – one of the agencies in the state that teaches nutrition to people eligible for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

“A lot of the kids, because they don't live on a reservation or their family might not be connected to a local tribe, don't know a lot of their history or their foods,” said Cailin McLaughlin, nutrition educator for CalFresh Healthy Living, UC, based at the UC Cooperative Extension office in El Dorado County. “Food is a good way to explore any heritage because food is at the central point of a lot of cultures and customs – sharing meals and sharing stories behind it.”

Last spring, McLaughlin worked with Hal Sherry, the head tutor at Foothill Indian Education Alliance, to create a new, five-week “summer camp” during which youth would learn about and prepare Native foods in the center's kitchen, primarily with ingredients from its backyard garden.

Sherry said that the experience provided the participants – 10 elementary school students and seven middle or high school students – an important perspective on the interconnectedness of all living things.

“Part of the objective of the program is for them to understand that each one of us is part of the natural order of things, and that we have to do our part to fit into that cycle,” he explained. “There's kind of an ecological lesson that's also being learned…and we don't want to put poisons in our bodies, and we don't want to put poisons in our environment.”

Program combines cultural lessons, nutrition information

For the summer program, McLaughlin selected a curriculum centered on garden-based nutrition, and infused it with elements of Indigenous food ways.

“We predominantly picked ingredients that had cultural significance to Native American communities, so things like blueberries, blackberries, pine nuts, squash, things of that nature,” she said. “So we could feed into the history of that ingredient, why it's important to the Indigenous communities – and then give (the students) the nutritional information about it.”

After the youth prepared chia seed parfaits – from a recipe that is part of a series developed by CalFresh Healthy Living, the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and the Center for Wellness and Nutrition – a Foothill Indian Education Alliance staff member shared that Native hunters would eat chia seeds for strength before a long hunt.

Many of the participants had never had chia seeds before, and the parfaits were an “absolute favorite,” in the words of McLaughlin.

“I wish we could have made them more often!” said Lacey, a fifth grader who participates in the center's programs year-round.

In addition to working outside in the garden, Lacey said she also liked cooking in the kitchen during the summer camp – and the fact that the young people could take the lead.

“It was all the kids doing it, but (McLaughlin) was just supervising and making sure we were doing it right – it was really nice,” said Lacey, who identifies as Miwok.

Sharing within families, across tribes

Active participation by the young people is one of the strengths of the program, according to Sherry. He expressed admiration for McLaughlin's engaging teaching style, which eschews “lectures” and instead draws the participants into lively conversations about the nutritional content of the ingredients.

“Hopefully they're going to retain some of that knowledge and information and then remember: ‘You know what, yes, I think I would like to have some corn and some beans tonight, because that's going to help my bones grow strong and my eyesight get better,'” Sherry said. “That's really a big part of what we want them to come away with.”

At the end of the summer program, participants also came away with a binder of recipes from a cookbook of Native American dishes, “Young, Indigenous and Healthy: Recipes Inspired by Today's Native Youth.” James Marquez, director of the Foothill Indian Education Alliance, said he heard from students that they were bringing many of the lessons from the program back to their homes.

“I've heard the same kind of thing from parents and grandparents, who have said how wonderful that was and that kids come back home and have an interest in cooking and trying to serve nutritious meals to their families,” Marquez said.

That crucial sharing of knowledge also happens between and among staff members and students, as the center comprises members of many tribes, from South Dakota Lakota to Navajo.

“We serve Native people, we don't care what tribe they come from – they're all welcome,” Marquez said. “What we do represents a lot of different tribes, so we share information from one tribe to another, and that way people can appreciate everybody and what we have to bring to the table.”

Talia, a sixth grader who participated in the summer program, said that she enjoys that cultural sharing.

“I like how I can learn new things…and how I learn more about the people around me,” she explained. “It's also fun to learn about other people's cultures, and what Native American they are, too.”

McLaughlin went on to partner with Foothill Indian Education Alliance on a “Cooking Academy” program during this past fall, and is planning another spring/summer program for 2023, as well. The ongoing teaching and sharing of food ways is just one part of a long process to recover and rebuild Native American cultural traditions.

“Unfortunately, there was a very concerted effort to obliterate the Native culture on this continent; it was a very intentional, very deliberate effort to just stamp that culture out like it had somehow never existed,” Sherry said. “Now there's a much greater awareness of what a terrible thing that was, and so it's like trying to regrow a new garden over an area that was severely burned…and it's being done all over the country.”

