Community Nature Connection

Explore the coast / transit to trailstransit to trails (ttt) is an outdoor access program in los angeles county focusing on communities impacted by racial, socio-economic, and disability injustices. Outreach locations include proximity to community-based organizations and public libraries in the greater los angeles area. Programming includes interpretive, guided outdoor trips, and activities that focus on topics related to coastal access, ecology, wildlife identification, marine life, oceanography, the importance of watersheds, coastal and mountain protection, tide pools, and the cultural significance of these sites to indigenous cultures and the public. The ttt program facilitated the explore the coast grant. A total of twenty eight trips were coordinated and facilitated by cnc staff with local community partners. The total number of participants served through the transit to trails program is six hundred and nine. Community partnerships included black girls trekinn' bresee foundation, chinatown branch library/chinatown teen-council, feminist bird club, franklin high school environmental club, happy trails for kids, koreatown youth community center, la state historic park promotorx, latino equality alliance, legacy la, lift, para los nios, sotomayor environmental club, southeast asian community alliance, and the tataviam mission band of indians ecld office. Program trip locations included cabrillo aquarium, deane dana friendship center, elyria canyon park, escondido canyon park, los angeles natural history museum, los angeles state historic park, temescal canyon gateway park, king gillette ranch, malibu lagoon state beach, will rogers state beach, zuma county beach. Participants connected to nature, explored tidepools, learned about the coastal act, and the connection between watersheds and ocean health. The final ttt trip was a collaboration between the ttt program and legacy la at temescal gateway park. Free transportation for each ttt trip was made possible through generous support from the mountains recreation and conservation authority and the la county board of supervisors. Volunteers: 5

Cnc training institute: california naturalist certificationthe uc california naturalist program (calnat) seeks to foster a committed corps of volunteer naturalists and community scientists trained and ready to take an active role in natural resource conservation, education, and restoration. The uc california naturalist course introduces participants to the wonders of our local ecology and engages them in the stewardship of california's natural communities. The course combines a science curriculum with guest lecturers, field trips and project-based learning to immerse participants in the natural world. The course focuses on the los angeles area and the interpretation of naturalist concepts for and from diverse perspectives as well as themes of natural resource interpretation, social and environmental justice, and traditional ecological knowledge. The course meets weekly (virtually) for 10 weeks and includes two in-person half-day field trips. The course includes many opportunities for self-guided activities in nature. Course dates: october 18- december 20, 2023.volunteers: 0emerging naturalist-youth leadership seriesthe youth leadership series programs include emerging naturalists 1.0, emerging naturalists 2.0, and the continuing connections alumni program. Emerging naturalists sessions are facilitated by naturalists and guest speakers who transform the mountains, coast, and urban parks into outdoor classrooms. Emerging naturalists 1.0 is a six-week program that introduces youth to natural and cultural resources, outdoor and camping skills, principles of interpretation, and park careers in the field. Emerging naturalists 2.0 is a sixteen-week program that builds on the experiences and skills learned in emerging naturalists 1.0 and includes a community action project component. The continuing connections alumni program provides career development programming and exposure to job opportunities in the outdoor field to our program alumni. Continuing connections also provides alumni with opportunities for continued engagement with cnc through programming such as interpretive programs, panel discussions, campfires, and documentary screenings.volunteers: 10tivac'a'ai tribal conservation corpsthe tivac'a'ai tribal conservation corps (ttcc) workforce development program, operated by the puku cultural community services (puku), is a multi-beneficial hands-on training program that works with native youth and young adults towards the goals of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing climate resiliency and human well-being. The vision of the ttcc program is to work towards promoting and restoring the cultural values of the indigenous peoples through the practice and application of traditional ecological knowledge in the protection, restoration, and development of our cultural and natural landscapes. Through the program, youth are taught to embrace their ancestral knowledge, which promotes their sense of identity, self-esteem, and self-worth. Community nature connection's role in the project included providing high level support in the project planning phase, development of a curriculum of training, design and delivery of the certified interpretive guide and california naturalist certification training courses, and the development of a replicable program toolkit.volunteers: 0outdoor and coastal access leadership institute community nature connection's outdoor & coastal access leadership institute (ocali) engages a cohort of 12-15 youth community leaders through a 10-week extended leadership program focused on 'access to nature' issues affecting low-income communities and communities of color, and the advocacy efforts working to address these issues. Participants of the programs visit park and coastal lands throughout the santa monica mountains national recreation area, engage in speaker series about environmental issues, learn outdoor skill-sets, and organize 'access to nature' projects. In addition, these youth community leaders are able to take the skills developed in this program and use them to become volunteers, interns, and part-time staff with cnc. Volunteers: 12akuutet learning nursery at elyria canyon park the akuutet learning nursery (aln) at elyria canyon park focuses on restoring and enhancing elyria canyon park by using methods known to reduce fire risk in addition to leading interns and park volunteers in local fire resilient restoration efforts. The project is funded by santa monica mountains conservancy (smmc) and supported by the mountains recreation and conservation authority (mrca). The akuutet learning nursery offers a 13 weeks long program with lessons in local natural history, native plants, restoration, fire resilience, team building, workforce development, front country field trips in the santa monica mountains and camping at elyria canyon park. Cnc staff facilitated a cohort of 6 youth interns from northeast la high schools and led a camping experience at elyria canyon park. Boyle heights youth source center supported the internship program by sponsoring wages and providing technical support related to workforce development. The cnc nursery team activated the akuutet learning nursery by collecting native seeds, sowing and transplanting 17 total species of california native plants. Monthly volunteer events were hosted onsite and focused on habitat restoration and nursery operations including a black walnut collection and processing workshop in collaboration with the black walnut day alliance. Twenty five community members participated in the workshop and cleaned a total of 119 walnuts collected from elyria canyon park. This workshop educated community members on the importance of conserving the threatened species, species' adaptations to fire in california, ethical collection and propagation. The nursery team supported local community events centered around environmental topics such as the southern california black walnut, california native plants, wildlife, outdoor workforce development, community building, and advocacy. Additionally, the nursery team partnered with the university of southern california (usc) landscape architecture course for the fall 2023 semester to host two community design sessions focused on ecological benefits, recreation, and park accessibility for community members. Volunteers: 25terngava naturalist yu'pa' program the terngava 3.0 program is led by the fernandeo tataviam band of mission indians education and cultural learning department (ecld) in partnership with community nature connection. The program is part of ecld's camp tamit summer program and is financially supported by the ca state parks routes to parks grant. Terngava naturalist yu'pa' translates to 'summer naturalist in the wild.' the key goals of the program are to: 1. Partner with the fernandeo tataviam band of mission indians and california state parks to create more meaningful outdoor experiences for tribal youth and extended communities, 2. Provide access to local california state parks for youth through day and overnight trips, 3. Increase knowledge of topics like advocacy, astronomy, climate change, ecology, land acknowledgements, outdoor recreation and camping skills, storytelling, and traditional names and uses of plants among participants, and 4. Strengthen the relationship between tribal youth and ca state parks. The terngava naturalist yu'pa' program launched and supported youth and ecld staff in accessing outdoors experiences this summer. Cnc staff hosted a one week-long camping trip to several parks in the eastern sierras and one coastal day trip to leo carrillo state beach. The camping and the day trips were delivered alongside ecld for four days and three nights, 16 youth and 5 staff ventured on an ambitious journey across the eastern sierras where the group visited red rock canyon state park, ancient bristlecone pine forest, mono lake tufa state natural reserve, bodie state historic park, yosemite national park, and manzanar national historic site. Some activities during the camping trip included an overview of camping skills, leave no trace principles, kayaking, birding, hiking, and meaningful interactions with ca state park rangers and interpreters. Park interpreters from the mono lake committee safely guided a canoe trip where the group observed nesting ospreys with their chicks and learned about the preservation of mono lake. Community nature connection reconnected with terngava naturalist yu'pa' at leo carrillo state beach for a coastal day trip, where tribal elder alan salazar taught students and staff the importance of nature and traditional ecological knowledge. He incorporated the creation of musical instruments in his teaching. Participants learned the cultural meaning of the instrument and created a musical instrument with natural materials found along the coast. The group also enjoyed tidepooling and explored the beach.volunteers: 0

