Volunteers and Teachers

Volunteers
Teachers

The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County relies heavily on volunteers to keep our preserves open to the public and the ecosystems healthy. The following is a listing of volunteer opportunities. We’d love for you to join one of our teams!

Arroyo Hondo Preserve

Habitat Restoration: Volunteers are needed to pull out invasive non-native weeds that threaten the sensitive habitats of the canyon and replant with native plants. Habitat Restoration Work Days are held on the 1st Sunday of the month from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm.

Trail Maintenance: We are letting most of the ranch roads naturally convert to hiking trails, and hope to create a new loop trail through the backcountry. We then intend to connect these trails with the Los Padres National Forest. Trail Work Days are held on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm.

Docent Training Program: Docents are needed to lead individuals, school and community groups on interpretive hikes. Trained docents are asked to commit to 1 or 2 tours per month for one year.

To volunteer at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, become a docent or for more information, contact Volunteer Coordinator Sally Isaacson at (805) 260-2252 or email us.

Coronado Butterfly Preserve

Volunteers are needed throughout the year to remove non-native plants, plant native plants and maintain the trails and outdoor classroom at the Coronado Butterfly Preserve.

For more information, contact the Land Trust at (805) 966-4520.

Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park

The Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park (run by the City of Carpinteria) needs volunteers to maintain the native habitats and for docents to lead individuals, school and community groups on interpretive walks. Contact Andrea Adams-Morden at (805) 684-8077 or email for more information.

Sedgwick Reserve

The Sedgwick Reserve needs docents to lead school and community groups on interpretive walks. Contact the Reserve at (805) 686-1941 for more information.

Carpinteria Bluffs

Volunteers are needed for a variety of projects, including keeping the park clean and maintaining trails and the native habitats. Contact the City of Carpinteria at (805) 684-5405 or email Andrea.

Note: These preserves are natural areas with hazards such as uneven trails, flowing creeks, ticks, rattlesnakes, poison oak and potential wildfires. Visitors are advised that the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County assumes no responsibility or liability for exposure to or harm from natural hazards.

The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County has developed sites, programs and materials for teachers to help children learn of the natural and historical wonders of Santa Barbara County. The following is a list of resources developed in connection with Land Trust nature preserves.

Arroyo Hondo Preserve

The Arroyo Hondo Preserve is open on Mondays and Wednesdays for school and community tours by advance reservation only. It is an ideal setting for field trips where students can learn about riparian habitats, watersheds, food chains, Chumash and California history, geology, plants and animals.

Docents are available to lead your students throughout the Preserve, and we can customize the trip to meet the needs of your curriculum. Special projects such as landscape painting and sketching, creative writing, habitat restoration or trail maintenance can also be arranged. Facilities at the Preserve include picnic tables, bus parking, restrooms, trails and lots of open space to explore. There is limited wheelchair accessibility.

There is an educational short film online called Coastal Sage Scrub: a Fragile Habitat, which is an introduction to this type of plant community found in several of our Land Trust projects and properties, including Arroyo Hondo.

If you would like further information or to schedule a field trip, please contact John Warner, Arroyo Hondo Preserve Manager at (805) 567-1115 or arroyohondo@sblandtrust.org.

Coronado Butterfly Preserve

Monarchs: The Mystery and the Magic Curriculum Guide K-6 – To introduce students to concepts of interdependence of plants, animals and their habitat, and encourages students to participate in conservation. Contact the Land Trust at (805) 966-4520 or email us to obtain a free copy on DVD or you can view them here. There is also detailed information on the Western Monarch found at the Xerces Society’s website.

Outdoor Classroom: An outdoor classroom features log seating, interpretive displays, a native plant garden and access to the Goleta Monarch Grove, where tens of thousands of Monarch butterflies come to overwinter, generally from the beginning of December through the middle of February. Visit our page on the Coronado Butterfly Preserve for more information on Monarchs as well as details about visiting.

Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park

Carpinteria Salt Marsh video: Story of a Marsh Park explains the history of the marsh, human impact on natural systems and benefits of habitat restoration. Provides examples of successful community cooperation and the value of repairing and preserving a threatened ecosystem. Free to teachers. Contact the Land Trust at (805) 966-4520 or email us to obtain a copy.

Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park Docent Program: Docents are available to lead school and community groups on educational walks through the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park. Contact the City of Carpinteria, Parks & Recreation Department at (805) 684-5405 for more information.

Sedgwick Reserve

The Sedgwick Reserve offers numerous programs for schools through their Kids in Nature program introducing under-served 4th to 6th graders to science and the environment in Santa Barbara’s North County. Please contact Sedgwick Reserve at (805) 686-1941.