Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Save the Bay's Canoes-in-Sloughs program gets adventurers into inaccessible
marshes. (Jude Stalker)
proportion of birds foraging, either overall or by season, compared to use
of nontrail sites. However, the number of shorebirds did decrease with in-
creasing trail use. Days with higher trail use averaged 25 percent fewer
birds than days with lower use. The study concluded that although some
human use of trails adjacent to shorebird foraging areas may be appropri-
ate, alternative foraging opportunities away from trails may also be needed.
Beyond sharing trails and shores with the bay and its wildlife, many
Bay Area residents are involved in active stewardship of the bay. People
participate in bird counts and creek cleanups. They join canoe trips and
work parties to rip out invasive plants and nurture more native flora. Both
kids and adults flock to dozens of school and nonprofit activities aimed at
engaging residents to care for their watershed (see p. 320, “Learning More,
Helping Out”).
Rachel Davis, a teacher at San Francisco's Hamlin School, begins teach-
ing her students about the bay in sixth grade. The school perches on one of
the city's hills, and views of the bay fill its windows. Davis's environmental
science curriculum explores seven bay topics: loss of wetlands, oil spills,
mercury, fill, invasive species, overfishing, and trash. “We begin the year
studying global environmental issues and then I try to bring it back to
them locally, to the bay, to things they can notice, see, and feel a connec-
tion to,” says the former outdoor educator. “At first they get really sad, but
then they want to know what they can do to help, right here where they
live, and for the world around them.”
