Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center

old field with Little Valley Creekin distance at tree line

Fort Bragg students ready to Plantredwoods along Little Valley Creek

MESA students working withAmericorps mentors on Garcia River

Jughandle State Reserve.MESA (Math, Engineeringand Science Achievement)students from Fort Braggand Mendocino MiddleSchools planted 500redwoods on the banks ofLittle Valley Creek whichis a tributary of PuddingCreek northeast of FortBragg. Most remarkably,Jughandle sponsored and

coordinated a field trip for 125 students from the Ukiah High Schoolredwood thrtttng

"t MESAprogram to plant 3,000 willow and alders on the Garcia River in

Little Valley Creekplanting site

one day, in collaboration with Trout Unlimited.InApril 2002,Jaghandle received 7,000 bare root trees, mostly

red alder and redwood, with a few hundred Sitka spruce. These were brought in by theAmericorpswatershed stewards. Some of these bare root trees were three years old, and although they werehealthy, they needed immediate care to prevent desiccation. Using volunteer labor from all gradesof the local schools, plus the summer nature camp students and even retreat guests, they managedto place each tree in its own pot so it would be ready totransplant to a permanent location the following year.Of course, each tree had to be watered regularly. In thespring of 2003, these were planted at various sites, andthe tree carrying bags and tree planting bars providedby Commission funds were essential to the job.

Once the native plant restoration was wellunderway and the greenhouse was supplying plants forrevegetation, it seemed natural for Jughandle to expandagain its educational and practical missions to includeriparian habitat restoration and watershed monitoring.The expanded program was named the Fisheiies,Watersheds and Native Plants Education Project, and its target audience was nothing less thanvirtqally every student and science teacher in the school districts of Point Arena, Mendocino,Fort Bragg, Laytonville and Anderson Valley. Since its inception, this program has touchedmore than 4.000 students from these five districts. These efforts began n 1997 and continue

remote temperature sensor in Little River

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native plants being raised for transplantationto Van Damme State Park along Little River

Douglas fir and big leaf maple seedlingseventually bound for Van Damme State Park

elk clover, originally planted as seedlings tostabilize creek banks in Van Damme State Park

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center

Mendocino Community High School studentsplanting willows at slide site on Little River

cow parsnip planted in forestof Van Damme State Park

willows planted on slide area on LittleRiver in Van Damme State Park

today, although the roots extend back to 1991 when Jughandle first purchased some limnologyequipment. Students have been taught about aquatic macroinvertebrates, salmonid species andother riverine and riparian wildlife near the State Fish and Game Department's downstreammigrant traps in Noyo River and Little River, and about riparian ecology and watershed health onnumerous field trips to other locations.

Beginning in 1995, Jughandle has participated cooperatively in a number of restorationprojects partially funded by the Commission. For example, in 1999 they worked with the StateDepartment of Parks and Department of Fish and Game to restore riparian habitat of Little Riverin Van Damme State Park. They helped to stabilize the creek banks by doing willow sprigging.They also grew from seeds many kinds of riparian plants and then planted them on the banks of the

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Jughandle Creek tr'arm and Nature Center

creek and in adjacent areas. Over 740 students were ultimately involved in this. Students havehelped develop a long term project to monitor water temperatures and woody debris in LittleRiver, and worked with fishery biologists to plant coho salmon in several streams.

Jughandle is a hands-on educational institution. Teaching conservation means work forthe participants, no matter what their ages. As stated, two of the main projects frrnded wererelated to the greenhouse remodeling and improvement, and planting ffees in various habitats.Commission funds purchased $1,300 of propagation media such as fertllizer, peat moss, pottingsoil and perlite, and construction materials for the greenhouse. The Commission's grants enabledJughandle to spend over $1,200 on tree planting bars, tree planting bags and harnesses forvolunteers to use. They also purchased chest waders and hip boots. The Commission provided52,700 for a water storage tank and plumbing, and nearly $600 for supplies and a shade cloth forthe greenhouse. The construction work was done by State Park personnel as an in-kind match, by

local high school students, some hired labor,Americorps workers, and volunteers underMs. Chalfin's direction.

