Tags: 2019, Habitat Restoration, Jack Smith, Meeting, Native Plant Nurseries, Season 2019-2020

Jack Smith will talk about habitat restoration in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Angeles National Forest, volunteer outreach & events, challenges, lessons learned, propagation tips, best management practices, and efforts to prevent the spread of harmful pathogens like Phytophthora. He hopes to have enough time to cover all of this and leave enough room for Q&A.

Jack grew up playing in parks all over Southern California with Scout Troop 803, family and friends. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, he wanted to get his hands dirty helping the planet. Taking an oceanography class at Fullerton College inspired him to volunteer with the Newport Bay Conservancy. Jack knew he was in the right place when they handed him a pickaxe and taught him about habitat restoration. He took their Naturalist program and became a kayak and outrigger canoe tour guide to increase awareness about the importance of protecting wild spaces. Then he moved to Highland Park with friends to be in a band and pursue an environmental career. After an internship with TreePeople’s forestry department, He worked as a restoration technician and project manager with the Mountains Restoration Trust.

Now, Jack is TreePeople’s nursery manager. He is in charge of updating the facility and practices to become the second nursery in LA to be certified to grow Phytophthora-free native plants for the Forest Service. With the help of volunteers, he is growing chaparral species for fire mitigation projects in the Angeles National Forest. They are also growing native plants to heal the Santa Monica Mountains and LA’s urban forest. Jack still plays guitar with friends, works up a sweat with Highland Park Runners, and spends time with family. People ask Jack what he studied in college, and he proudly tells them he has a philosophy degree with an art minor. He can only imagine how different he would be without his education and is grateful for the wild journey that it has inspired.

Every day is an adventure!