Straw draft 2
STRAW (Student and Teachers Restoring A Watershed)
STRAW (Student and Teachers Restoring A Watershed) is an ecosystem restoration and education program run by Point Blue Conservation Science.[1]. The program focuses on restoration projects for local watersheds in the San Francisco Bay Area that are carried out by a network of students and teachers from local schools as well as area volunteers. STRAW also partners with local and state agencies, as well as other groups, to achieve its restoration and community-based education objectives[2].
Foundation
STRAW was formed in 1992 by Laurette Rogers, a then fourth grade teacher at Brookside School in Marin County, CA. Prompted by a student’s question about what they could do to help during a lesson on endangered species, Ms. Rogers and her students formed the “Shrimp Club” to promote the conservation of a local endangered species, the California Freshwater Shrimp [3].
This led the group to work with professional stream restoration scientists to begin the restoration of the Estero de San Antonio, as well as engaging in activism by writing letters to local government officials [4][5].
In 1993 the Shrimp Club won a $32,500 “A Pledge and a Promise” award from Anheuser-Busch, a $2,500 award from Bank of America, a $32,000 award from the Marin County Foundation, a $10,000 grant from the Center for Ecoliteracy, and a $35,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation[6].
Watershed Restoration in the United States
STRAW’s restoration efforts are focused on watersheds, defined by the US Geological Survey as “an area of land that drains all the streams and rainfall to a common outlet such as the outflow of a reservoir, mouth of a bay, or any point along a stream channel” [7]. Watersheds are important because their conditions (defined by the United States Forest Service as “the state of the physical and biological characteristics and processes within a watershed”) and ecosystem services are vital for ecosystem health [8]. When watersheds are degraded, the usual chemical and biological processes which occur within them are substantially altered, sometimes with drastic effects on the plants and animals within them [9]
Watersheds can be thought of as “nested” within one another: “[they] can be as small as a footprint or large enough to encompass all the land that drains water into rivers that drain into Chesapeake Bay, where it enters the Atlantic Ocean”.[7]. Each watershed is affected by the chemical and biological processes occurring in the waters upstream, making them particularly sensitive to ecological damage. Ecosystem services, such as filtering contaminants from water or slowing erosion, are some of the benefits of watersheds [10][8]
The United States Forest Service began a policy of watershed management on federal lands in 1897 with the passage of the Organic Act, which specified “favorable conditions of water flow” as a condition of forest management [10]. Today, the Forest Service aims “to protect National Forest System watersheds by implementing practices designed to maintain or improve watershed condition” [10]. These policies only pertain to federal land, however, and leave out the majority of watersheds which belong to states, corporations, or private individuals. On non-federal lands, conservation and restoration groups are often created to halt and/or reverse environmental degradation [8].
Current Work
Building on the success of the Shrimp Club, STRAW was formed in 1998 to expand watershed restoration projects, with Laurette Rogers as the director [5]. As of 2020, STRAW is now run by Point Blue Conservation Science, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Petaluma, California[2]. The range of the organization has expanded substantially since its early years, and latest estimates say that it reaches over 3,000 students a year[11]. These students work in field days with restoration scientists, ranchers, teachers, and volunteers to complete 45-50 restoration projects a year[11]. According to Point Blue Conservation, this has led to over 65 tons of carbon sequestration as of 2018[1]. The organization combines hands on experiential environmental education, community involvement, and partnerships with local schools, non-profits, and government agencies to accomplish its goals [1]. In 2015, STRAW celebrated its 500th restoration project[12].
Tools and Approaches
The Three-legged Sustainability Stool
STRAW utilizes the approach of the Three-legged Sustainability Stool in order to ensure both community buy-in and program success. The three-legged stool approach addresses three key aspects of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. STRAW emphasizes these three areas in all of its programs.
Economic
California citizens receive a return of $14.22 in the form of environmental benefits for every dollar invested in the STRAW Program[1]. These environmental benefits include improved stormwater treatment and preservation of wildlife habitats. However, it does not include benefits of carbon emission offsets or the investments in childhood education, which are more difficult to measure and quantify[1]. Nevertheless, they are still important economic and social benefits that result from the STRAW Program.
Additionally, through its educational initiatives, STRAW provides training in areas that are essential in the job market, thereby setting a foundation for future economic sustainability and helping to ensure that the next generation of students is able to succeed.
Environmental
Environmental preservation is fundamental to STRAW’s mission. Scientists, teachers, ranchers, public agencies, and other community members engage in professional-quality habitat restoration, which has far-reaching positive impacts on environmental quality.[11] Importantly, even though the program focuses on preservation of natural habitat, the cascading effects of these efforts ultimately improves water quality, sequesters carbon dioxide, and has other impacts that result from increased ecosystem health and resilience.[11]
Social
The social aspect of STRAW’s approach lies primarily in the area of education and fostering community relationships. The program provides hands-on field experience for K-12 students, who then are empowered to manage their own environment.[11] Additionally, the instructors themselves gain exposure to and experience with providing the tools that the next generation requires in order to succeed from an environmental standpoint. Lastly, by bringing together people with different lived experiences (e.g. scientists, teachers, ranchers, government officials), STRAW fosters community building and instills trust between diverse members of society.
Asset-based Community Development
STRAW incorporates the asset-based community development approach into its overall mission. Asset-based community development emphasizes an “asset-based, internally focused, relationship driven” approach to achieving a program’s goal.[13] STRAW embodies these ideals in a number of ways. Firstly, it draws directly from the community and its diverse representatives in achieving its goals. By asking for input from community members with specific experience in conservation and various roles in the economy and society, it inherently builds on the capacities that already exist, as opposed to looking for outside experts.
