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Sonoma Valley High School science students grow with the world around them
Kate McFarland
Submitted Photo Jazmine Ramirez, Stephanie Campos and Mackenzie Mackling suit up at Bouverie.
Against the backdrop of a chilly rainy morning, Sonoma Valley High School students from Christina Story’s Plant and Soil Science class gathered at Bouverie Preserve of Audubon Canyon Ranch in Glen Ellen, with the hopes of seeing some personal and literal growth take root.
Friday, Dec. 11 marked the launch of Project GROW, Gathering to Restore Oak Woodlands, at the preserve and Story’s students, who are participating in the Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship program, planted the first seeds (or as the case may be, 400 acorns) of change for the project. Project GROW aims to restore eight acres of the preserve over four years to its former native oak woodland habitat and create an important wildlife corridor. After 117 oak trees were removed from Highway 12 during its expansion in Glen Ellen, CALTRANS was required by law to mitigate the loss, ultimately making Project GROW possible with a state grant of $493,000.
“Project GROW is really a community-based effort to restore one of Sonoma County’s most valuable ecosystems,” said Jeanne Wirka, resident biologist at Bouverie. “There is no more effective way to promote environmental stewardship than getting people outside and connected with the land.”
As students spent the morning learning about the preserve, the staff’s passion for the environment and digging and planting hundreds of acorns, as well as learning to apply Global Positioning System technology to tree locations, it was apparent the program’s coordinators aimed to see more than just the preserve flourish. “By offering students this hands-on experience and mentorship by professionals in the field, this could be the jumping point for their interest in higher education, careers and a lifelong ethic of stewardship in their community,” said Nina Suzuki, Statewide Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship Coordinator, Center for Land-Based Learning.
In the future, Bouverie plans to host volunteer work and restoration days open to the public. To find out more about Bouverie Preserve and Audubon Canyon Ranch, visit egret.org.
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