Joan Rose shows a part of Watsonville’s slough system Friday. Rose regularly leads field trips for local students as part of her duties as a docent for Watsonville Wetlands Watch.

When Joan Rose was 5 years old, she liked to swim in her underpants in a drainage ditch on her grandfather’s farm in Pajaro.

Since those days on the Hudson lettuce and sugar beet farm off Trafton Road, Rose has lived an adventurous life that has included stints as a lifeguard and swimming instructor, eight years as a Honolulu newspaper’s art critic and the better part of seven years backpacking through Third World countries.

Now 68, Rose still loves the water. Instead of swimming in ditches, however, she volunteers as a Watsonville Wetlands Watch docent, and in that role educates local schoolchildren about the importance of the city’s slough system during field trips.

Standing on a grassy hill near Pajaro Valley High School on Friday, Rose spoke about her passion for the system, the second-largest freshwater slough on the West Coast.

“For me, the important thing is to preserve this very special place for the next generation,” she said. “That’s why I’m a docent — to be a teacher and to help protect it.”

Kathy Fieberling, Watsonville Wetlands Watch’s volunteer coordinator, said Rose is “wonderful with school kids.”

“She knows how to talk to them,” Fieberling said. “She’s natural and interesting. She knows how to point out things that interest young people.”

As Rose spoke, a flock of Canada geese flew nearby, ducks floated on the blue water of West Struve Slough and cars, trucks and big rigs sped past on Highway 1. Noticeably absent were other people on foot, though the area isn’t meant for recreation, but as a haven for wildlife. Migrating birds, in particular, need fresh water for breeding, nesting and resting on their journeys along the Pacific Flyway between South American and Alaska.

Rose can appreciate an arduous journey. She and her husband, Louis, who taught economics for 30 years at the University of Hawaii, sold their home and most of their belongings after retiring in 1999 and embarked on an epic backpacking trip through 75 countries.

They spent 10 months in Asia, five months in the Middle East, eight months in South America and four months in Africa. One of the highlights was going to areas in New Guinea, where cannibalism was only banned 15 years before.

“We went wild places,” Rose said.

When it came time to settle down, the Roses decided to settle in what they called the “best place on earth” — Santa Cruz County. They bought a small house near New Brighton State Beach Park — just a dozen miles from the old Watsonville Hospital, where Rose was delivered in 1939.

Upon her return, Rose decided that she wanted to do volunteer work in Watsonville, where her father once owned a print shop and her mother owned a flower shop and nursery. The Watsonville Wetlands Watch was a natural choice, considering her love of water and nature, and her close friend Carol Whitehill, who has served as the nonprofit’s president, is still active with the group.

In February 2007, the Roses went through Watsonville Wetlands Watch’s docent training process, during which participants learn about Watsonville’s six sloughs, the wildlife and history from before the arrival of Europeans to the present. Rose does much of her work on field trips, while the group takes advantage of Louis Rose’s financial expertise by having him serve as treasurer.

“It’s kind of a full-circle kind of story,” Fieberling said. “Local girl makes good, goes away and comes back and shares her love of the wetlands with young people.”

As Rose confidently strode among the grasses and brush on the hill above Watsonville Slough, she told stories of Watsonville Wetlands Watch’s successes. She said the organization has been particularly successful collaborating with Pajaro Valley High School, where its Patrick J. Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center is located.

While many people might drive by Watsonville’s sloughs every day without paying them notice, Rose said many young people have gotten involved and taking an interest. That gives her hope for the future of our fragile, local wetlands, which play a crucial ecological role but can be harmed by many things, including agricultural runoff — such as that found in her grandfather’s drainage ditch in which she used to play.

“The kids are so receptive and so excited,” said Rose, “and so excited about teaching the next generation.”

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Watsonville Wetlands Watch is seeking volunteers, especially Watsonville-area residents interested in becoming docents. Enrollment for the 2009 docent class is open, with a six-week training course beginning Feb. 18. For more information on docent training or to enroll, call Kathy Fieberling at 345-1226 or e-mail kathyfieb@yahoo.com. For information on Watsonville Wetlands Watch, visit www.watsonvillewetlands

watch.org.

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*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

(Published in 1/17/09 edition)

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