San Diego Canyonlands

San Diego Canyonlands (SDCL) is a nonprofit based in the City Heights community of San Diego. Since 2008, we have played a major role in restoring San Diegos canyons and creeks to their natural habitat. Through stewardship volunteer events and our habitat restoration field crew, we are dedicated to promoting, protecting, and restoring San Diego canyons and creeks for the lifetime of our organization.The SDCL Outreach Program continued to prioritize educational opportunities and working with partners to further SDCLs mission. The Outreach team focused on designing and funding two workforce development programs over the course of the year. The ECO (Environmental Career Opportunities) Initiative is a hands-on, paid, environmental job training program designed to support people transitioning into the workforce. The Canyon Connections Internship Program works with students from Hoover High School in City Heights providing paid internships to build social equity in environmental careers through place-based, student-led projects, education, and mentorship in urban canyons. The Outreach team also hosts weekly volunteer events, interpretive nature hikes, and other educational events.The SDCL Restoration Program continued to focus on growing our Restoration Field Team, which has grown to over 20 people, most recruited from the underserved communities of City Heights and neighborhoods in the Chollas Creek watershed of Southern San Diego City. The Restoration Field Team conducts habitat-friendly brush management work in the canyons of the San Diego River Watershed. Combined, the whole team has provided enormous benefits to our canyons, including working in dozens of open spaces, removing hundreds of tons of invasive species and flammable brush, and planting many acres of new habitat in green open spaces throughout the City of San Diego.