Title: Community weed pull gets students ready for school by restoring wetlands
[vcstar.com 5 Sept. 2012 by Michele Willer-Allred] -- California Lutheran University student Taylor Beacham stood on the edge of the Ventura Harbor wetlands with gloves on her hands and tried to pull a large ice plant from the ground. It was hard work, but the 17-year-old freshman biology major was up for the challenge. Beacham joined about 600 of her fellow CLU students, 46 peer advisers, student administrators and community members Tuesday afternoon to help dig up several acres of nonnative plants that were growing in the wetlands at the Ventura Water Reclamation Facility. This is the fifth year for the school's freshmen and new transfer students to work together on a service project to kick off their first year at CLU ... Annual service projects organized by the school's Community Service Center are designed in cooperation with the city of Ventura to introduce new students to CLU's commitment to service and connect them to the local community in a meaningful way. The 50 acres of wetlands are surrounded by the harbor, the Santa Clara River estuary and the Pacific Ocean. The area is home to many small mammals and birds. With nonnative vegetation such as the ice plant degrading habitat in the area, and the city of Ventura in 2009 launched the Harbor Wetlands Restoration Project to remove nonnative plants and create the Ventura Harbor Ecological Reserve. Native vegetation will be reintroduced to the area. Comment
"I think this work is so important. This is a wildlife haven, and it's very important that we protect it. I really want to thank the CLU students for doing this work on behalf of the entire city," said Ventura Deputy Mayor Cheryl Heitmann, a peer adviser at the service event. Mackenzie Gerber, 19, joined Kristen Dauler, 20, and Hannah Buelman, 19, as part of a 21-member orientation staff that helped the younger students at the event. "This kind of community service event really sets the tone for incoming students of what this school is about. Giving back is a CLU ritual," Gerber said.
Students used shovels and rakes to help loosen the ice plants and eventually pulled them out by hand. They piled the plants on a tarp, which they hauled to a large pile to be discarded. Working as a team, 18-year-old freshmen Mikah Banales, Monica Linares, Cody Williams, Rebecca Bomfim, and Zane Thompson helped clear out a large section of the plants. While Thompson said he wished he could have slept in, he admitted the work was ultimately rewarding.
Banales said while the work was required of the incoming students, she would have participated anyway because she actually likes to perform community service. Linares said activities such as the community service project have helped the new students bond with other. "It's nice to come out together and make a difference," Linares said.
Article: WeedsNews3712 (permalink) Categories: :WeedsNews:community engagement, :WeedsNews:weed control, :WeedsNews:education Date: 6 September 2012; 2:13:03 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time
