Throughout our time in the Crew, we have the opportunity to work on advancement on two different award tracks. On the path to Ranger, a high-level outdoor award, one of eight core requirements is to organize and carry out a significant conservation project. As one of my last steps towards Ranger, I organized my conservation project with the State Parks resource team at Half Moon Bay State Beach. I coordinated with their project organizer to find a time and a date, as well as to inform my Crew of the service opportunity and the project guidelines.
My project was to clear and sheet mulch an area near the parking lot at Venice State Beach to stop the spread of hemlock, an invasive plant. Before the project, I needed each participant to collect 100 square feet of cardboard to bring. On the day of the project, we spent the first two and a half hours clearing the area by raking the previously weed-whacked hemlock and then digging to remove the majority of the roots. The remainder of the time was spent laying down cardboard and covering it with 4-6 inches of mulch.
While my project did not complete the entire area, we were able to begin work that will eventually end with planting of natives in the location during the rainy season. Despite the limited number of people who were allowed to work on my project due to COVID restrictions, we had a fantastic day and are hoping to go back to work on the same area for someone else’s conservation project in the future!
By Callie