Financial sr$port for these ambitiousprograms came from a variety of sources.Commission funds were used in part as seedmoney for the plant nursery construction andlater to obtain grants of over S46,000 from theState Department of Fish and Game which hasbeen the major funder. Other important sourcesinclude the State Education Department, theJughandle Board of Directors, CaliforniaDepartment of Parks and Recreation, acharitable trust fund and even a grunt from theAT&T Corporation. The Mendocino PrivateIndustry Council andthe Mendocino BotanicalGardens have contributed in-kind labot andthe Botanical Gardens has also given potsand flats. It was recognized early on thatJughandle could not undertake all it wantedto do alone, so collaborations were formedwith the Americorps Watershed StewardshipProject, the State Fish and Game Departmentand State Parks personnel, the North Coastinterior of shade structure with

thousands of plants growing in pots

propagating table school children working at greenhouse

closeup ofshade structure and plant tables

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Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center

Rural Challenge Network, and of course key teachers from each school district.In an early grant request, Ms. Chalfin wrote, "The goal of our project is to give students

and the community an active role in the management and understanding of natural resources."To ensure that as many children as possible had the opportunity for field studies, Jughandle hasbecome a repository for science equipment and to some extent is now a clearinghouse for schooleducation and science projects for the study of the aquatic and terrestrial environments. A smallportion of the funds from the Commission have helped purchase aquatic nets, temperature dataloggers, soil moisfure meters, topographic maps, calipers, tape measures, plantpresses, compasses,balance scales, a transit and stadia rod, and a hip chain to measure distance. Limnology equipmenthas been purchased using State Fish and Game Department grants so students can study streamphysical factors such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, stream velocity and turbidity. Remotetemperature sensors are seasonally maintained on Big River, Little River, Noyo River, GualalaRiver, Garcia River andAlbion River. They also have apparatus to study chemical factors such aspH, alkalinity, nitrates, salinity, phosphates and total dissolved solids. Jughandle can documentits activities with a digital camera that the Commission funded. The Commission added to thescience equipment which Jughandle lends to schools, and helped pay for boots, waders, nets,tree planting bars and so forth. Because the equipment is shared among schools, these items getplenty of use each year. A natural history library has been established and was partially fundedby the Commission. This library is for use by groups and visitors as well as by staff, and booksare loaned out just as the equipment is.

The education component of Jughandle has reached over 7,000 students since 1993.Children of all ages go on field kips to Jughandle to learn about the unique environmentsthere. They also visit many coastal watersheds to leam about riparian and stream habitats.Jughandle works closely with the Mendocino Unified School District SONAR Program, whichis a comprehensive natural resources curriculum emphasizing field studies. (See section in thisbook on Mendocino High School SONAR Project.) In one year alone, over 2,000 students fromFort Bragg, Laytonville, Mendocino and PointArena schools went on field trips to study aquatichabitats of anadromous fishes and aquatic invertebrates. They leamed about salmonid life cyclesand spawning needs. Commission funds have been used to pay part of the Education Director'ssalary and for additional naturalist assistants, who are critical to keeping the programs going.During the period 1999-2002, there were 32 field trips involving 600 students from MendocinoUnified School District alone, traveling to many sites. Almost 600 students from the Fort BraggUnified School District went on 15 field trips, and l0 trips involved 200 students from the PointArena Unified School District. Jughandle has organized school field trips to most of the coastalrivers such as Little River, Big River, as far south as the Garcia River and as far north as Ten MileRiver so students can study stream environlnents directly.

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center has been a major beneficiary of funds from theCommission, having received a total of more than $22,000 over the years. For this reason, thediscussion has been presented in some detail. It is clear that Jughandle, the schools and studentshave greatly benefited from these frmds, and their programs are highly successful.

