The BLM Fort Ord National Monument provides an excellent outdoor classroom for environmental education and scientific research. Each year hundreds of school students from around the Monterey Peninsula visited BLM lands for science projects or for special field trips focusing on soil erosion, wetland ecology, or habitat restoration.

The Return of the Natives (RON) program of the Watershed Institute (WI) at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB), is currently working on native plant restoration and erosion control projects. Other projects underway on BLM lands include rare species monitoring, exotic weed removal, and site restoration with our BLM Take It Outside! partner Toro Park Elementary School.

Students learning about nature and ecosystems