About the Foundation

Awakening to the Plateau

Formed in 2003 by a group of 13 volunteer Docents, the Santa Rosa Plateau Foundation has raised to date over $350,000 to support its mission……to fund education, research, and preservation of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. The Foundation’s first priority is to maintain the funding and evolution of the children’s outdoor education program(s) at the Reserve.

The current program is targeted expressly for third graders and is designed to interface with the State of California Education Science Content Standards. It is available to students attending third grade in the seven local school districts and is offered from September through June, Monday through Friday. Over the last ten years over 80,000 students from 70 schools, and from all walks of life, have participated in the program.

The Metropolitan Water District generously funded the program which began in 1997. However, funding ended June 2005 and the Santa Rosa Plateau Foundation was incorporated to raise funds to continue the program which costs approximately $120,000 per year. The SRPF has partnered with the Riverside County Regional Parks and Open Space District to raise $45,000 per school year. These funds help pay for buses, curriculum and program materials and staffing. A dedicated and knowledgeable corps of volunteer Docents, guided by a talented and experienced Reserve Interpreter, provides hands-on teaching sessions and hiking excursions for the children. The Docent completes an eleven-week training program before becoming a Docent.

The Foundation also supports and funds the implementation of other programs to educate students, families and the public about the unique nature of the Reserve. An Outreach Program serving Title 1 schools brings the Reserve to the classroom; a Family Wildlife Day brings families to the Reserve where they interact and learn about the live plants and animals of the Reserve; photography classes are taught at the Reserve to teach students how to capture spectacular photos of nature; and a first-time publication of The Plants of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, chronicles over 600 plants species that grow on the Reserve.

The Foundation is also working with the University of California Davis’ Wildlife Health Center to help raise monies to fund a five-year research project to track the movements and behaviors of the California Cougar on the Reserve.

The natural and human history of the Reserve is intimately related to what the students, teachers, families and the public learn from the education programs funded by the Foundation. The Foundation attempts to educate the public of the ecological diversity and uniqueness of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve while promoting the awareness needed to ensure its protection and survival.