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Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center

APPENDD( D: Work Schedule2000January-March: Project Education Coordinator meets with resource agency and landowner representatives to outline

projects zuitable for sfudents to undertake for each watershed. Targeted watersheds are: Little River, Noyo River,Big River, Albion River, Navarro River, Garcia fuver. Consultations made with Fish and Game Departmentbiologists, WSP project merrtors: Doug Albin, Fish and Game Biologist stationed in Fort Bragg, Scott Harris, Fishand Game biologist with Idand Fisheries, Liz Keppeler, of the U. S. Forest Service Oflice, Fort Bragg; ReneePasquinelli, State Parks Resource Ecologist and Sarah Flowers of State Parks Resource staff, Mendocino Diskic{Tess Albin Smith of California Department of Forestry. When plantings are involved, site visits to determineselected species will be made to each project site. Where monitoring activities me selected, site visits wilt be madeto determine best site in terrns of access and safety facton. Consultations with: California Native Plant Society DKYChapter President Lori Hubbert; Allison Gardner, botanist, and Ken Montgomery, owner ofAnderson ValleyNursery take place at this stage. Plant lists are devised and propagation shategies are researched thoroughly.Collectiontimes me noted and a plan of action is determined based on the ripening times of selected species to bepropagated with shrdents. Meet with NCRCN project site coordinators to line up teachers and classes at appropriategrade levels for each school district. Consult with members of the Watershed Project and Watershed StewardsProject as field tip plans are formulated, enlist help in getting the word out in each district and lining up field tipand classroom presentation dates ftom WP members.

March- November: High school students in each diskict undertake long term monitoring projects in watersheds. Somewill study stream channel cross sections, some will monitor large woody debris , study stream bottom sedimentcomposition. Before winter, students will collect stream temperature data utilizing Hobo Temps. placed in-selectedwatersheds. Students will atso collect data on dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphates, turbidity and total solids. Thesame teachers will undertake these studies each year, and data will be collecte4 stored and shared with the schooldisticl the community, the Fish and Game Department, State Parks, KRIS project, Regional Water Quality ControlBoard and other NCRCN district schools via web site.

January-May: Seedlings at the nusery will be t'ansplanted into appropriate sized pots as they develop suflicient growth.Shdert field trips to Jughandle site as well as classroom presentations by Project Education Coordinator accomplishthis phase ofplants progress. Studenfs will leam principles ofbotany and ecology as they study the developmentof the seedlings and factors alfecting their growth.

April: WSPlJughandle workdays and education projects, scheduled annually at Jughandle Creek Farm. 49-50 WSPmembers and JH education coordinator present restoration/education activities with visiting school groups at theJughandle fa"iltty.

March, April and early May: Schedule interactive held trips to Fish and Game's downstream migrant traps at NoyoRiver and Little River; mentored by WSP members and Project Education Coordinator. Leaming stations involvewatershed wildlife,(at the trap) aquatic insects (in a riflle area), riparian plants and collection of statistics about thesteam-such as temperafirdsalinity and dissolved oxyge& degree of canopy. Hobo Temps installed ' March/ April.

June, July, August: Seed collection time for certain native plant species, greenwood cuttings. Summer school sfudentsinvolved in this, as well as those employed by the sumrner youth program. Students leam how to propagate thecollected seeds during field trips and classroom presentations.

September, October, November: Seed collection time for cert:ain native trees, and other native plants for restorationpurposes. Sfudents learn how to propagate the collected seeds during field trips and classroom presentations.

October: WSP orientation and training dates at Jughandle Creek Farm. Training, work projects at the native plantnursery and education demonstration projects involving visiting classes take place.

November, December, January 2001:Planting out of plants growrthe previous year. Visits to Noyo fuver Egg Taking Station. Students from all districtsare involved in planting projects at selected watersheds.

December, January, February: Collection of dormant deciduous cuttings of woody slrubs for restoration purposes.Students are taught how to propagate the cuttings during field trips or classroom presentations.

January 2000June, 2001: Intermittent classroom presentations K-8 on salmonid life- cycle, migration, tlreats tosrwival, anatomy, habitat needs. Lessons about native riparian plants, the importance of plants in the ecosystem,aquatic insects, amphibians, reptiles and birds and frsh of the watershed (Watershed Wildlife). Lessons aboutwatershed endangered qpecies. Classroom presentations ananged by Project Education Coordinator and presentedby Coordinatorwiththe assistance, u,ltertpossible, of Watershed Stewards Project and Watershed Project members.Education Coordinator will act as liaison between resource agencies, schools and watershed protection groups, willorganize training sessions and mentors, collaborating with lead teacher^ on lesson plans, books and resource needs.High School shdents will be trained in watershed monitoring techniques by resource professionals throughout theschool year, begirning in September: Fall Training: Reading Topo Maps, utilizing Arc View, Mendocino CountyWater Agency- Dennis Slota and Diane Chocholak-protocols for use of turbidimeter, collection of water samplesfor looking at suspended sediments, training in placement and use of Hobo Temps; Louisa Morris, Mike Maahs-protocols for studying large woody debris. Spring Trainrng: Fish and Game Deparhnent- protocols for RapidBioassessment-studyiry aquatic macro invertebrates-training by Mary Bowers of Matrix of Change in Gualala;placement of Hobo Temps for monitoring stream temperatures. Longifudinal Profiles and Stream Cross-sections,Bottom Sediment Sampling. Coordinator schedules use ofscience equi schools.

