We took another group of East County families on a thrilling climbing day at Grotto Climbing, and we won't leave you on a cliffhanger: it was a rocking good time! The staff at Grotto Climbing showed everyone the ropes, and our staff helped keep participants safe as families of all ages scaled the walls like spunky spiders. We love seeing families bonding, teambuilding, and loving the adventure these climbing events provide! We have an amazing partnership with Grotto Climbing and Yoga, who generously allow these families the wonderful opportunity to use their passes for a full week at both their Mission Gorge and Miramar locations. It is such a joy to facilitate these new opportunities and witness the blossoming of a new passion for some of our attendees. We cannot wait for the next one!

This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.

In the immortal words of Bob Ross, “it’s hard to see things when you are too close. Take a step back and look.” That's exactly what we did during this month’s members-only landscape illustration event at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Interpretive Loop! EDI Education Coordinator and wildly talented nature illustrator, Ashley Ersepke, offered her expertise and provided our amazing members with everything they needed to create their very own happy little masterpieces. We had a great time!

This workshop was part of a series of ongoing monthly events we offer exclusively to EDI Members. For as little as $50 a year, you can gain access to these exciting events and support the work we do for a better planet! Next month’s event is a Monarchs & Milkweed workshop, and you can read up on it and become a member by scrolling to the bottom of this email!

We are thrilled to have installed the last of 28 Monarch Butterfly gardens this month as part of our project in partnership with Monarch Joint Venture! After the heavy rains delayed installation, we were eager to continue planting and are so happy to finally have all gardens in place. We can’t wait to track their progress and hope for more projects like this in the future!

We had a blast attending the Biodiversity Conservation Summit at the San Diego Natural History Museum! It was a fantastic event, with lots of collaborative input about how to protect biodiversity for a sustainable future. We love being among like-minded individuals who share a passion for protecting our wild spaces!

We had another successful habitat restoration event on McGinty Mountain within the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge! After planting 220 coastal sage scrub species with this group of wonderful volunteers, we have now planted 631 plants on McGinty Mountain since the beginning of 2024! A huge thank you to the 21 volunteers from Apple and the local community who joined us on this beautiful Saturday morning.