STUDENTS FROM BRADSHAW CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL PARTICIPATE IN 2022 SANTA CRUZ FORESTRY CHALLENGE

By Diane Dealey Neill, Coordinator, Forestry Challenge

Loma Mar, CA — Ten students from Bradshaw Christian High School participated recently in the 2022 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge, one group of a total of 117 high school students from 18 schools from the coastal and central valley regions of California. The event was October 12 to 15 at Redwood Glen Camp, in Loma Mar, CA.

One of the highlights for the students this year was the opportunity to conduct a forest inventory and post-treatment evaluation on the Camp Butano Forest Health Project, a 44 acre project designed to enhance and restore a forest system challenged by lack of fire and changing climates with many homes in close proximity to camp borders. Students used the data they collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment and predict stand conditions into the future. During the Challenge, teams of students also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills.

“As a first-year teacher it was fun to take my students to an event that was real-life, purposeful, and fun,” said Bradshaw Christian teacher Kenzie Bastian. Mateo Valadez, an 8th grader at Bradshaw, summed it up as follows: “The Forestry Challenge was an engaging and fun experience to learn about forestry for the first time.”

The Forestry Challenge is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California

Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit the California Climate

Investments website at: www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/.

Funding for this project provided by The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Business and Workforce Development Grants and a grant from the US Forest Service.