The month of May is Garden for Wildlife month. Due to factors such as loss of habitat, pesticides exposure, and climate change, much of wildlife is being challenged today. There are many ways home gardeners can directly help birds, bees, butterflies, and other local wildlife. The saying “If you build it, they will come” applies not only to the classic baseball movie “Field of Dreams,” but also to attracting wildlife to your garden.

Plants

If you have the space, plant an oak tree! While it will take several years for the tree to mature, few plants provide more benefits to nature than an oak tree. One Valley oak tree can provide food, water, and shelter to approximately 350 vertebrate species and over 250 species of insects and arachnids.

Plant a variety of native plants which are the foundation of local food webs. Wildlife and plants evolved together in ways that were beneficial to both, plus they are adapted to local soils and weather. Native plants provide food, shelter, and places to care for their young. Native plants also tend to be water-wise, needing little watering once established.

Choose plants that bloom at different times of the year, to ensure something is always blooming during the different seasons thus providing nectar sources year-round.  Include some plants which produce berries to provide food sources attractive to birds and insects.

Create multi-layered planting. Have some canopy trees of different heights, weave in some tall, medium, and small plants, along with some groundcovers. Even a small garden can have plants of different heights to attract and shelter different types of wildlife. Arbors and trellises are also ways to grow vines, providing more variety in your garden.

Lawns lack variety, thus reducing your lawn space and replacing it with native plants will increase the diversity in your garden. Decreasing the frequency of mowing permits grasses to grow taller, allowing flowers to grow and bloom which would attract bees and butterflies. You can also sprinkle some daisy and clover seeds into your lawn to provide forage plants and flowers for many beneficial insects.

Water

Wildlife needs water. The water source(s) can be a small dish, a bird bath, a rain garden, or pond. Water in bird baths needs to be shallow since birds will not use a bath where the water is deeper than their legs. Be sure to clean and change the water frequently to prevent mosquitoes.

Ponds with aquatic-loving plants can encourage amphibians such as salamanders or toads, or wetland insects such as dragonflies, to visit and set up their homes.

Butterflies engage in behavior called “puddling,” where they stop in muddy puddles for water and nutrients. You can recreate this by filling a terra cotta saucer with soil and pebbles, sink it into the ground and keep it moist. Again, change the water regularly.

Plants and rocks around the water source(s) provide shelter, camouflage, and spots for creatures like butterflies, lizards, or turtles who like to sun themselves near water.

Housing for Bees

Most bees are solitary in nature with 70% being ground nesters like mining bees. Cavity-nesters such as mason bees comprise 30% of bees. These live in twigs, abandoned beetle holes, and other tree cavities. The social honeybees and bumble bees who live in hives or colonies make up less than 1% of all bees. Native bees are up to 200 times more efficient pollinators than honeybees. You can attract native bees to your garden by providing bare patches of dirt in out-of-the way sections and/or supply bee housing with hollow reeds or cardboard tubes in a sheltered spot that receives morning sun.

Leave the Leaves

Leaving leaves as they drop from your trees and bushes provides food and shelter for a variety of living creatures including worms, beetles, millipedes, larvae of some butterflies and moths, toads, frogs and more. These in turn attract birds, mammals, and amphibians that rely on the smaller organisms as a food source.

Chemicals

Reduce or eliminate use of pesticides and fertilizers which can be harmful to wildlife (including beneficial insects) and contaminate water resources. Instead use earth-friendly solutions such as garden mulch to discourage weeds and adding nutrients to the soil. UC Integrated Pest Management provides a source of research-based less-toxic solutions for garden pest management.

One Step at a Time

Changing your garden into a wildlife haven will likely be a step-by-step process over a period of time. Building a garden attractive to wildlife will bring you the enjoyment of watching them and the knowledge you are helping wildlife thrive.

Resources listed provide information for ways to you to build a garden attractive to wildlife.

• Butterflies in Your Garden: https://ucanr.edu/sites/CEStanislausCo/files/345791.pdf
• Sustainable Landscaping: https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/Sustainable_Landscaping/
• Trees in Your Garden:  https://ucanr.edu/sites/CEStanislausCo/files/341553.pdf
• Pollinator-Friendly Native Plants Lists: https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/pollinator-friendly-plant-lists
• UC IPM Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/
• The Bee Gardener: The Cavities You Want to Have: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=12785
• How to Make and Use Bee Houses for Cavity Nesting Bees: https://beegarden.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/How-to-build-and-use-bee-blocks.pdf

 

Denise Godbout-Avant has been a Stanislaus County Master Gardener since 2020.