[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 150 (Wednesday, November 17, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SLIDE RANCH

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                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2010

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 40th 
anniversary of a unique institution that operates within the boundaries 
of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area to provide an educational 
blend of sustainable agriculture and outdoor education.
  A former dairy farm perched on a south slope above the roiling 
Pacific Ocean, Slide Ranch has welcomed over 175,000 people from the 
inner city, suburbia and beyond to participate in its summer camps and 
year-round educational programs. Through the efforts of Marin Attorney 
Doug Ferguson and Huey Johnson of the Nature Conservancy, the land was 
purchased and protected from commercial development, and founders Ed 
and Susie Washington-Smith created a 134-acre hands-on place to learn 
how to farm and care for Mother Earth. Along the way, the extended 
family of the famed Grateful Dead, played a big role in building and 
sustaining Slide Ranch with donations, manual labor and benefit 
concerts by members of the Dead.
  Today, Slide Ranch offers a menu of family outings, summer day camps 
and group programs. The group programs, offered in spring, summer and 
fall, are geared toward experiential learning, which is especially 
suited to help young people appreciate the environment, make good 
choices about healthy foods and good agricultural practices. Students 
may learn how to turn compost piles, feed farm animals, milk cows and 
make cheese. Kids from the inner city may spend the first night of 
their lives camping under the stars and breakfasting on their own hand-
picked berries.
  The wild lands of Slide Ranch provide miles of hiking trails and a 
rich coastal habitat adjacent to the waters of the Gulf of the 
Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Here are spectacular tide pools 
populated by still starfish, waving anemones and scuttling crabs, while 
offshore, migrating whales display their spouts.
  The pride of Slide Ranch is its bountiful one-acre garden, now under 
cultivation for over 36 years without the use of pesticides or chemical 
fertilizers. Using biodynamic and organic methods of improving the soil 
and controlling pests, the garden grows over 100 species of plants and 
vegetables each year. The garden includes several educational features 
such as a medicinal herb area, an urban-style container garden, a worm 
box and composting bins.
  Slide Ranch has weathered forty years of changes in education, new 
environmental challenges and the ups and downs of the economy. It has 
survived because it not only has kept pace with the need for a greater 
understanding of our environment and sustainable food production, but 
because of the passion and unending curiosity of its staff, governing 
board and donors--all who deserve our thanks and congratulations today. 
Madam Speaker, in Slide Ranch's greenhouse, seeds from the garden are 
potted to produce the next harvest. In its classrooms above the surf or 
under the starry sky, in the thriving garden or in the barn, the seeds 
of knowledge are planted for an unending bounty of bright minds.

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