SLEWS Program

SLEWS — Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship — engages high school students in habitat restoration projects that enhance classroom learning, develop leadership skills and result in real habitat restoration.

WHY SLEWS IS NEEDED

Not long ago, the Central Valley was a rich and diverse system of streams, wetlands, woodlands and grasslands. In the last 200 years, agriculture and development have reduced the number and quality of these ecosystems. The loss of native plants, coupled with intense grazing, has contributed to large-scale erosion, degradation of water quality, and loss of wildlife habitat.

Today, many farmers, ranchers and land managers are responding to the crisis in ecosystem health with conservation and restoration projects. Unfortunately, they often don't have the time, labor, and expertise to make these projects successful in the long-term. This is where SLEWS comes in.

Fortunately, ecosystem restoration offers tremendous opportunities to teach teenagers about a range of academic subjects, as well as important developmental skills like cooperation and leadership.

SLEWS brings expertise and support to high schools, most of which lack experience teaching ecological restoration. They don't have access to project sites, and they don't have resources to get students into the field for experience-based service learning.

By including Central Valley high school students in habitat restoration, SLEWS addresses the needs for healthier land and more wildlife habitat, and the need to instill conservation and stewardship values in high school students. SLEWS is one of the few habitat restoration projects targeted to high school students, who very much need to know that they can “make a difference” in their communities.

HOW SLEWS WORKS

Each year participating SLEWS high schools throughout the Central Valley select restoration projects on farms, ranches or other natural areas to adopt for the school year.

Over multiple visits, students plant oaks, cottonwoods and other native species on their site, collect native seeds, build and install bird boxes, remove invasive plants and install irrigation systems, all to increase biological diversity and improve the health of the land.

Because we partner with restoration professionals from public agencies, local watershed groups and nonprofit organizations, SLEWS projects have a real and lasting impact on the land. Most importantly, the students take their work seriously because they see how they are helping to heal the ecosystem.

SLEWS program staff support teachers with workshops, planning meetings and retreats to keep the restoration activities connected to their curriculum and classroom needs.

IMPACT

The SLEWS Program engages high school students in habitat restoration projects in order to achieve the following objectives:

1. Establish locally native vegetation and remove invasive species to create wildlife habitat and increase biological diversity.
2. Stabilize stream banks and establish native vegetation along waterways to improve water quality.
3. Connect classroom learning to the real world to enhance high school education, especially in underserved communities.
4. Provide high school students transformative experiences in nature to increase their appreciation, commitment and respect for sustainable agriculture and the natural world.

Here's what students say about SLEWS:

• “SLEWS helped me raise my grade from a “C+” to a 98%.”
• “It gave me hands-on experience which I enjoyed more than the classroom setting.”
• “SLEWS helps the environment while helping you understand nature and teamwork.”
• “I believe the SLEWS program connected me to my classmates, teachers, and the environment, and made me focus more on the outside and caring for nature.”
• “I would recommend the SLEWS program to other students because it enables you to see what you're being taught in class.”
• “It is a wonderful program that fires up your mind, heart, spirit.”
• “At SLEWS, we actually get to make a difference.”

LEARN/DO MORE

Click here to read articles about SLEWS.

Take a virtual tour of SLEWS sites around the state:

Click here to send an email to learn more about SLEWS or call 530-795-1544.

If you can contribute to support SLEWS restoration work, click here.