Learning Among the Oaks

05/23/2026

05/19/2026

Late last week we learned the district has decided to stop funding Learning Among the Oaks programs for the 2026-2027 school year. Other organizations like our friends are facing the same issue. If you want to see outdoor field trips and nature education continue at AUSD schools, please act now.
What can you do?

Attend the board meeting at 7pm tonight (May 19) and speak up for the programs and activities you love. If you can’t attend, consider emailing the board members.

Connect with your Principal and PTO/PTA about possible solutions to this loss of funding. Retaining Learning Among the Oaks field trips with a 10% cost buy-in is about $500 per school. We are delighted to partner on grant requests or targeted fundraising with you.

Donate directly to Learning Among the Oaks in support of AUSD programs. We independently fundraise 93% of the cost of AUSD programs. This is more than $60,000 a year that our organization provides for the benefit of AUSD school students.

Links to all these actions in our stories! Thank you for supporting youth nature education!

05/09/2026

Happy Mother's Day to all you hard workin' moms out there!

04/26/2026

Thanks to Mother Nature for holding the rain back until the very end of our Art Walk with Camille at the today. We engaged our senses, let go of self doubt, and made art with watercolors that was only made more interesting by a few raindrops.

More free youth and family friendly nature art opportunities coming up! Check out the events link in our bio.

04/15/2026

Join us for a family-friendly afternoon of nature exploration and data gathering, as part of the international City Nature Challenge ( ), in Paso Robles on Sunday, April 26! Hosted with generous support from JUSTIN Winery ( ), this free event includes a picnic lunch, reptile education from our partners at the Cal Poly SLO Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab (PERL), and a fun scavenger hunt where we will use our smartphones to catalog as many different plants, animals, and fungi as we can find. Preregistration is required. See Upcoming Events in our bio Linktree for more information and registration!

04/03/2026

Nesting season is a go! Of our 29 bird nest boxes at three locations, we currently have nesting activity going on in 18 of them—that’s in more than half the boxes! Three already have complete nests with eggs in them with another probably with eggs, as an oak titmouse mother was brooding on it.

Three of these nests belong to these common oak woodland birds known for using mosses, fibers, grasses, and forbs. Oak titmice line their nests with feathers and fur, often acquired by a risky practice called kleptotrichy, or stealing hair directly from animals. Can you figure out the source of the striped fur in the second nest shown here? We’re thinking raccoon. The third nest—with nine(!) eggs—is still somewhat of a mystery at this point. Perhaps you have some ideas?!

The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County

03/24/2026

🐻 Para español ver abajo. 🐻

We have been able to observe American black bears in all three photos shown here through our Wildlife Camera Project. Thank you for your support and enjoy World Bear Day!

🐻 🐻

Hemos podido observar osos negros americanos en las tres fotos que se muestran aquí a través de nuestro Proyecto de Cámara de Vida Silvestre. ¡Gracias por su apoyo y disfruten del Día Mundial del Oso!

03/10/2026

Happy California Arbor Week to all who celebrate!

03/06/2026

This Sunday!! We can't wait to explore the Oak Woodlands in search of animals. We still have a few spots left for you and your family to join us at the lovely Heilman Regional Park in Atascadero. You can reserve your spots here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982405709843?aff=oddtdtcreator

This event is FREE and includes a picnic lunch thanks to support from JUSTIN Winery and their amazing Community Grants program. We are grateful for their support of youth nature education in northern San Luis Obispo County.

02/11/2026

We love our supporters and wildlife! This Valentine’s Day, please enjoy (and share!) some of the adorable animal pics captured by our Wildlife Camera Project. What started as a Cal Poly senior project 15 years ago has expanded to 16 cameras at three properties—all supported by 34 volunteers.

❤️ ❤️ Which of these four punny valentines is your fave: the coyote, black bear, mountain lion, or desert cottontail? ❤️ ❤️

The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County