By Eden Rock, Placer Land Trust Community Engagement Manager
In 2024 we were approached by Southside Unlimited, a local nonprofit organization that supports adults with disabilities, seeking ongoing volunteer opportunities to hone workplace skills for their program participants. Placer Land Trust staff explained that we didn’t have any options on a regular basis and apologetically told them our big need was to help remove invasive broom (French, Scotch, Portuguese – all types!) at our Canyon View Preserve.
Southside Unlimited were insistent that their program participants could NOT take work away from any staff; we assured them that there was no way in the world that PLT staff could even make a dent on their own! After walking the preserve, we jointly came up with the plan that they would “adopt” a section on the preserve and remove the broom at their own pace and schedule, whenever they could.
Since that time, Southside Unlimited and Placer Land Trust have enjoyed a thriving partnership. Two to three times a week, participants in their Passage program volunteer to remove the invasive weed from their adopted site. As shared on Southside’s website, “Through the tools of active listening, self-advocacy, work, life skills, and community involvement, all participants now have a place to realize their talents, abilities, and make friends. They are now known as fellow co-workers volunteering at various work sites […] They are people who do not want to be sheltered; they want to be fully contributing participants in their lives.” Through their work at Canyon View Preserve, participants build meaningful work skills while contributing to their community — and making a visible difference along the trails.
We were so taken by this brainstorm of an idea that we figured lots of other groups would want to do something similar. Placer Land Trust staff came up with a catchy name for the program (“Habitat Heroes”), bought some tools, developed protocol and a brochure, added it to our website, and prepared ourselves for an onslaught of interested parties to join in the fun.
And… Crickets. Southside Unlimited was our sole partner — until early this year.
Suddenly, it was as though the Habitat Heroes program itself became an invasive and started to spread rapidly, now with seven other Heroes on board! They range from individuals to family groups to friend groups to high school environmental clubs to conservation specialists. As participant Merv Screeton said, “We have a beautiful community and we should be willing to give some time and effort to keep it that way.” We have these like-minded heroes to thank:
- Southside Unlimited
- Merv Screeton
- California Conservation Corps
- Dave the Duck (you know who you are!)
- The Ferguson Family (headed by the grandmother Kassy, son Sean, and grandson Wesley)
- The Broom Doomers
- Colfax High School Environmental Club (headed by President Talia Schwartz and Amanda Bratton, Teacher/Club advisor)
- Placer High School Environmental Club (headed by President Adam Huff and Josh Terrell, Parent Volunteer)
One can easily see the impact of their efforts when walking the trails at Canyon view Preserve. Gary Wells, our Land Manager for Canyon View, says, “the impacts our volunteers are making are obvious and amazing. By removing so much French broom, we’re seeing native trees and shrubs that we didn’t know were there — giving them less competition and more room to grow. We are getting tons of compliments about how much better the preserve looks. We owe so much to our fantastic Habitat Heroes!”
Are you part of a group that would like to be Habitat Heroes? Please click here to learn more!
