Laguna Learning Center
Overview
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The Laguna Learning Center:
A Community Opportunity
The Laguna spans 22 miles from its headwaters to its confluence with the Russian River. That’s a lot of territory. To be understood, the Laguna must be experienced, but at the moment, “there is no there there”.
The Foundation’s challenge remains to focus community attention on the Laguna, so long neglected and ignored. As rich an opportunity as the Laguna presents to us for wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, education, ecotourism and reliable flood protection, these benefits will not come until the general public embraces the Laguna as it has other beloved places like Annadel State Park.
The Gateway to the Laguna
The Laguna Learning Center will create a gateway to the wild paradise of the Santa Rosa Plain: a place where the public can go to learn about the Laguna’s uniqueness, or to grab a field guide, head out on the trail and discover the Laguna for themselves. Developing the Center is a cornerstone of our strategic solution to the Laguna’s current invisibility, and will transform the Laguna into a destination, a beloved place, a focus for restoration funding and ecotourism, and an amenity that all of Sonoma County can celebrate.
What the Learning Center Will Mean to the Foundation
For the Laguna Foundation, building the Learning Center means having a headquarters for our education programs, allowing us to expand the number of children and grade levels they serve.
It means having a field station where we can conduct research to inform our wildlife habitat restoration, and a chance to partner with universities so college students can benefit from the Laguna as a natural laboratory.
It means having an anchor location where we can plan, organize and logistically stage restoration efforts which will fulfill the exciting vision we developed through our Restoration and Management Plan [link]: a vision of thriving wildlife, public enjoyment, clean water, and effective flood control.
It means having a facility that can be a gathering place for projects and events with organizations with whom we collaborate, advancing not only our missions, but theirs. For a list of our planning partners and collaborators, click here.
Conserving our History, Creating our Future
Sonoma County is changing and growing. The Laguna Learning Center will provide an unprecedented opportunity to preserve and celebrate the essential parts of what makes our region so special, and to point the way forward to a regional future where the natural world and human activity can complement and inform one another.