Author: admin

BTN Receives Donation of Land!

Back to Natives just received a donation of land! The 2.5 acres of land along Del Obispo Drive in Dana Point are about a mile from the Pacific Ocean, less than a ½ mile from San Juan Creek, and less than 2 miles from the Dana Point State Marine Conservation Area. It is undeveloped and will remain so to provide habitat for birds and butterflies. Check out more photos HERE. Wild open spaces like this, while small, provide way stations for wildlife like birds and butterflies in urban Orange…

Keeping it Clean

Back to Natives is very concerned about the potential for introducing and spreading pathogens into our restoration sites. We always sanitize our tools after each use so that we do not transport anything from one site to another – or into our Nursery, or into a client’s yard. We sanitize the undercarriage and tires of our vehicles before visiting restoration sites in the Forest. We wash our shoes in between visiting different sites, and we do not use gloves at our restoration sites that have not at least been washed (usually…

Frightening Fountain Grass

Local high school students say farewell to fountain grass at Halloween volunteer event. By Darrell King, BTN Communications Intern On Halloween volunteers from Santiago High School National Honor Society in Garden Grove, CA assisted Back to Natives by digging up tons of fountain grass, an invasive species that harms the environment in Santiago Park. Originally native to Africa and the Middle East, fountain grass was introduced because of its popularity as an ornamental plant. In California it is spreading (by vehicles, humans, wind, and water) along the coast…

Farewell to one of our Own

Back to Natives says au revoir to one of its brightest workers. Elisabeth Leblanc, 35, A French native, with a bachelor’s degrees in project management and sustainable development, has been interning as a “Site Manager,” with Back To Natives for roughly seven months. Her job includes organizing, overseeing projects, assisting with databases, BTN’s website, among other things. Leblanc will be headed back to France soon. “I was offered a position to be a GIS (Geographical Information Software) project manager for all French administrations,” she said excitedly. “Back to Natives was a…

Biological Pollution: non-native Plants

Invasive non-native organisms are one of the greatest threats to the natural ecosystems of the U.S. and are destroying America’s natural history and identity. These unwelcome plants, insects and other organisms are disrupting the ecology of natural ecosystems, displacing native plant and animal species, and degrading our nation’s unique and diverse biological resources. Aggressive invaders reduce the amount of light, water, nutrients and space available to native species, alter hydrological patterns, soil chemistry, moisture-holding capacity, and erodibility, and change fire regimes. Some exotics are capable of hybridizing with native…

Why Landscape with Locally Native Plants

  Promote Biodiversity In California, there are over 5,000 native plant species, more than in the central and northeastern US and Canada combined. More than 1500 of these plant species are endemic to (found only in) California, and most of these endemic species are found in Southern California. Southern California is one of the 25 global biodiversity “hotspots.” Hotspots are where the largest number of different species can be found, especially those species found nowhere else. More than 60 percent of the Earth’s total species live in hotspots, which cover only 1.44…