News
The Conservancy hosts Debs Park Junior Naturalists
Lebec, CA – The Tejon Ranch Conservancy, in partnership with Audubon California, was pleased to host a group of Junior Naturalists from the Audubon Center at Debs Park located in northeast Los Angeles. Twelve Junior Naturalists, many of whom rarely leave the urbanized area of Los Angeles, hiked through the diverse riparian habitats along Tejon Creek, learned about aquatic insects, chased dragonflies and butterflies, and saw up close wildlife such as acorn woodpeckers, side-blotched lizards and mule deer.
The kids had the opportunity to learn about the landmark Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement that provides the Conservancy the opportunity to provide meaningful public access events such as this. The Junior Naturalists spent time in an ancient Valley oak woodland reflecting on the sights, sounds, and smells of their experiences of the day, and documented their thoughts and feelings in their journals. It was a fabulous day for the Conservancy staff to meet an extraordinary group of young naturalists and show off the Ranch’s habitats. We look forward to their next visit.
Please read the poem below written by Eddy Chavarria, age 13, junior naturalist, Audubon Center at Debs Park during this visit to Tejon Ranch.
With the trees so high and me so low, the sky turns green with patches of blue.
In this city of nature I see the sky scrapers where they first start out; while I continue my route.
With green all around, it tells the wind to go, so without a second to spare, I hear the wind blow.
