A large part of what we do is habitat restoration – adopting places in our canyon that have been impacted by invasive species or human impacts and restoring the natural habitat. The endangered and endemic species in our rare coastal sage scrub depend on healthy habitat to survive. This planting season (which normally runs November to March, depending on weather), we have sixteen different active restoration sites in the South Coast Wilderness.
This season, we are focusing on planting 17,000 container plants and thousands of pounds of native seed at two major sites (Pecten Reef and Laguna Canyon Creek) and several smaller sites. We will be busy for the following months keeping those plants watered and healthy, and managing weeds popping up around them. So busy, in fact, that we’ve hired three new team members to help accomplish our planting goals.
Meet our new team members: (and make sure to say hi if you see them on your hikes or rides)
Our full time Lead Restoration Technician, Dan Salamone, moved here a year ago from Chicago. When he started volunteering at our restoration stewardship events, demonstrating his strong work ethic, ability to learn quickly, and his open, energetic personality, we knew he’d be a great addition to our staff.
Our two new Seasonal Restoration Technicians, Alyssa Moreno and Robin Matthews, both grew up in California. Alyssa has spent two seasons working with the Conservation Corps, learning to run power tools, build trails, restore habitat and work effectively as part of a team. Robin was looking for some hands-on environmental work while she took a break from her Cal State Long Beach Environmental Science degree, when she was introduced to Laguna Canyon Foundation through her volunteer work at the Bolsa Chica Conservancy. Robin brings a familiarity with both native and non-native plants from both her work at Bolsa Chica Conservancy and from spending lots of time hiking in the wildlands of Orange and LA Counties.
We couldn’t be more pleased with our team and we’re looking forward to another successful planting season!
Want to help us plant? Volunteer at one of our Keep It Wild events!