Column: Volunteering where the views are heavenly, the cause is critical, and the sea lions are barking

Tourists come to the seaside village of Carmel, Calif., for the quaint restaurants and lodging but they stay to see the Lone Cypress. Lobos State Natural Reserve are cultivating ‘the next generation of conservationists.’ • ‘The first thing you want to do is have fun… and if they can be impressed with the natural beauty, that encourages them to want to protect it.’ • For docents, like Doug Cambier, ‘it’s enough for us to be here in nature, with all of this beauty, and to give back a little bit.’ It never gets old. John Hiles, Monterey sector manager for the state parks department, told me Point Lobos has one of the best organized volunteer groups in the region and offers “fantastic educational programming.” Besides conducting tours, the docents staff information kiosks and a museum, help with trail maintenance and log sea otter sightings to aid in habitat restoration efforts. “There’s a built-in camaraderie because we have something in common with all these people who have a desire to protect the reserve.” For docents, Doug Cambier said, “it’s enough for us to be here in nature, with all of this beauty, and to give back a little bit.” The docent program is funded by the nonprofit Point Lobos Foundation, which also sponsors park visits from fourth-graders who attend schools in the region’s poorest communities, including farming regions in and around Salinas. “It’s just an appreciation for what is in this world, and we spend a lot of time talking about native plants and invasive plants… Pods of Risso’s dolphins will go by, and they get excited seeing deer or rabbits, or they’ll say ‘oh, there goes a bird.’” Besides conducting tours, the docents, including Doug Cambier, staff information kiosks and a museum, help with trail maintenance, and log sea otter sightings to aid in habitat restoration efforts.