COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION

Serving Our Communities

We provide education about the fragile and inspirational nature of our desert plants, animals, and ecosystems to connect people to nature.

A group of people are inside of the Discovery Center at Puma Canyon Ecological Reserve. The inside of the center if filled with milkweed plants, butterflies, and caterpillars, alongside educational materials. It is a living diorama.

Events

  • We host free and donation optional events for the communities of Pinon Hills, Phelan, Wrightwood, Lancaster, Lake Hughes, and the surrounding communities each year. These events provide a diverse array of options for different age groups and activity groups. This allows the public to meet our staff, get involved with our work, and enjoy the land! It also equips attendees with education on a host of conservation topics and can supply them with tools such as milkweed to start conservation at home!

  • We host and appreciate guest speakers from other organizations and backgrounds to share their knowledge at our digital/hybrid events to strengthen the knowledge-base of our communities.

  • We visit schools, universities, clubs, regional meetings, and more. Reach out to us via our contact form below if you are interested in us speaking at your engagement.

Education

  • We are embarking on new ways to connect to our community by partnering with non-profits in the arts, our local community colleges and universities, and k-12 schools. We also facilitate school and club trips to our Preserves.

  • We partner with California State University of San Bernardino to provide paid internships each year to their students. We began the program in 2023, and students have assisted in conservation programs such as our wildlife surveys, camera trapping, data basing/collection and management utilizing ArcGIS, native milkweed surveys, desert tortoise grant work and recovery projects, Joshua tree restoration, and more. With the help of the Conservation Lands Foundation, we are now providing a paid internship to students at our local community colleges to assist with the data basing of mountain lion photos for the conservation of the Southern California mountain lion population.

  • We strive to offer educational classes to our communities. More information coming soon!

Our amazing volunteers are pictured here gardening and maintaining our Monarch Waystations.

Volunteer

  • We offer all levels of volunteer opportunities to diverse interests. Our indoor options include administrative tasks like mailing, calling, designing, and more.

  • We offer trail building, invasive plant removal, stewarding activities, scientific data collection, surveying opportunities, and more!

    Each year, we host a team of young adults from the AmeriCorps NCCC program. This program helps these volunteers to gain experience for their resumes, learn about what they might like to do for their careers, and gain valuable skills, all while serving their communities nation-wide!

  • We have opportunities to work remotely and still contribute greatly to the conservancy. These include: graphic design and other forms of promotional art and media, database curating, social media content creation and more.

Contact us.

Are you interested in being a guest speaker, co-hosting events, partnering on activities, fieldtrips, volunteering and more?