We came back to the hatchery and the plants look great. They seem to be growing very well. It was nice to see familiar faces as well as new ones. For those of you new comers on this website. First off, welcome! Second this project is for us to replant all of the native plants in this area. It by the Fish Hatchery by the Santa Clara River. We are also making a small trail so that people don’t walk on the baby plants that are trying to grow. We were able to plant more native plants as well as start to make the small trail. I got the chance to talk to some of the volunteers that came out today for the event. We had students from Oxnard College.

            Both Graciela and Kolel are 2 year students. Graciela is majoring in accounting; Kolel majoring in Culture Anthropology. The both found out about the event through Professor Jim Danza.

            What motivated you to come to this event?

                        “I like to garden.” –Graciela

                        “It’s my first event like this; plus I’m here for the extra credit.” –Kolel

I’m sure many of us college students can relate going to places just for that extra credit.

            How important are these kinds of events?

                        “It’s part of the cycle; we need water to have plants.” –Graciela

                        “It’s very important. If people are not coming out then we can’t change for the better.” –Kolel

            Knowing that the place you are standing is the Santa Clara River, How does that make you feel?

            “Scared that the water has decreased over the years having a horrible effect on this area.” –Graciela

            “I expected it with the drought but I didn’t know this was the river. The climate isn’t getting any better.” –Kolel

I’m happy to say that our star kids came back to this event and they are just having a blast.

            Do you like getting your hands dirty?

                        “Not really.” –Elliot

                        “Yes a little.” –Miles

            Are you having fun?

                        “Yes!” –Both

            What’s your favorite part of this event?

                        “Throwing rocks at each other.” –Elliot

(No kids were hurt during the time of the event)

                        “Breaking the dirt rocks and digging.” –Miles

In the last post I go the chance to talk to their father but this time I got the chance to talk to their lovely mother. Beth is a Conservation graduate student.

            “It’s a hard process to get them out and about. I’m trying to find ways to have my kids come out and give back to the planet. And to just experience the outdoors. I was scrolling through Facebook and saw that we missed the event in December; so I made sure that we came to this event. We need more places where kids can be kids to climbs trees where they can interact with nature and not get in trouble for it.” –Beth, mother of Elliot & Miles.

Beth we are very happy that you and your family were able to come and join us in Round three of the trail restoration. Also thank you to the OC students and the other volunteers who came to help out. Can’t wait to see you all again for Round 4.

Writen by Sam Marin, an English major at Oxnard College

Photos by Sergio Flores, a Coastal Environmental Studies Major at Oxnard College