Under a grant provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 150 Lincoln Cluster fifth-grade students learned about the value of native plants and healthy habitats in support of area wildlife species. The students participated in the transformation of a vacant, weedy parcel adjacent to the Groundwork EarthLab Education and Climate Action Center. They cleared the land and planted native plants, and created a beautiful native plant and pollinator demonstration garden. The area will be used for community workshops to demonstrate drought tolerant landscaping principles and the use of native plants to attract pollinators.
The garden is adjacent to the Chollas Creek tributary that runs through the EarthLab. Through the grant, the students installed wildlife cameras at the creek, and were able to observe the coyote family, and other wildlife, supported by the creek and the new garden. These images below show some of the more visible wildlife that is among the life at the Earthlab. Coyotes, possums, cats, rabbits and spiders all came by our motion-sensor camera.