Secondly, though STRAW’s model is intentionally reproducible, it does not look to expand beyond its own community. Instead, it remains internally focused, working primarily to solve environmental degradation in the local community. Nonetheless, its model can be used elsewhere, so while its people and mission remains local, its ideals and methods of success can be applied elsewhere by other communities with similar environmental problems.
Thirdly, STRAW’s approach is relationship driven. The program empowers teachers and community members to teach the next generation of students important lessons in environmental conservation, thereby reinforcing key elements of trust and accountability within the community. Additionally, the fact that they bring in local scientists, ranchers, and government officials demonstrates the value the program sees in incorporating all members of the community in the task of environmental conservation.
Partnerships
STRAW forms critical partnerships in order to achieve its goals. By working alongside one another, STRAW and its partners are able to pool together resources and work towards common goals such as improved water quality and habitat conservation.[11] Beyond monetary resources, however, the collaboration with other partners helps facilitate connections between community members with different backgrounds and skill sets. This knowledge-sharing between STRAW and its partners (Marin Resource Conservation District, Prunusk Chatham Inc, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Marin Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program, etc.) enables all parties to have a better understanding of the key issues at hand and the most effective methods for addressing them.
Programmatic Results and Impacts
Since its creation over 25 years ago, STRAW has developed programming in the San Francisco Bay Area that not only improves and restores surrounding ecosystems, but also positively impacts the students and surrounding communities that participate in the education and restoration processes. Programmatic achievements range from successful community and environmental education outcomes to significant watershed restoration outputs. Blue Point Conservation Science also aims to continue advancing STRAW in future years through sustained support and new programmatic initiatives.
Education Outcomes
As of 2018, STRAW has worked with over 45,000 K-12 students and 700 teachers at approximately 200 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area to provide effective watershed environmental education.[11] Through the framework of project-based learning, students are actively involved in solving real-world issues through hands-on experiences and projects.[1] This form of learning has resulted in student engagement that allows students to design, plan, and implement practical solutions to the problems within their watershed while also gaining 21st century learning skills.[1] Gained learning skills include communication, collaboration, initiative, and leadership that ultimately lead to more empowered and confident students.[2] Through associated in-class lessons and field experiences, the program also hits necessary Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core Curriculum.[11] Overall, STRAW shows students that they have the ability to make positive impacts on the environment as well as their communities, leading to greater stewardship as well as civic engagement values and practices.
Community Connections
STRAW has developed over 20 partnerships within the community, including local businesses, county planners, farmers, scientists, and more, that play a role in developing collaborative restoration programs.[11] Developing a robust social network, STRAW has provided the opportunity for various sectors to work directly with students and collaborate on restoration project goals and processes.
Partners have also shown a commitment to engaging in community-based environmental education to improve the environment as well as “inspire the next generation of stewards.” Specifically, these stakeholders show long-term investment by monitoring STRAW’s restoration projects over several years to ensure that they are successful and fulfilling their restoration goals and purposes. By building off of this collaborative engagement approach, STRAW not only exemplifies the range of connections that exist between humans and their surrounding watershed, but also the diversity of stakeholders that are necessary to have wide-reaching success.[1]
Restoration Outputs
STRAW has completed nearly 550 restoration projects, including planting over 45,000 native plants and restoring about 33 miles of habitat.[11] The projects have also resulted in sequestration of approximately 47 metric tons of carbon per year for each kilometer of habitat restored.[11] Within these projects, restoration and resource agency professionals have been able to teach students the value of different native habitat types and knowledge that can carry over into various academic subjects.[1] Over the past few decades, STRAW’s projects have had critical effects in the reduction of nutrient run-off as well as other water quality impacts that improve the health of the San Francisco Bay watershed.[1]
Future Goals and Initiatives
STRAW is currently working to expand multi-visit programming “for the most underserved and interested schools to enhance learning and provide more equity in environmental education.”[14] Past its own projects, the program also now acts as a model that other schools or organizations can replicate. STRAW has created a toolkit that guides the process of designing and implementing restoration projects and is currently working to develop trainings “with the goal of inspiring, mentoring, and connecting with other STRAW-like projects.”[11]
STRAW now also aims to provide environmental education and restoration programming at larger scales throughout the Bay Area, including longer study periods for its education components.[11] In the coming years, this also includes focusing on wetland opportunities with the goal to restore 1.3 miles of shoreline habitat.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 "STRAW Talking Points and Description". Point Blue Conservation Science. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed" (PDF). Point Blue Conservation Science. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
- ↑ Spencer, Erica. "The Shrimp Club Lives On!". Delta Education. Lawrence Hall of Science. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ↑ Brey, Jared (2018). "The Bay Area's Regional Funding Stream for Ecological Restoration". NextCity.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stone, Michael (2001). "Solving For Pattern". Gale Academic OneFile.
- ↑ US Fish and Wildlife Service (November 1996). Endangered Species Bulletin Volume 21, Issue 6. University of Minnesota: Fish and Wildlife Service. Search this book on
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Watersheds and Drainage Basins". USGS: Science for a Changing World. USGS. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Watershed Restoration Program Overview". United States Department of Agriculture. US Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- ↑ "Where the Water Begins". National Forest Foundation. National Forest Foundation. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Community-Based Watershed Restoration Partnerships" (PDF). United States Forest Service. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 "GEEP Case Study: Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW)". Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP). Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP). Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ↑ Prado, M (March 25, 2015). "STRAW program with roots in Marin celebrates 500th restoration". Marin Independent Journal. Marin Independent Journal. Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ↑ Kretzmann, John; McKnight, John P. (1996). "Assets-based community development". National Civic Review. 85 (4): 23–29. doi:10.1002/ncr.4100850405.
- ↑ "STRAW Project: December 2018 – May 2019 Report". County of Marin. County of Marin. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW)". Wetland Link International. Wetland Link International. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
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