Visiting Santa Cruz Island with NatureTrack Docents

How had I not heard of NatureTrack? Before retiring last year, I’d been a local teacher for more than three decades. I’ve always loved the outdoors and I’m passionate about getting children into nature, but I only just discovered NatureTrack is the perfect vehicle to make this happen. I was recently invited to join the NatureTrack organization on a trip out to Santa Cruz Island; the excursion was to honor the volunteer docents who donate their time to give valuable outdoor experiences to young people, grades K through 12.

NatureTrack was created in 2011 by Sue Eisaguirre. Her goal was to offer free field trips — transportation included — to schoolchildren from Santa Barbara County who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the wonders of wildlife on the trails and beaches.

In my time as a teacher, I observed a noticeable decline in the attention spans of children. There is good reason to think this is due to an increase in screen time, and, as a direct result, diminished time spent outdoors. According to the NatureTrack website, “Youth 8-12 years old spend 6-8 hours per day on entertainment media and only 6-8 minutes on unstructured outdoor play.” At the same time, there’s a growing body of research that shows being outside has a positive effect on health and well-being.

The NatureTrack team is doing some important work to combat the effects of technology on young people, and this was a great opportunity to spend time with them. We had a glorious day at Scorpion Ranch on Santa Cruz Island — the sun even came out, something we hadn’t experienced on the mainland for some time. It was a pleasure to meet the NatureTrack docents and to see them in their element. The morning began at the ranch house with an awards ceremony honoring them all, but especially those who had gone above and beyond in committing their time. Meanwhile, a fledgling island scrub jay, a bird found nowhere else on earth apart from Santa Cruz Island, landed on a fence post nearby as though to see what all the fuss was about.

Eisaguirre shared that while some trips had to be canceled because of weather or transportation issues, nearly 5,000 children benefited from docent-led excursions and more than 100 volunteers helped make these trips possible. The most popular destination was Haskell’s Beach, with 701 visits.

The docents were then given free rein to explore the trails at Scorpion. Many had close views of the Santa Cruz Island fox, and some saw peregrine falcons and bald eagles. One inquisitive fellow even came across an island endemic scorpion under a log.

One of the highlights for me was meeting NatureTrack docent Travis Jecker, the founder of Positive Ride. In 2005, Jecker was involved in a dirt bike accident and suffered a spinal-cord injury that left him wheelchair-dependent. His dream was to create a nonprofit to give other wheelchair users the opportunity to experience nature, which became Positive Ride. Jecker utilizes the Freedom Trax, which quickly transforms a wheelchair into a battery-powered all-terrain vehicle. Thanks to NatureTrack, which has 11 Freedom Trax, Positive Ride was able to begin fulfilling its mission by borrowing them, as well as by volunteering with NatureTrack. In the past school year, they were able to facilitate more than 20 trips for wheelchair users of all ages.

If you are familiar with the Scorpion Valley area, you have probably made the steep hike up to Cavern Point with its spectacular views over the channel to the mainland. Jecker and Don Chan, who also uses a wheelchair, were able to make it to Cavern Point in their modified wheelchairs. Chan participates in many of the NatureTrack outings where the Freedom Trax devices are available. Each device costs around $6,000, so NatureTrack is working to raise funds for more Trax adventures and to add more Trax to their fleet. 

On the way back to Ventura Harbor, the docents were treated to an honor guard show by scores of common dolphins that rode the bow waves of the boat for an extended period. It was a fitting end to a celebratory day.

If you enjoy working with children and love the outdoors, NatureTrack is seeking new volunteer docents. The more docents there are, the more students will be able to get out of the classroom and into nature. Learn more about the NatureTrack story and how to get involved at naturetrack.org.

In addition, the NatureTrack Film Festival will be back on October 6-8 at Metropolitan’s Fairview Theatre in Goleta, and on October 14 in Los Olivos for the fifth anniversary of the nature-centric documentary festival. See naturetrackfilmfestival.org.