Photo by Austin Noble

This spring, Sonoma Ecology Center staff joined Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) and La Luz Center to lead a resilient landscaping course tailored to the development of ecological and fire informed approaches for landscape professionals. The course, which is part of Sonoma County’s Adult Education Program, is designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to create defensible spaces and promote ecologically informed practices in fire-prone landscapes. This training was made possible by funding through an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant held by La Luz Center. It is the first of eight trainings to be completed under this grant, subject to the continuation of federal EPA grant funding.

Instructors Eric Schoohs and Robert Symens-Bucher wanted to ensure that their contribution to this training reflected the nuanced, holistic approach to land stewardship that they adopt in their day to day work as Land Management Planner and Restoration Crew Lead, respectively. In developing course materials, they emphasized key ecological principles—such as water retention, soil health, and biodiversity—that are essential for sustainable landscape stewardship in our region. The course was offered in Spanish, ensuring that Spanish-speaking professionals could access this vital training, enhancing workforce diversity and community resilience.

Photo by Austin Noble

The course included both classroom instruction and practical, hands-on learning at local project sites. Students had the opportunity to engage directly with the landscape, applying what they’ve learned at locations such as Wind Creek, just northwest of Glen Ellen, and Oak Hill Farm. These sites collaborated with the program to offer observation of, and participation in, real-world applications of fire resilience principles, making the lessons even more relevant and impactful. Symens-Bucher and Schoohs co-led the instructional portion of SEC’s contribution to the course, adapting an existing curriculum developed by previous instructors and incorporating original content created by SEC staff. This included material from Tending the Land for Fire Resilience in Sonoma County and Resilient Landscapes—two online resources managed by SEC in collaboration with authors from other local organizations. The course materials were then translated into Spanish by Symens-Bucher.

Symens-Bucher shared his experience leading the course, “My hope is for the students to gain more nuance with the way that they approach this sort of work. Most, if not all of them already have a lot of experience doing landscaping, but I think that what we can offer these students is that sort of nuance, that sort of lens where you’re stopping, you’re observing, and you’re really taking stock of what there is, what there isn’t, and what there could be. It’s a nuanced approach…there’s different needs in different sites, and there’s not a one size fits all approach.”

Schoohs echoed this sentiment, saying, “Our take is, how can you go into a space and manage the vegetation or steward the landscape and create multiple benefits while doing that? Yes, you are cutting things out, you are ‘removing fuels.’ But through doing that in a certain approach, you’re also creating water retention on the land and soil retention, and biodiversity. So you have a much larger spectrum of benefits that are being created if you’re intentional about the way that you take that on.”

Photo by Austin Noble

The cohort itself was a diverse group, with participants ranging in age from 19 to their mid-50s. While most are already working in landscaping, they come from a variety of backgrounds—some are business owners, others are looking to start their own companies, and many want to transition from traditional landscaping to more ecological and fire-smart practices. Symens-Bucher noted, “They all were very motivated and just open minded to everything that we had to say…a really enjoyable group to work with and to teach. Many of them had more experience than I even have years alive, so I was also learning a lot. And we relied on them and their lived experience for a lot of the time that we were teaching and always opening up to the floor for people to share their own experiences and anything relevant from their work.”

Schoohs emphasized the value of collaboration, reflecting on his experience with La Luz Center in launching the course, “I’m very appreciative of La Luz for taking on this training. They jumped in with both feet and embraced the partnership—just as SRJC has. We’re all really excited about it. I think this is a great example of the positive gains we can all create when we’re in community.”

This course would not have been possible without the leadership of La Luz Center, a trusted nonprofit dedicated to supporting Latino individuals and families in Sonoma Valley through education, health services, and economic advancement. La Luz holds the grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that funded the program, and played a central role in its success: recruiting participants, hosting the initial safety training that provided each trainee with an OSHA 10 certification, and organizing a heartfelt graduation ceremony to acknowledge the cohort’s accomplishments. La Luz Center’s deep roots in the community and commitment to workforce development helped ensure the training was both accessible and meaningful for everyone involved.

Photos by Austin Noble

As the final project of the course, students applied their skills at the 90-acre main campus of the Hanna Center in Sonoma. Hanna Center is a Sonoma-based nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of youth, families, and communities through trauma-informed care, safe housing, mental health services, and professional training. Their residential programs offer transitional housing and holistic support for foster youth and students with behavioral health needs, helping them grow in confidence, independence, and purpose. The campus rests on 160 beautiful acres in Sonoma, providing youth with a safe and welcoming environment, complete with access to hiking trails, gardens, and outdoor spaces that support healing and connection to nature. Sonoma Ecology Center is deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with an organization so rooted in care, with a shared commitment to nurturing both people and place.

“A lot of it has been well maintained, but there’s a few different spots throughout that haven’t really been touched in the past,” said Schoohs of the landscape the students used as their final project site. The class focused on showcasing how thoughtful, “lighter” landscape management can enhance the ecological value and aesthetic appeal of spaces close to buildings and homes. Throughout the course, students were encouraged to think critically and creatively. “We’ve been kind of putting it into their hands—well, how would you approach this as the cohort and as the students in the class?” said Schoohs. “Beginning [in the second] class, we gave them a sheet to start creating their own landscape design. [In the final] week, they’ll finish those up, and then we’ll implement one of those plans on the actual property at Hanna.” The hands-on project gave students a tangible opportunity to synthesize everything they had learned throughout the course while contributing meaningful ecological stewardship to the Hanna Center’s landscape.

Photo courtesy of Eric Schoohs

In addition to benefiting the participants, the course also provided an opportunity for SEC staff to develop their own skills as educators. For Symens-Bucher, this was a welcome part of the experience. He said, “I like [teaching] a lot. It keeps things different, keeps things fun, keeps things interesting. And it’s not hard for me to kind of switch gears, especially because it’s so related to my work, I think that it’s really a great opportunity to meet other people who are in the same field. And everybody does things a little bit differently. So I can learn the tips and tricks from other people’s experiences, from students’ experiences, and I can share my own tips and tricks. And I think that teaching makes me better day to day, and the work that I do day to day gives me that firsthand experience to be a good teacher.”

Schoohs agreed, “It’s been a really reciprocal situation. [The students] have been nothing but amazing, coming into the space ready to bring their own skills and experience and also being willing to be like, ‘Oh, maybe you can teach me a few things along the way too.’ All these folks just want to get out on the land, so we do our best to get quality information out there, and then put it into practice out in the field.”