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Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center

Nlendocino, l\lendcrino County, California 124th Year, No. ]2

Joint efforts make a differenccPeoflc rvorkinF togclhcr tc

irpr:rrc r srlcr\hcd can rnrke nrcrl rl i ffcrcnce

No rrnc krr i I i lh i r l , r t lcr l l tNtt lr ir l lr l l of l irrrt l lnl init||, r l l lhrc s orkc{l t irclrssly sit! irar,!{n,f r ( in the l 'o int Arcr l xtrn toi r rpf l r !c hnhi tat hr sr lmon lndctcclhcld in the Crrcir lliver and itstr ibrlr.t.s. Jlghandle Crrck Fam'sl:i!hcfies. W:tersietls an(l NativeI'lants Frkrtirn Ptuject crred forrcdwrror l i tnd rnaple t rces Bel lrlorated for restocrtion efforts,

.hgbrndlc's education coordina-l.r, tlcbrr (:hallin. rcxchcd otrt tostrrlert: frm !o( Bragg rnd PointArrrn to carc aor rnd plart thelrett.

Srrl 'prrr1s1l hv a grrnt from thei!rtr f: islr anrl (iame l)epartmcnl,.lrtghnrdlc prorided brs tratrsfrona'tiix [onc:, for field trips, trrls forflant,rg i!.1 pre.licll trip prcsenta-tiax in clrsirooms whicft dcscrihedrvrter:bcds. erosion. ralmonid lifccyr:le. hnhital mrds rnd the vahrc ofrestorr t i { }n ef fot ls- Americorpsrlcmher of the Wnt:rshed Stew-

rrds Proiect, who sencd as meltrrsotr rhe fj lanling dny. rftrcked rl ' .tr.cs tnd lsls inio t[c planting arcrm(l e{t ir}olvalt it li.ing for thettrs rt lu3lrtlle's nlrlerv,

l lnt ia *ns the hrrd work of -l lMat l . hginecr ing and Sciencenchievemcnt Clutr students fromRxt Bragg middle and high schmlsjoincd with Trout t l t l i r r i rcd,Jugb.ndlc, thne Wrtersa.tl Stel.ards mcml,ers nnd :ix Poiri A|!'astxlents thlt ;rccomplished a suc"cessful restoration project: plantingrhout 6O0 rcdwood ard hig lctfmaple trces o[ . rltri ana of ireGarcia River's balks. i: ac a:erowred ly Xcado:i*l ird**rJ lo.

The MESA prrg:am w* begtn$ttew:de .bo!l 30 tsrs ago. and isdedicated to creating oirfortunitiesf{rr studcnts which prepm tlnrn rocilter professions rcq:irilg degr:etin engineering aad alts mrlic:[raics-based scicnce lieid:.

Strlewid€. MrSA lls :r$isretthousands of studells to bacrrnc

Se ilii,SA on Pnqe lA i,tu*'lThe Mendocino Beacon, March 8,2001, part one

MESAFmm Prge lA

science ard mathemalics profes-siooals, l-ocally, a MESA Fogramrvas begun in l99l as a meins otassisring students of limired finrn.c ia l resoutces with enr ichmintactivit ies, academic and financiall id advising, career erplorationopportsr i t ies, organized groupstsdy rnd scholarship incent iv€nwards. Since 1992 and rhrotrgh1999, l l l MESA cluh srudcntsBraduated from high school and I t7were mcepted to either a univcrsitlrrjunior college.

