Getting Out is Really Getting In…Into the Interior - Catalina Island ...

Volunteers in Action
the front of the nursery, followed by sporty games of “King of
the Mulch Hill” played atop a nine-foot pile of eucalyptus
mulch. We also worked at Airport in the Sky doing some
maintenance work on the grounds of the Nature Center. The
highlight of our day was a buffet style lunch of sandwiches and
brownies provided by the Conservancy Education
Department.
On our last day, the group ventured into Avalon to explore the
town and take a break from work. Our activities included
kayaking, snorkeling, visiting the Botanical Gardens, shopping,
and of course dining at the many restaurants in town. A change
from the week’s camp foods like hot dogs and peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches was much needed and enjoyed!
8
Spring Break, But Differently
Spring Break! Relax on the beach, take a rest from hectic
academic schedules! Or, for a group of students from the
University of Arizona (UofA), spring break is the opportunity to
travel to new communities and participate in philanthropic
activities. This group is called Alternative Breaks, and from
March 14-22 students traveled to Catalina to volunteer with
the Catalina Island Conservancy.
Alternative Breaks is a non-profit, student run organization at
the UofA in Tucson, Arizona. It is a local chapter of a nationwide
program based out of Florida State University called, Break
Away. Each year an average of 5 service-oriented trips are taken
in surrounding areas to provide members meaningful spring
break projects as an alternative to leisure activities. Trips are
funded by the participants, through fundraising events, grants,
support of local businesses, and the University.
This spring break, fourteen participants ranging from
freshmen to seniors and including majors such as Veterinary
and Wildlife Sciences, Finance, and Engineering, piled into two
vans bound for Long Beach, CA. It was raining when we
reached Long Beach, approximately 10 hours later. We took a
ferry to Santa Catalina Island and were greeted by the
Conservancy’s Coordinator of Volunteers.
During the week we camped at the Laura Stein Volunteer
Camp, jokingly coined the “Hilton in the Hills.” We were amazed
by the campground facility and at the fact that volunteers
constructed a majority of it. The greater part of our free time in
the evenings was spent huddled around the outdoor kitchen
area preparing dinner, or sitting around the campfire telling
stories and listening to NPR radio for updates on the war with
Iraq.
Throughout the week we worked with the Conservancy to
complete landscaping work for the James H. Ackerman Native
Plant Nursery. Landscaping included mulching and weeding
We started the week at the UofA as a group of newly
acquainted students, coming together to work on a service
project. We ended the week as a group of close friends who
had just spent an amazing spring break together on Santa
Catalina Island. Our time with the Catalina Island Conservancy
will be forever remembered by each of us, and our
organization hopes to continue a relationship with
Conservancy into the future.
Jessica Stevens,
Alternative Breaks Site Leader
Wanted: Information Leading to
Invasive Plant Control
Sixty known invasive plant species on Santa Catalina Island are
being exposed to scrutiny. The Conservancy and California
State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo graduate
student John Knapp are collecting data to develop a prioritized
invasive plant management plan. Invasive plants in California
are defined as species introduced after European contact
through direct or indirect human activity. Invasive plants arrive
and become naturalized 1,000 times faster by human activities
than they would under natural conditions; native plants and
animals haven’t the time to deal with the invasion through
evolution. Invasive plants displace vegetation that provides
habitat for wildlife, but their most severe impacts arise when
they alter ecosystem processes such as fire frequency, soil
Catalina Island Conservancy