Training Offered Starting on September 14
Volunteers are needed to become Topanga Canyon Docents (TCD), who will lead hikes, staff the visitor center and walk the trails as ambassadors of nature to provide information to hikers. Space is limited.
The classroom and in-the-field training, which begins September 14 through November 9, takes place every other weekend on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Trippet Ranch Visitor Center in Topanga State Park.
Additionally, five docent-led interpretive walks are on the alternate weekends, on Sunday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (September 22, October 6 and 20 and November 3 and 17). Membership in TCD includes additional hikes, potluck gatherings, trips, enrichment seminars and educational workshops.
The training-course fee of $100 includes a one-year membership. This program is taught by highly respected educators and professional naturalists from local colleges, museums and conservation-based institutions.
Learn about the Santa Monica Mountains and the Chumash and Tongva cultures; native plants and plant communities; fire ecology; geology; mammals, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians; climate and its effect; and naturalist leadership.
Checks may be made payable to Topanga Canyon Docents and mailed to 2558 Burson Rd., Topanga, CA 90290, with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Registration must be received by August 31 in order to receive a parking pass, map and other information prior to the start date on September 14.
Visit: topangacanyondocents.org or email info@topangacanyondocents.org or call Karin (310) 455-3143.
(Editor’s note: Chris Tosdevin, a local bird expert who will participate in our Docent Training program, and his wife Ruth, were visited one evening by fledgling screech owls. At first they saw their eyes and thought that there were only two. When Chris went to get his camera and moved closer to the babes, they found four of them sitting along the branch.)