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Latest News & Highlights
Press Release: Dana Point Native Plant Reserve in Jeopardy
June 7, 2017 – The recent rains have caused more than just wildflowers to grow at the Back to Natives Native Plant Reserve in Dana Point. Non-native mustard has invaded, and the City of Dana Point – which considers the mustard a fire threat – has threatened to mow (at Back to Natives' expense). Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN to sell Native Plants at Anaheim Home and Garden Show
May 3, 2017 – Back to Natives will sell locally native plants at the Orange County Spring Home & Garden Show at the Anaheim Convention Center from May 19 – May 21, 2017. Native plants help conserve water, eliminate the need for pesticides and fertilizers, and provide habitat for butterflies and birds. Plant sales will raise funds for Back to Natives' environmental education and habitat restoration programs. Read the entire release.
Landscape Contractor: Contracting for the Environment
March, 2017 – A Southern California Landscape Contractor and volunteers came together to work on a residential landscape project and used the funds generated to restore habitat in the Cleveland National Forest. Back to Natives Restoration, a non-profit public charity, is a landscape contracting form that uses its profits to fund native plant habitat restoration on public lands. Read the entire article.
Press Release: Native Plants Featured at South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show
March 28, 2017 – Back to Natives will sell locally native plants at the Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza from April 27-April 30, 2017. Native plants help conserve water, eliminate the need for pesticides and fertilizers, and provide habitat for butterflies and birds. Plant sales will raise funds for Back to Natives' environmental education and habitat restoration programs. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN N ative Landscape featured on California Native Plant Society Garden Tour
March 14, 2017 – Back to Natives will be showcasing a native plant landscape on the 2017 California Native Plant Society Garden Tour on April 8th from 10AM to 4PM. The garden is located in Santa Ana's celebrated Floral Park neighborhood. According to CNPS it is "one of several outstanding, successful, beautiful Orange County gardens on the tour." Read the entire release.
Orange County Business Journal: There and Back All Around OC
March 7, 2017 – Best wishes to Lori Whalen and Reginald Durant, who are always there when it comes to going back to what's natural. Their Santa Ana-based nonprofit Back to Natives Restoration is one of 25 finalists for The Atlantic magazine's Renewal Project, which will recognize "ordinary people creating extraordinary community renewal" with $20,000 grants for the five top honorees Read the entire article.
Press Release: Back to Natives celebrates a decade of habitat restoration in Southern CaliforniaRead the entire release.
February 28, 2017 – Back to Natives Restoration, a local environmental non-profit with a focus on habitat restoration and native plant education, is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Read the entire release.
The Atlantic: Building Community through Restoring Natural Habitats
February 27, 2017 – Reginald Durant founded Back to Natives Restoration in 2005 to help preserve the natural habitats in his Orange County, California, community. The organization promotes the use of native plants, as well as habitat restoration and preservation through education programs. Read the entire article.
Press Release: Back to Natives Natives and USFS offer hands-on habitat restoration training
January 3, 2017 – – Back to Natives Restoration, in a cooperative agreement with the United States Forest Service in the Cleveland National Forest, will lead a hands-on training course for restoration volunteers from January 19 to March 4, 2017. This successful program is now in its ninth year. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Back to Natives hosts Native Plant Teas with Craig Torres
October 18, 2016 – Back to Natives (BTN) is hosting a native plant tea workshop on, Saturday November 12, 10AM – 12PM. Craig Torres, a descendant of the Native American Tongva people who inhabited the Los Angeles Basin, will talk about the uses of different native plant teas, provide materials to make tea bags, and have sample teas to drink (bring a small cup!) Register and prepay at backtonatives.org. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Back to Natives' Reginald Durant to Promote Native Plant Landscaping at Landscape Expos in Sacramento and Long Beach
September 13, 2016 – Back to Natives (BTN) Executive Director Reginald Durant will present two seminars at both the Sacramento and Long Beach Landscape Expos in the coming months. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Back to Natives receives Grants from Boeing and PIMCO
September 7, 2016 – Back to Natives Restoration, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity has received a $4,000 grant from the Boeing Company (www.boeing.com) and a $1,000 grant from the Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) to restore habitat at the Back to Natives Native Plant Reserve in Dana Point known as Cuesta Kato. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Back to Natives receives Grants from two Local Foundations
