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| Slough Youth | ||
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San Francisco, CA 94124
Phone: 415-282-6840
Fax: 415-282-6839
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Slough Youth ProgramRestoring San Francisco's Candlestick Park through Youth Employment The Slough Youth Program provides technical job training to Bayview Hunters Point youth in the fields of environmental monitoring and restoration at Yosemite Slough on the north shore of famed Candlestick Park. Seven to twenty high school through college aged youth from southeastern San Francisco are employed annually to aid in the restoration of Candlestick Park State Recreation Area in partnership with The California State Parks Foundation and California State Parks, as well as community partners. Youth learn a variety of project-based skills including plant and bird identification; seed collection and plant propagation; water quality testing; nursery maintenance; public outreach; and parks advocacy. Surprisingly, Southeast San Francisco's Yosemite Slough was once home to a staggering level of biodiversity; including seasonal salmon runs, grizzly bear, and elk, just less than 200 years ago! We plan to do what we can to preserve and expand the Yosemite Slough habitat as part of our restoration efforts. Check out our online journal here: plantsgonewild.blogspot.com Plants Gone Wild Native Plant Nursery Slough Youth Advocacy Candlestick Park Ecological Census Current Projects: *'Plants Gone Wild' Native Plant Nursery: 
The Plant's Gone Wild Nursery at Candlestick Park provides technical hands on job training to Southeast San Francisco youth in the disciplines of environmental horticulture, habitat restoration and open space advocacy. Sponsored in partnership with The California State Park Foundation, LEJ Slouth Youth Interns intend to grow and plant 10,000 native plants for the restoration of the northern shore of Candlestick Park!Real Skill-Building: Some of the varied skills youth interns learn are sexual and asexual plant propagation techniques, basic wetland ecology, integrated pest management, plant pruning, irrigation, light construction, site surveying, data base management, crop monitoring, plant identification, land use analysis, letter writing and media training- all while REALLY participating in the ecological restoration and community stewardship of Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. WOW! After the first year of work, 100% of Slough Youth Interns report an increase in their knowledge and ability to garden, propagate, plant and care for plants! Currently, the Youth are completing construction of the nursery's infrastructure and beginning to propagate the thousands of native plants needed to repair the Slough's damaged shoreline.
*Slough Youth Advocacy 
The restoration of Yosemite Slough is a multi-year, multi-million dollar project that will require toxicological remediation, engineering, and ecological restoration. Once completed it will serve as critical open space habitat for over a hundred species of shorebirds, reptiles, and small mammals along the northern boundary of Candlestick State Recreation Area.Slough Youth Interns are playing an important role in this effort by helping to lead community meetings, advocating at the State and local levels for project support, and acting as locally based spokespersons for the importance of urban park restoration. They have crafted impassioned testimonies for their community's right to open space so that residents have 'something beautiful of their own and something to be proud of'. To this end the Youth Advocates spoke at The California State Parks Annual Park Advocacy Day 2005 in Sacramento. After meeting their State Representatives and informing them about issues that threaten their parklands, Connie Shahid, LEJ Youth Leader, shared her voice at the press conference on the steps of the State Capitol.
Completed Projects: *Candlestick Park Ecological Census 
During the 2003 - 2004 school year 20 youth, ages 16-20, were trained as field investigators in water quality monitoring and wildlife censuses in partnership with naturalists and biologists from the
Golden Gate Audubon Society and Professor Jack Lendvay, from the University of San Francisco.The year-long partnership between professional scientists, college environmental science majors and the high school aged youth changed everyone involved in dynamic a positive manner. Developing New Leadership! The mentoring process sparked the youth interns' interest in science, and a full 87% of graduating youth went on to college after graduation. Final results of the wetland census will be used to develop a comprehensive watershed restoration plan for the Yosemite Slough Watershed (McLaren Park - Candlestick Park) in collaboration with California State Parks and community partners. Survey Findings January 2003 to April 2004:
Despite the site's isolation from adjacent habitats, and a complete border of urban and industrial development, the upland area of the Slough provides habitat to three species of snakes as well. Nothing was more fun- and frightening- for youth and adult research team members than documenting the snakes' numbers and locations. The Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus), Gopher Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus), and Western Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans) are all non-poisoness and play important roles in the park's food chain. About Our Training and Employment Programs for Youth ages 14-21: LEJ actively seeks to recruit urban youth into careers in the environmental and non-profit sector. Our work serves as an important training ground for motivated young people to build inter-personal and academic skills through real-life experiences. All LEJ Youth Leadership Programs include required participation in an enrichment program that includes outdoors adventure, community participation, and professional skill-building. If you live in southeast San Francisco (Bayview Hunters Point, Potrero, or Visitacion Valley) and would like a youth internship application, click here. Our work is made possible through the support of generous individuals like YOU! Find out more about how you can support Slough Youth! Contact sloughyouth@lejyouth.org for more information! |
