Navajo Canyon Project (April 28th, 2012)

Navajo Canyon Project (April 28th, 2012)

Open Space canyons are located throughout the City of San Diego. San Diego’s Canyons contain natural and cultural history unique to our region. Open Space canyons and parklands contain diverse plant communities and homes for many different species of insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Many of San Diego’s endangered habitats, on which numerous species depend for survival, are found in the canyons. For many communities these canyons are all that remain as undeveloped natural landscape. Canyons provide the citizens of San Diego with such benefits as scenic vistas, preservation of natural resources, outdoor recreation, and other benefits to health and well-being.

The City of San Diego purchased many of these areas to save them from development back in the 1970s and 1980s and turned them into City Open Space. The City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department Open Space Division manage over 24,000 acres of open space, including open space canyons and parklands. Park Rangers oversee these areas to protect them and also promote recreation within them. By having monthly cleanup events; canyons are being preserved and restored by cleaning up trash, removing non-native and invasive plants, planting native plants and performing trail maintenance.

To celebrate Earth Day; Pacifica Institute-San Diego Youth Club members participated one of the monthly maintenance program of Navajo Canyon on April 28th, 2012. The main activities were non-native plant removal and trash pickup. Even though it was sunny and warm day; members enjoyed being out, working hard and doing something good for the community.

As the President of the Youth Club; Personally I have enjoyed the experience a lot knowing that we are doing something good for environment and that felt extremely valuable. I think the most surprising part of the project was; when Ranger Jason Allen told us the weed that we will be removing was “beautiful mix of white and yellow daisies (since they are non-native plants) and we should not touch the smelly “bladder” plant.