By Lori BODNAR, intern

Many people have witnessed the wildlife that prowls our local neighborhoods. Rachel-Ann Arias from Girl Scout Troop 1711 knew she was not alone in her interest in those animals that make their way through the foothills. So, for her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she decided to hold several workshops via Zoom to educate girls in the community about local wildlife. The Gold Award is the highest achievement within Girl Scouts and earning it takes, on average, at least 80 hours to complete.

Arias’ Gold Award project name is “Connecting to Wildlife of the Foothills.”

“My goal is to create opportunities for my community to emotionally connect with local wildlife. My hope is that my community will value wildlife and consider their survival when making life choices,” she said.

She partnered with Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy, a non-profit land trust organization whose mission is to conserve, protect, and steward open spaces along the San Gabriel foothills. The organization provided Arias with camera equipment and property access permits so she could photograph local wildlife at Deukmejian Wilderness Park, Descanso Gardens and the Rosemont Preserve.

“My original plan was to share my wildlife photos and stories through AFC’s Wildlife Corridor Exhibit at Descanso Gardens. Unfortunately, the indoor exhibit has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Arias said. “Now I’m finding other ways to share my wildlife photos and create wildlife connection opportunities. I am hosting online Exploring Nature workshops for kids, delivering supplies for hands-on nature crafts and activities, leading wildlife tours at the Rosemont Preserve when small gatherings are allowed, creating a webpage about amateur remote wildlife photography on the Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy website, and continuing to take photos of local wildlife with motion sensor cameras. I am also publishing my own website called ‘Wildlife of the Crescenta Valley’ where people can see photos of animals and kids can share stories of their own experiences with local or backyard wildlife.”

As part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Arias has taught wildlife education classes for 23 local girls in three online workshops. As an icebreaker, the girls introduced themselves and said their Girl Scout troop number, identified a wild animal they liked and a wild animal they didn’t like. During the education classes, the girls learned how to identify different animals based on their animal tracks. They also did a special craft that involved making an animal track, using Plaster of Paris to make a cast of their track. Arias had dropped off “craft bags” on the girls’ porches prior to the Zoom class so they could together do crafts and wildlife learning activities online. The girls learned about bunnies, mountain lions, bobcats, deer, coyotes, bears, foxes and raccoons as Arias presented pictures and information about these animals. She used motion-sensor cameras to take the pictures. The Girl Scouts also made a wildlife fortune teller, a track print cast and a pine cone bird feeder using a pine cone, honey and birdseed. The kids shared their wildlife stories with each other and learned more about local wildlife. Arias described the different backyard birds in California and showed pictures that she took with the motion-sensor camera trap provided by Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy.

Given the challenges of earning such a prestigious award during the current trying times, Arias offered advice to other Girl Scouts who want to earn their Gold Award.

“Start your Gold Award early,” Arias said, adding she has been working on her Gold Award since October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her plans had to be modified. “It can be challenging to continue in the direction with the way that you started. Don’t be discouraged. I also learned that you will find people with the same goals as you if you are open in your goals.”

Arias worked with the Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Descanso Gardens, Rosemont Preserve and Deukmejian Wilderness Park for her Girl Scout Gold Award.

“I like the connections I am able to make in Girl Scouts. I would not have connected with Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy if I was not in Girl Scouts,” she said. “I knew of them, but I would not have reached out as much. I have done an internship with Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy twice. My Silver Award for Girl Scouts was with Arroyo and Foothills Conservancy and I stayed connected with them. I wanted to do something together because it fits my interests. I asked if I could use Descanso Gardens for my Gold Award to spread awareness about wildlife and connect with the community.”

Arias continues to gather pictures and stories about wildlife or wildlife encounters in the foothills community. Those who have a wildlife picture or story they’d like to share can do so by contacting her at mail4rari@gmail.com. Her website is https://cvwildlife.myportfolio.com/. The Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy website is https://arroyosfoothills.org/.

  Lori BODNAR