Wildfire fire resilience and work readiness programsthe akuteet learning nursery team hosted fire resilience and ecology community workshops that engaged a total of ninety four participants from across los angeles county, with a primary focus on neighborhoods within and around northeast los angeles. The fire workshops explored the intersections of fire education and safety, fire's cultural significance, practical ways for implementing fire resilient landscaping and home hardening at participants' homes. Cnc collaborates with the resource conservation district of santa monica mountains to conduct no cost home hardening workshops for community members. Volunteers joined propagation events, planting days and invasive plant removal activities at elyria nursery park.volunteers: 20workforce development and wildfire resiliency grant amendment the cnc fire resilience restoration workforce internship program recruits and employs youth interns and volunteers impacted by racial, socioeconomic, and disability injustices to carry out restoration projects in partnership with land agencies within the northeast los angeles area and elyria canyon park akuutet learning nursery. Youth interns learn how to restore and enhance fire-prone habitats using methods known to reduce fire risk in addition to learning how to lead park volunteers in large-scale fire resilient restoration efforts. Cnc proposed an amendment to the grant awarded by the santa monica mountains conservancy (smmc), agreement 3810-gf-2135 wildfire prevention early budget action funding plan, which supported the akuutet learning nursery at elyria canyon park in hosting a workforce development program for youth while addressing the demands for locally sourced, native plants for local wildfire-resilience projects which involve removal of flammable, flashy, invasive fuels and the planting of locally-grown native plants in their place to create more wildfire-resilient landscapes and communities. The multi-benefit projects that the nursery supports include wildfire-resilient programs and the response to the decline of monarch butterfly populations and local habitat. The akuutet learning nursery internship took place for 15 weeks, from september 28, 2023, to january 6, 2024. Five interns were supported with hourly pay and a total of 160 work hours through a partnership with the boyle heights technology youthsource center. One intern was provided an education stipend for completing the program. In total, the 6 interns completed 880.5 hours over the course of the internship. Interns joined virtual sessions every other thursday evenings that included educational topics on: fire ecology, the land back movement, barriers to the outdoors, community power & privilege, careers in the outdoors, and introduction to interpretation. Interns met weekly on saturdays at elyria canyon park to assist in leading nursery and habitat restoration volunteer events, conduct line-transect surveys, remove invasive plant species, and plant fire-resilient california native plants. Interns concluded their experiences by sharing presentations on topics they found most intriguing, including: fire ecology, preserving native plants, invasive and native plant species in california, and habitat restoration. The akuutet learning nursery team hosted 3 black walnut collection workshops in support of northeast la black walnut day (nbwd) and in collaboration with coyotl+macehualli. The workshops educated community members on how to ethically collect and process the threatened california black walnut. The first volunteer event was held at akuutet learning nursery, where volunteers transplanted narrowleaf milkweed and california fuchsia plants. The nursery team will represent cnc and the akuutet learning nursery project by giving out coast live oak trees to the public at la ms's comp{arte} exchange fair at sycamore grove park. The nursery team also tabled at the black walnut day kick-off event at ascot hills.volunteers: 15