August 2, 2016 – Back to Natives received a $5,300 grant from the Orange County Community Foundation (www.oc-cf.org) to support its successful service learning habitat restoration program along Santiago Creek in the Santa Ana River Watershed. The Pacific Life Foundation also recently granted Back to Natives $2900 to repair its 2002 Subaru used to transport tools and volunteers to the Cleveland National Forest to restore habitat. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Back to Natives Announces Volunteers of the Year August 20th
July 27, 2016 – Back to Natives Restoration (BTN), a Santa Ana based 501 (c)(3) non- profit public charity, connects the community to habitat restoration through service learning and native plant education. Over 250 BTN volunteers gave over 4000 hours of their time to restore habitat in Orange County over the last year. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN Annual Battle against Yellow Star Thistle Enters Sixth Year
June 8, 2016 – Back to Natives in cooperation with the United States Forest Service, will conduct hands-on habitat restoration events in the Elsinore Peak region of the Cleveland National Forrest. This is the sixth year that Back to Natives will host volunteer events in the Cleveland National Forrest. Every Sunday morning from 7:30 AM until 1:00 PM during the month of June, Back to Natives staff with the help of community volunteers, will focus on removing Yellow Star Thistle, (Centaurea solstitialis) an invasive plant species not native to Southern California. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN will install Native Plant Landscape at Kempton Park in Rossmoor
April 26, 2016 – Back to Natives is presenting a free native plant landscape workshop for the community on May 7, 2016. Participants may attend from 10AM to 1PM, or from 2 – 5PM. Community members will help install a Back to Natives landscape design in Kempton Park within the community of Rossmoor near Los Alamitos. Participants can RSVP at backtonatives.org/education. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN Drought Tolerant Landscape featured on California Native Plant Society Garden Tour
April 5, 2016 – Back to Natives will be showcasing a drought tolerant native plant landscape on the 2016 California Native Plant Society Garden Tour on April 23 from 10AM to 4PM. The garden is located in Santa Ana's celebrated Floral Park neighborhood. According to CNPS it is "one of 15 outstanding, successful, beautiful Orange County gardens on the tour." Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN will promote Native Plant Landscaping at South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show
March 29, 2016 – Back to Natives will have over 30 species of locally native plants available for sale at the Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza from April 28 – May 1. Back to Natives Executive Director Reginald Durant will present two free seminars on native plant landscaping for birds and butterflies: the first on April 29 at 1:00p.m. in Williams-Sonoma and the second on April 30 at 11:30AM in west elm. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN Receives Generous Donation of Land
December 1, 2015 – Back to Natives received a donation of land from Kato Properties. The 2.5 acres of land along Del Obispo Drive in Dana Point are about a mile from the Pacific Ocean, less than a ½ mile from San Juan Creek, and less than 2 miles from the Dana Point State Marine Conservation Area. It is undeveloped and will remain so to provide habitat for birds and butterflies. Read the entire release.
Coastal Real Estate Guide: One on One with Reginald I. Durant
Native landscaping is making a revival in the yards of homeowners not only for their natural beauty but for their water saving ability and their capacity to override the need for harmful pesticides and fertilizers. With more than 806 species of native plants in Orange County choices are almost endless for that "specific look" homeowners seek. Read the entire article.
Press Release: BTN hosts Water Wise Irrigation and Native Plant Propagation Class
November 1, 2015 – Back to Natives is hosting two upcoming classes: a Water Wise Irrigation Workshop and "Propagation of Native Plants," a six-week course. Community members will learn how to build gorgeous gardens with the correct irrigation for native plants at the Back to Natives Nursery at Santiago Park in Santa Ana. Read the entire release.
Press Release: BTN Partners with Monarch Joint Venture
September 29, 2015 – BTN has joined the Monarch Joint Venture, a partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic programs that are working together to support and coordinate efforts to protect the monarch migration across the lower 48 United States. Read the entire release.
Press Release: Beer Tasting Fundraiser to Benefit Back to Natives
September 1, 2015 – is hosting its 3rd annual Beer Tasting Fundraiser on Sunday Oct.4th, at 3 p.m. at Cismontane Brewery in Santa Ana. Proceeds will help fund native plant education and habitat restoration programs. Read the entire release.
OC Register: Volunteers needed for plant removal cleanup at Santiago Park
January 6, 2014– Home to more than 180 native plant species, the monthly cleanups strengthen the health of the native ecosystem by eliminating plants that don't naturally grow in the area.. … Read the entire article.
Meet our Experts:
Please contact Lori Whalen to schedule an interview with any of the following people:
Reginald Durant, Executive Director
BTN History & General Info
Lori Whalen, Volunteer
John Kaiser, GreenShirt, Former Board President
Native Plant propagation
J. M. Sugars, GreenShirt, Former Board President