Jackson Schroeder: The Importance of Environmental Education
On a sunny October day, the Semester in the West (SITW) crew drove 10 minutes down from our camp in the Jeffery Pine Forest to the South Tufa Area at Mono Lake. 21 Westies hopped out of three Jeep Wagoneers and stood in the gravel parking lot. The saline lake glittered under the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Ryan Garrett, the Education Director at the Mono Lake Committee (MLC), met us with a beaming smile. He was in his late twenties and sported a black jacket that read “Mono Lake Committee” on the chest, a green beat-up Patagonia daypack, and a weathered pair of Blundstones. He began his tour by stating, “The story of Mono Lake can be characterized as striking a balance between… the needs for fresh, clean drinking water and the ecological and cultural value that is found here.”
In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), trying to provide water to its growing population, extended its aqueduct into the Mono Basin, diverting water from four creeks. At the time, salt lakes were seen as disposable wastelands, too salty to host fish and corrosive to boat engines. LADWP faced little resistance to diversions. The MLC website recounts, “Over the next 40 years, Mono Lake dropped 45 vertical feet, lost half its volume, and doubled in salinity– threatening the survival of the nesting California Gull population, air quality with toxic dust storms, and this unique and critical ecosystem.”
In 1976, Stanford Teaching Assistant David Gaines led the first ecological study of Mono Lake. The study found that continued diversions would raise salinity levels, wiping out brine shrimp and alkali fly populations, thus eliminating the food source for millions of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway every year. These birds positively impact the Pacific Flyway area by performing nutrient and seed transfer, serving as habitat indicators, and feeding predators like larger birds, small mammals, and reptiles. Without Mono Lake, migratory bird populations would decrease, contributing to the decline of ecosystems that people rely on. Hoping to save Mono Lake, MLC and other environmental groups sued the LADWP under the Public Trust Doctrine in 1979. Nonprofits are often on the front lines of legal battles, and their success often hinges on public opinion.
We stood on the sandy shore and looked out at the lake over black clouds of alkali flies. “If you leave with one thing, it's this: the healthy management level of Mono Lake is 6,392 feet above sea level,” said Ryan. “In 1994, the State Water Board issued Decision 1631. It said by the year 2014 that the lake was supposed to reach the healthy management level.” Ryan produced a telescoping pole and put one end at the water’s edge, stating, “It is currently 2024, and for the lake to be at the healthy management level, it needs to be at the top of that pole.” The pole was eight feet, seven inches tall. “Ryan’s probably the most engaging speaker of the program so far,” I thought. But he wasn’t always this passionate about Mono Lake.
Ryan was born in 1995 in Modesto, California, which he described in an email to me as “a farming hub surrounded by endless agricultural fields and suburbs.” He wrote, “I felt lost, but I thought that if I could get a scholarship to play college football, I might secure a ticket to
somewhere new.” Ryan was a strong offensive guard and became a captain in his senior year. That fall, a friend told him about an environmental club that organized trips to Mono Lake. Ryan wasn’t environmentally inclined at the time and had no idea what or where Mono Lake was. “My friend spoke so highly of his experience, and I trusted his opinion,” he wrote. However, visiting Mono Lake with the club would cause Ryan to miss his senior homecoming game. His coaches said if he went to Mono Lake, he would lose his captaincy.
After much anguish, Ryan decided to chase his dream and visit Mono Lake. He wrote, “I arrived at Mono Lake angry and bitter, focused only on the football status I had lost. But everything changed after sleeping under the stars, learning about the lake’s natural and political history, and experiencing the transformative power of environmental education. I realized I didn’t want a life centered around being a jock. Instead, I wanted to dedicate myself to this place…When football scholarships came through, I turned them down, a decision that those close to me struggled to accept.”
Nevertheless, Ryan followed his passion. He applied for the Mono Lake Committee summer internship four times over the next seven years. He studied philosophy and environmental ethics at Whitman College and started pursuing teaching in grad school at the University of Alberta. Finally, in December 2020, MLC offered Ryan the summer internship, which he gladly accepted. At the end of the internship, MLC offered him a full-time position as a Project Specialist. Over the next two years, he combined his academic knowledge and vocational training by leading naturalist tours. In 2023, MLC offered Ryan his current position as Education Director. “I couldn’t be happier,” Ryan wrote. “My younger self would be proud to see the person older Ryan has become.”
Environmental educators like Ryan play a critical role in the Mono Lake environmental movement. In another email, Ryan told me that MLC founder David Gaines “raised awareness about the lake through a variety of educational programs up and down the state. He would deliver educational slideshows to schools, Audubon chapters, and environmental organizations to spread the word about Mono Lake. Most people had no idea about how important the lake was to avian life nor knew where their source of water was…Additionally, David would lead environmental education programs at Mono Lake: backpacking trips, bird tours, and canoe tours, to name a few. Any chance he got to educate someone about Mono Lake, he took it.” MLC’s hard work paid off as they won multiple lawsuits against LADWP to protect tributary streamflows. In 1984, David compiled some of his research in the Mono Basin and co-wrote a chapter in the book California Riparian Systems, which helped bring scientific attention to Mono Lake. David passed away in a car crash in 1988, but MLC continued his legacy of education. They’ve run education programs for schools and the public since their inception. Additionally, MLC’s Outdoor Education Center has connected Los Angeles youth to Mono Lake since 1994.
Today, the MLC website reads, “Mono Lake’s future depends on public recognition, understanding, and support.” According to Ryan, MLC’s education programs “bridge the knowledge gap between the public and Mono Lake. Most folks who come up here are just touring the state or doing a day stop en route to Yosemite. If they join any one of our tours, they …often feel compelled to do something on behalf of the lake (write a letter, become a MLC member, contribute a donation, etc.).”
MLC’s education efforts have transformed the public opinion of Mono Lake from a wasteland into an ecosystem worth protecting. As we wrapped up our South Tufa tour, Ryan shared the future of Mono Lake water policy. He described a clause in Decision 1631 that says, “If the lake does not reach the healthy management level by the year 2014, then all the parties need to come back together to renegotiate… a new stream diversion criteria to ensure that Mono Lake reaches the healthy management level.” Ryan recounted how in 2024, the California State Water Board elevated Mono Lake to its priority list of concerns, leading to a new hearing expected in Spring 2025. “There's never been a more exciting time to learn about this issue, because the next fight to save Mono Lake is about to begin,” he stated.
While the fight to save Mono Lake has been somewhat successful, the fight to save Pacific Flyway birds relies on saving saline lakes up and down the Flyway. “Mono Lake is, legally speaking, the most protected saline lake anywhere in the world. Yet we are 10 years overdue and Mono Lake is still not saved,” Ryan stated. Nonetheless, Mono Lake is a model for other saline lakes, like Nevada’s Walker Lake, Utah’s Great Salt Lake, and Argentina’s Laguna Mar Chiquita. “We are in constant communication with groups working [at other saline lakes], sharing ideas and resources,” Ryan wrote.
On our second and final day with Ryan, our caravan rolled up to Lee Vining Creek, at the very top of the LA Aqueduct. We ate our Tupperware lunches on a flat patch of ground between the gravel road and a small pond, looking out towards Tioga Pass. Ryan passed out job descriptions for MLC summer internships, proudly stating, “Yosemite is your backyard. Mono Lake’s your front yard. You can't ask for a better place to be.” My peers and I chatted about how we could see ourselves working for the Mono Lake Committee.