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It was a windy morning when the students arrived at Mount Diablo, entering Curry Canyon Ranch. They stepped out onto the trails surrounded by blue oak woodlands and golden grasses, journeyed along Curry Creek, and marveled at Mount Diablo’s thriving wildlife.

This is a rare summer, thanks to the heavy rains we had earlier this year. Creeks and ponds that would have typically dried up by now still flow blue-green throughout Mount Diablo’s open space, sustaining the native flora and fauna that populate the area.

But this is not just a great opportunity for wildlife to thrive, it’s a chance for the next generation to see this wildlife for themselves and to learn about its significance firsthand.

One of our major goals for the near future is to expand our outdoor education programs and help facilitate a love of nature within the next generation.

So, during summer break, we’ve been inviting kids and teenagers from Bay Area elementary, middle, and high schools to help us steward our Curry Canyon Ranch on Mount Diablo.

This summer so far, we’ve hosted seven tree-care workdays with educational hikes at Curry Canyon Ranch through the BACR CARES program.

This Mount Diablo Unified School District after-school program provides enriching activities for elementary, middle, and high schoolers.

For many of these kids, it was their first time on the mountain.

Planting and Protecting Native Trees

As the weather warmed, spring turned into summer and the first groups of kids visited our land to learn and help with our stewardship work.

Since 2021, we’ve been working towards the goal of planting and protecting 10,000 trees and plants in 10 years.

And for that, we need a lot of helping hands.

Thanks to hard working volunteers like these students, we’ve already planted and protected more than 2,500 trees and plants.

After the seventh workday was complete, we confirmed that the BACR CARES kids were able to protect a total of 306 trees in the month of June alone!

It was the final group, fourth and fifth graders who come from Gregory Gardens School, who helped us reach this number on June 29.

These kids learned about ecological restoration and local native plants, and helped make a big difference on Mount Diablo as they worked to protect 26 young oak trees!

The students worked hard to protect these native trees by tying tubes that will protect the tree seedlings from getting nibbled by hungry animals. Their work will help the trees eventually grow big and strong.

We’re grateful for their energy and help in protecting trees that will sequester carbon and help to address the climate crisis for many years to come.

Spotting Wildlife on the Trail!

One of the highlights of the day for our visiting youth groups was an educational hike through Curry Canyon Ranch, led by our stewardship staff.

Binoculars in hand, our young visitors marveled at coyotes in the distance, ground squirrels popping up nearby, soaring golden eagles overhead, and garter snakes gliding through the water.

One group of high school student interns from the program hiked up a hill to a pond where they learned about the importance of milkweed to monarch butterflies.

They also discussed the amphibians that can be found across Mount Diablo, observing Baja tree frogs and western toads in the wild.

Last year, our very first group of BACR CARES students visited Curry Canyon Ranch to learn about environmental stewardship.

This year, we were excited to welcome seven more groups to Curry Canyon Ranch.

It was a delight to meet this year’s students and watch them marvel at the splendor of Mount Diablo’s wilderness.

We’re grateful for their hard work helping us steward Mount Diablo’s open space!