This summer, SAMO Fund partnered with Outward Bound Adventures.

It was a productive and restorative summer as the Santa Monica Mountains Fund partnered with Outward Bound Adventures to educate, restore and rejuvenate the mountains and native species. Here are just a few of the highlights this exceptional joint team was able to achieve.

Rancho Sierra Vista Native Plant Nursery

• Transplanted hundreds of native milkweed plants to support our monarch/milkweed project to plant 100,000 native milkweed plants over the next two years.

• Plant propagation of hundreds of native plants to support a youth engagement restoration project at Zuma Canyon in FY24.

• Grounds maintenance including soil disposal and grounds clean-up.

• Implementing phytosanitary practices.

• Seed collection and cleaning of hundreds of thousands of native seeds.

Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Project Nursery

• Transplanted over 2,000 plants that will be installed over the wildlife crossing.

• Mixed 1 cubic yard of soil.

• Planted, caged, and watered 130 coast live oak saplings to support a scientific study involving the inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi.

• Built and leveled 10 nursery tables.

• Created a brown-water beaver dam/hugel.

• Invasive plant control to protect nursery grounds.

• Acorn processing with Julia using the nursery's milling stone.

Restoration

• Maintenance, weeding, management of more than 10,000 restoration plants planted as part of the park's largest restoration project (100,000 over the past two years).

• Invasive plant control (brush cutting and backpack spraying) on 120 acres.

• Removing over 30 thousand plant cages from established restoration plants.

Additionally, the OBA team received training and education in nursery operations, seed collection and cleaning, phytosanitary nursery practices, herbicide application, invasive species impacts, soil science, mechanical equipment, hand tools, working with volunteers, and more.