***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

CONTACT:
REGINALD DURANT, DIRECTOR OF RESTORATION
BACK TO NATIVES RESTORATION
(949) 335-8655

BACK TO NATIVES RESTORATION TO BEGIN SERVICE LEARNING HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECT AT THE HERITAGE MUSEUM OF ORANGE COUNTY

SANTA ANA, Calif., December 15, 2009 – Back to Natives Restoration, a 501 (c)(3) non profit public charity is collaborating with the Heritage Museum of Orange County in Santa Ana to perform a Service Learning Habitat Restoration Project within the Museum’s 4.5 acre Nature Center. The project will commence on January 17, 2010 from 9AM to 12PM., when volunteers from the community will begin removing non-native invasive plants at the site. To RSVP email info@backtonatives.org.

The five year program will introduce participants to ecological concepts through field study and community service. Teams from local schools and community groups will restore – in stages – sections of the Museum’s four acre “Nature Center,” which contains Santa Ana’s highest point as well as its last surviving freshwater marsh, a tiny remnant of the extensive wetlands that once existed throughout the lowlands of Orange County.

“The program is intended to introduce potential science careers, and generate interest in the environment,” said Back to Natives Director of Restoration Reginald I. Durant. “Participants will learn what it is like to be a real restoration ecologist, as they play a part in the entire restoration process, from beginning to end. They will become aware that they can play a direct role in the health of their local natural areas.”

The restoration project will complement the Museum’s history and anthropology programs, which rely on the natural habitat within the Center to facilitate students’ learning about the life and culture of the people who lived in California before them.
Back to Natives strives to involve the community in the process of ecological restoration and conservation because it believes that a little "ecological enlightenment" and a chance to "get your hands dirty" is the best way to improve relations between people and nature.

About the Heritage Museum of Orange County
The Heritage Museum of Orange County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural and natural history center dedicated to preserving, promoting, and restoring the heritage of Orange County and the surrounding region through quality hands-on educational programs for students and visitors of all ages. For more information, please visit www.heritagemuseumoc.org, or call (714) 540-0404.

About Back to Natives
Back to Natives Restoration, a 501(c)(3) non profit organization, is dedicated to the restoration and conservation of Orange County and California wildlands, through education and restoration programs featuring native plants and biodiversity as a centralizing theme. For more information, please visit www.backtonatives.org or call 949-509-4787.

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