Meet Eugene
In early 2026, Eugene installed a gate at the pollinator gardens at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve for his Eagle Scout project. Below he reflects on his project.
Please provide a brief description of your project and the impact it will have.
The project was the construction of a fence gate to be installed for Save Mount Diablo in the Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve near Clayton, California.
The Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve has a small preserve area where native plants are kept inside, and a fence gate was needed to keep the grazing cows from being able to enter and harm the native plants, while also letting people enter to look at the sign with a map of the area.
The gate is now installed to help prevent cows from being able to enter the enclosed spot.
What went well?
Both of the workdays went pretty well, with them being very efficient and quick. Many of the scouts helped work very quickly, allowing the gate’s construction to not take much time.
The scouts also made sure to be safe and wear the proper safety equipment, like gloves, glasses, and close-toed shoes.
What was challenging?
Some things that were challenging were having some of the scouts be on task if there was a time where they currently weren’t doing anything. So the main challenge with that was trying to get them back on task.
The main other challenging thing was that before the workday was executed, I couldn’t be 100 percent sure if that workday would go smoothly and get everything needed to be done, though both days worked out well in the end.
What did you learn about leadership?
I learned about how there are a lot of small tasks needed to do things as a leader, such as planning the times, advertising it to people, and understanding the tasks that you will have people do, so that you can teach them how to do those tasks.
I also believe I have grown a bit better at being able to lead others and communicate with other people from this project.
One of the most rewarding things about being the leader is that you can have a good amount of control over what is happening on the workdays and what is getting done.
Additionally, I got to know a lot of what happens when a plan is being made and hosted, and it is interesting to learn about different things like that.
