Upcoming Volunteer Trips to San Nicolas Island

CIR volunteers maintaining the native plantings
that were installed early this year.

CIR, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, has two upcoming multi-day planting trips to San Nicolas Island in January 2016.  CIR will be recruiting a select number of volunteers for the chance to visit the most remote of the Channel Islands, and the hardest for civilians to visit!

The goals for the two restoration trips will be to install 1,000 native plants (which includes two dune species) and replenish the island with native and island-endemic vegetation.  CIR collected seeds on-island and grew the plants in the island nursery that was rebuilt by CIR staff and volunteers in 2012.  CIR nursery manager Kelle Green and volunteers has been tending the native plants in the nursery, and they are almost ready to be planted.  One of the dune species is Beach spectaclepod (Dithyrea maritima) a California rare and threatened species. 

Plants growing at the San Nicolas Island nursery including
needle grass, box thorn, and cactus.

Volunteers fly out of Point Mugu Naval Air Station to the island where they will stay in motel housing while working on this important restoration project.  Each volunteer will pay for their own single-occupancy room ($68 per night). Because of holiday flight schedules, the trips are  five and six days in length.  This allows more time for volunteers to enjoy an extraordinary experience and beautiful island views.  CIR staff and volunteers will be kept very busy planting and caring for these precious island plants in the coming months.  Watch for the upcoming volunteer announcements!

Upcoming Volunteer Planting Trips:
Thursday, January 14 – Tuesday, January 19   &

 Friday, January 22 – Tuesday, January 26