A story about Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument

I grew up in urban Southern California. My exposure to moving water was the LA River in its concrete halfpipe. That's as natural as it came. When I was in fifth grade, I was taken on a trip to a creek in the mountain outside of LA, and it was my first encounter with naturally flowing water. Seeing a real watershed turned out to be a watershed event in my life. It made me clear that my job is to be a role model for my own kids and help empower other kids who need inspiration in their lives.

I work with a wide diversity of kids from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many are poor. Some are rough around the edges. Most of them don't have role models in their lives. All of them are subject to the high stress and stimulation that comes with modern city life: cell phones, internet, and constant TV. Most of them have never seen naturally flowing water before taking a trip with me.

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is the only place near LA that offers a kind of remote, wild and rugged experience that transforms these kids. And, it's a biological hotspot. There are 500 different species that live there, and the kids get to understand the animals' relationship with their habitat.

When I take the kids out, I always ask: what do you see? Inevitably, they answer, "Dirt. Sand. And it's hot." Then I ask them, do you see anything green? Then they start to tune into the subtle signs of life in the desert, and at the same time, to tune into themselves.

Taking kids from the hectic urban life where they're judged in all kinds of ways, and distracted in all kinds of ways, and bringing them to a place that allows solitude in nature is like no other experience they can have. And after a few days out -- I take kids out for three to 7 day overnight trips -- it starts to be a part of them.

I want to tell you about this one kid, Lucas. Despite the stress in his life, he's a really mellow kid, but very detached, as many adolescent boys become. On the third day, I always ask, what do you miss about home? Sometimes the answer is pizza. Or TV. But Lucas said, I really miss my family. And for him, being out and seeing this beautiful country, and understanding how vital this home was for these animals, he gained a sense for himself of what home was, of what really matters to him.

Protecting the Conservation System, which has so many areas right next to urban areas, means giving kids like Lucas a chance at personal empowerment, a chance at a whole, meaningful life. It means allowing a chance to discover themselves right outside their back door.