Fort Bragg Middle School 'sMESA club is headed by reacherlrene llcldstab. Fort Bragg HighSchn'l MESA advisors a:e DeniseSlohodnik and Parricia Hermes. All(hrec accompanied the studerts onlast Friday's ficld trip ro the GarciaRiver, as well as Chris Stuart.

Beforc planting thc trees, stu-<tcnts hited into $c sitc rbout oncmile. Bcll showed rhe group scvcralsites wbere he had worked withcr€ws to improve salmot| habitai bycrcating instream structures of large

- r"c. ;;r*k". Thc srudcnr groupwos lEat€d to I nog rar! strcamsidespectacle whcn Bcll pointcd our twospawning steclhead trout just bclowI hridgc. The sudentJ hdd th€ fan-tastic experience of witncssing thclarge fish clerring an arer in lheg6vel ftr thc lpa$fng d[nt. ,

The sudents *orkcd to plant asma[y tncs rs possiblc on stecp softriverbanks in rn cffort to halt cro-sion along rhe river. Bell obtainedlandowncr pcrmission and s.lectcdthc plantlng arca.

This is not tbc first time tharMESA studcirts hbve yorkcd wilhTrcu Unlimii.d, Jughtndlc's Educa-tiori Projcca sald thd WarcrsbedStewards on a restoradon project. InApril lasl year, abour 150 MESAstudcnts from Utirh's Pornolita artdEagle Pcak Middle Schools rndUkirh High School rrvcled ro thelad ofcattle nncher Hcnry Stomct-h's fand along the Garcia River toptait 2.000 wiltbw sprigs and rlderscedlings. Thc cutting of rhc sprigswas donc thc dry bcforc by a crcwof six Anredcortt Watenhed Stew-uds, and on the day of thc plandngepproximrtelj 35 more stewrrdsjoimd in.thc phnting effon.

Aeain; Ecll qbteincd hndovncr. peoaisEiqr.lnrpplftd.rmls &d tcd- :' crship. Jughatdlc'r'tdtrcetion coor-

dinator visired MESA studcnrs'cirssrooms wirh prc and posi ficldtrip prcs€ot.rions, srpplicd tool$and lined up porriciponrs such rsAntonio Lopez. Mendmino Coun-ty't MESA director, who coordinar-ed ellods in Uki8h.. Iho plantin8 projccr hclpcd rorcuuild sav€r€ly crodad rivcrbankson fte crttle rrnch. Storncttn andBell showrd tLe saodlnts NrtNswhich wcn now fenced off fromcalllc use, whcrc previous willowsprigging projccrs had crcatcd elush sillow canopy. Thc cffort toplant thc Storne(a propcny wssalso joincd by Rebccca Kress ofRussian Rivcr Unlimitcd, rnd mcm-ben of the Watershcd Projcct.

A third pbnlinS poject in whichForl Bregg Middle School MESAstud€nts participated. took placr lairycar at Jughandle stale RescrveThc MESA studcnts rctcd 8s men-lors io two classes from RedwoodElemintary School in thc plantingof shorc pine tnccs at tltc north endofJughandlc Rcscrvc.

Jughrndlc Farm orgrnized thcactivirics, visitcd thc classroomspre-and post ficld trip rnd coordi-natcd efronr with WSP, State Palkspcrsonncl rnd Srtcrrhcd, Projcctn|cmbcil. MESA itdcnb hrwtii-'ilcd Juglrndlc Frrn!'nrtivc pJant

nuni.ry on lield tripe ro help rrans-pla|tt uec sccdlings.

On March 6. fughandle plantedltresmridc shrubs in Litt lc Riverwith Mcddftino Commoniry ltighSchool students. Sludents fromRyrn Olson-Day's nriddle schoolclas will be plantinl on March lqtri€SA *il! be hol,i1.'g it.r annualfond-ailsing dinncr on Mrrch 24 nrthc Porlugucsc Hall in Fon Bragg.Tickets arc norv on stle. For tickers.call96&14{D.

For information ahout lhfJughrndle aducalion projcct. ci l l931"319t.' rblonlcels are being sought for rlunc watershed festivnl orgrnirrrlby dE Watershed ,Stcrvartls PniecrFor information. call qfvr,sll I I

The Mendocino Beacon, March 8r2001, part two

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