Thank You, Melanie

The WildLink team would like to thank Melanie Medeiros for the amazing work that she has done this year in helping our WildLink schools and teachers reach their potential in our Wilderness Ambassador Program. As a result of her passionate energy and creative spirit, we have the privilege of sharing this special Wilderness Ambassador report with you this summer.

Melanie has been offered a position in a prestigious Ph.D program in the fall, and will be wrapping up her time with WildLink by facilitating the WildLink/NPS Bridge program. We wish her the best, and thank her for all of her hard work and the wonderful energy that she brought to the Community Coordinator position.

David Kuhn will begin his tenure as the new WildLink Community Coordinator in August 2007. With the support of all of our community partners, alumni and teachers,
we look forward to continuing to build the Wilderness Ambassador Program on the solid foundation that Melanie has established this year.

Turlock High School Tuolumne River Stewardship Project

Cinco de Mayo was celebrated along the north fork of the Tuolumne River for ambassadors and teachers from Turlock High School. Cody and Jesse, along with teachers Anthony Silva, Ryan Tribble and Ryan Hollister helped Phyllis Ashmead from the Stanislaus Forest Service clean up and prepare recreation areas for public use. Thank you gentlemen for the heavy lifting and great attitudes!

Madera High School San Joaquin River Stewards Project

WildLink alumni from Madera High School went the extra mile for their Wilderness Ambassador Project in November 2006. In an effort to link their expedition experience to their home communities, they spent a Saturday doing their part to restore the watershed of the San Joaquin River in Fresno.

They volunteered their time to WildLink partner the San Joaquin River Parkway. Their River Steward Program includes volunteers who are instrumental in maintaining the San Joaquin River Parkway. River Stewards are the driving force of the River Parkway Trust’s Land Stewardship programs, which include habitat restoration, removal of invasive exotic plants, trail maintenance, and river cleanup events. In return for their time, these River Stewards get a number of rewards. These include spending time at the river, and having an opportunity to learn more about this wonderful resource. A tremendous amount of satisfaction can be gained by helping to protect and restore the San Joaquin River.

In recognition of the valuable service volunteers provide to the community, River Stewards are invited on an exclusive, guided canoe tour of the San Joaquin River each year, and will also be eligible to go along on canoe tours that are not fully booked.

WildLink would like to salute the efforts of these very special alumni, and recognize their willingness to really get involved in their Wilderness Ambassador Project.

If you would like to get involved as a River Steward, training is provided for each project. The Workdays are typically the first Saturday of the month and last from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. Volunteers meet either at the Coke Hallowell Center for River Studies or various other locations on the river.

For more information, please visit the San Joaquin River Parkway website.

Click here to view the Kingsburg and Madera High WildLink expedition pages.

Fresno Boys and Girls Club San Joaquin River Stewards

May 5, 2007, Ambassador Nick and his mentor Laura Morales from the Fresno Boys and Girls Club were a huge help to Sharon Weaver and the San Joaquin River Parkway Conservation & Trust River Steward program, helping to prepare the Jenson River Ranch for public use.

Kingsburg High School Discovery Center Project

On May 18th six ambassadors from Kingsburg High School assisted The Discovery Center of Fresno with trail maintenance. Stephanie, Paloma, Juana, Jonathon, Mallory and Cassie,
along with teacher Scott Kruse, worked hard to ensure that the trails were meticulously clean and ready for the scampering feet of the Discovery Center's young visitors. Appreciating the importance of nature education in the middle of the city, the ambassadors put their full energy
into the project. Great Work!

Merced High School Merced WildLife Refuge Restoration Project

On May 5th, 2007, Ambassadors Alberto, Gabriela, Alejandro, Taher, Jose and Neng from Merced High School completed a Spring Season of stewardship with the Merced WildLife
Refuge. These ambassadors will continue to help teacher Laurie McLaughlin led students through this ongoing and inspiring project.

Merced High School Biology and Chemistry English Learners students are restoring a portion of the Merced Wildlife Refuge to native habitat. The first portion of the project, which occurred in 2006-2007, involved cleaning out non-native species and human impact from area around
the entrance Kiosk and observation deck, then replanting this area with native plants including wild roses, mugwort, yarrow, California poppies, coyote bush and quail bush. The second portion of the project involved clearing the entrance to the Kestral trail head and again replanting with native species, this time adding blackberry and native grasses to our list of species planted. Students went to the refuge on the weekends in school supplied transportation and spent an entire day working. Subsequent trips also included watering the new plants which often had to happen with a bucket brigade as no running water is available at the site. Grant money to purchase tools, gloves, journal materials, documentary supplies and the plants was supplied through the US Department of Forest Services. Community partners in the Merced Watershed Conservation district and many others have supported our project with their time and expertise.

San Joaquin one Program Stanislaus National Forest Stewardship Project

On April 7, 2007 the Spring WildLink Ambassador project season got off to a great start! Lead by Ambassador Carmen, Stockton students inspired by the San Joaquin one Success program’s WildLink Ambassadors helped to prepare a Stanislaus Forest Recreation area for public use.

The very motivated students picked up trash and cleared trails, filling 15 trash bags! The students learned more about the role of the Forest Service in preserving our natural resources from Interpretive Specialist/Stewardship Coordinator Phyllis Ashmead, a Tuolomne local. The already great day was topped off with a thought provoking discussion and lunch by the beautiful Tuolmne River.

Thank you to teacher Amelia Ramirez for bringing the students and Phyllis Ashmead for taking a day off of her vacation to participate. Thank you also to the hard working and inspiring student stewards, demonstrating that a love and appreciation of nature is key to preserving California’s wild places.

This is not the only effort by one students. On March 29th, three WildLink Wilderness Ambassadors from the San Joaquin one Success program made a presentation to their teachers and community members about their experience with WildLink. Ambassadors Marchay, Harley and Angela shared their challenging journey through the back country impressing everyone with their story. Thank you for spreading the Wilderness message!

Crenshaw and Sylmar High Schools Big Sunday and Earth Day Stewardship Projects

Fresh from their expedition in early April, ambassadors from Crenshaw High School and Sylmar High School led 63 of their classmates in a Big Sunday clean up activity where they helped to mulch, plant, dig, paint and clean the school. A little over a week later the same ambassadors from Sylmar presented their WildLink experience to their faculty advocating for an Eco Club at their school. Due to the success of their clean up project and the impact of their WildLink presentation, the students at Sylmar High School are one step closer to establishing their Eco Club. Thank you Nathalie, Fernando, Nicolas, Selina, Ulises, and Vanessa, as well as teacher, Sherry Rickenbach for all your hard work!

On April 21st three WildLink Ambassadors from Crenshaw High School participated in an outstanding Earth Day activity with their Eco Club. Lead by Bill Vanderberg, ambassadors Muthoni, Dante and Camille, along with twenty-two other students partnered up with the Audubon Society to remove invasive plants from the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. Thank you all for your continued commitment to improving the natural places in your community. Keep up the good work!