Carole Bell, Resource Manager at Santa Rosa Plateau.

On May 20, The Nature Conservancy celebrated 20 years of hands-on conservation at the Santa Rosa Plateau. With a change in stewardship on tap for this summer, one key player tells why her heart - and her hands - will stay with the land.

Purple needlegrass isn't the only living thing that's grown and thrived on the Santa Rosa Plateau during the Conservancy's 20-year tenure. In her 10 years on the project, Carole Bell's role has evolved from weed-whacking and trail-building to communications and constituency-building to long-term stewardship and partnership. This summer, when the Conservancy turns the project over to the California Department of Fish and Game, Carole, though still a Conservancy

"...coordinating protection of a site like Santa Rosa Plateau is a little like parenting: You have to pass the passion along." -Carole Bell

Project role

As resource manager, I do everything from public education and outreach to weeding and trail maintenance.

Fondest memories

Every day I take my morning run along a different trail. From the fresh tracks I can see what's passed by in the night - maybe a bobcat or a mountain lion. And I can chart the seasons by noting what's come into bloom since my last visit. In February I ran up the vernal pool trail to see the first shooting stars of the season - quite a sight.

Biggest changes

More and more visitors - we had 65,000 in 2003. And more new houses sprouting up around the plateau.

Proudest achievements

Turning neighbors into friends. A few years ago, we persuaded a native plant nursery to hold plant sales on site as a fundraiser for the plateau, and it's become a popular regular event. Local homeowners learn to plant sustainable gardens, and we learn things about the plateau from them. Nine years ago, with support from Southern California Edison, we also launched a canyon clean-up that continues to grow: So far we've pulled 1,000 tons of garbage, from couches to cars, out of the canyons and nearby watersheds.

	Carole Bell and Zach Principe monitor the water quality at Cole Creek, Santa Rosa Plateau, © Stephen Francis Photography

Greatest challenges

Ongoing communication with partners, project team members, and visitors is critical to the success of our conservation work and also very gratifying. I enjoy helping visitors personalize their visits. I'll never forget a rose expert who visited my garden on the plateau to see roses that had been growing since the 1800s. Back at home, she traced the heritage of these roses and, in the process, grew to care so much about the plateau that she became a supporter.

Key lessons

That coordinating protection of a site like Santa Rosa Plateau is a little like parenting: You have to pass the passion along. I try to do that with visitors as I've done with my sons. Unless we share our convictions, protection is just a short-term proposition.

What's next

Now that the Conservancy has achieved its mission - protecting this great place - Fish and Game can step in and fulfill its mission - managing protected lands over the long term. As part of the new team, I look forward to taking up the next challenges, including working with our partners to extend the reserve's borders and developing the Tenaja corridor to create safe passageways for large, wide-ranging mammals like mountain lions.