BLM

California

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

ORD

FORT
b

FORT ORD

Wildlife

Mountain lion

USFWS

Bobcat

GARY KRAMER/USFWS

Coyote

STEVE THOMPSON/USFWS

Badger

GARY STOLZ/USFWS

California 

king snake

Coast horned lizard Red-tailed hawk

MARK BOHN/USFWS

Great horned owl

GEORGE GENTRY/USFWS
1

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

PUBLIC LANDS

belong to you!

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a federal government agency that 

takes care of more than 245 million acres of land. Most of these lands are in 

the western part of the United States. These lands are America’s public lands, 

and they belong to all Americans. These public lands are almost equal in area 

to all the land in the states of Texas and California put together.

The BLM manages public lands for many uses. The lands supply natural 

resources, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and other minerals. They provide 

habitats for plants and animals. People enjoy the big open spaces on the 

lands. The lands also contain evidence of our country’s past, ranging from 

fossils to Indian artifacts to ghost towns.

Junior Explorers

BLM’s Junior Explorer program helps introduce young explorers like you to 

the lands and resources that the BLM manages. This booklet focuses on the 

Native American heritage, Military history, and the native plants and animals 

of the Fort Ord National Monument. Promoting good user group ethics is also 

a part of enjoying the outdoors.

You can work through the activities on your own or invite a sibling, parent, 

or an adult you know to join you. When you complete the activities, then say 

the Junior Explorer pledge on the last page, sign the certificate, and you’re on 

your way to exploring and protecting America’s public lands. Have fun!
2

Leave No Trace

when visiting the outdoors!

Hiking, biking, riding your horse, 

walking your dog, or enjoying other 

outdoor adventures is a great deal 

of fun! However, there are some 

guidelines you should follow so 

that you leave little or no clue of 

your outdoor visit. Leaving no 

trace helps the plants and animals 

remain healthy and provides 

people who visit the area a more 

enjoyable experience. Following 

these principles will allow you keep 

enjoying outdoor places into the 

future.

LEAVE NO TRACE PRINCIPLES

1. Plan ahead and prepare.

2. Travel and camp on 

durable surfaces.

3. Dispose of waste properly.

4. Leave what you find.

5. Be careful with fire.

6. Respect wildlife.

7. Be considerate of others.

To learn more about leaving no trace 

when you are recreating, visit the 

Leave No Trace website: www.lnt.org
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NATIONAL

MONUMENT

Plan Ahead

TO VISIT FORT ORD

You and your family plan to visit the 

Fort Ord National Monument. But, 

before you leave for your journey, 

you need to unscramble the words to 

the right in order to pack the items 

needed for your trip! 

HINT: Words found at the bottom of 

this page will help you with this word 

scramble!

Word Scramble 

sahrt agb 

doof 

apm

strif dia itk

tawer 

mercaa

teckaj

eenrcsuns 

eonph 

larsnocubin

WORD SCRAMBLE WORD CHOICES: map, binoculars, first aid kit, 

camera, phone, jacket, sunscreen, food, water, trash bag

 __________ ________

__________

 __________

 _________ ______ ______

__________

 __________

 __________

______________

 __________

 ______________
4

Native

PLANTS & ANIMALS

The Bureau of Land Management 

currently protects 7,200 acres of 

land. To give you an idea of how big 

that is, let’s compare the size of the 

Monument to a football field. One 

acre is equal to one football field, 

so the current size of the Fort Ord 

Monument is the same size as 7,200 

football fields. That is a good amount 

of open space. 

When the military base closed, 

the BLM was asked to manage the 

remainder of the land as a habitat 

area. This land is very important to 

the survival of sensitive plants and 

animals that are in some cases only 

found on Fort Ord. There are 44 

different species of endangered and 

rare plants and animals that live at 

Fort Ord National Monument.

See how many of the 25 plants and 

animals you can find in the word 

search found on the following page. 

CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER 

POISON OAK

DEER 

COAST HORNED LIZARD

SAND GILIA 

COYOTE

LUPINE 

MONTEREY SPINE FLOWER

BOBCAT 

MANZANITA

RATTLE SNAKE 

MOUNTAIN LION

POPPY 

WILLOW

BADGER 

COAST LIVE OAK

FIDDLENECK 

QUAIL

WHITE YARROW 

BARN OWL

SNAKE 

SUNCUP

BLACK SAGE 

REDTAIL HAWK

STICKY MONKEY FLOWER
5

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

Word Search

Find the native plants and animals of 

Fort Ord from the list to the left.

K F C G M P W H I T E Y A R R O W I L L O W J L T

C Q O I T R E W A Y P N T E Y U O Z J T E W X B H

E R A Y I O U T R P D X W Q Y M A T I N A Z N A M

N J S U R E W M O U N T A I N L I O N V H T R U O

E Q T S W V B P T T Y I O P K J L N V N B T R W N

L A L X T Y I O O P L J H G N V Y R O P C A Z B T

D B I R E R T I Y B O B C A T P F V M M U I O P E

D Q V A S D B S K L B A R N O W L S U R E Q R T R

I W E T Y O T O N J K M T H Y U K O E P M B E J E

F H O T E K A N S Q B N M U O R Y E I O P E G Q Y

X F A L G Y C O A S T H O R N E D L I Z A R D P S

S E K E T Y U A I O P L K J H G F C U V N M A C P

A S D S G H U K K I N J P K H D E W R P G J B U I

W E R N S A N D G I L I A V B T M Q U A I L C K N

Z E T A H J U K I L O P B N O F T R S E T N E W E

E R G K R T Y J O P B C E Y W A Z C V B U P E Y F

Q W R E W O L F Y E K N O M Y K C I T S B H J K L

A Q W E R G Y J K U I C P U P L F M B N V C X A O

E G A S K C A L B C R D S T E Y H K L O P L P U W

A S T R W E A Y H K P I R E D T A I L H A W K L E

C A L I F O R N I A T I G E R S A L A M A N D E R
6

SALAMANDERS NEED

Vernal Pools

Salamanders begin life in the water. 

They hatch from eggs and are born 

with gills. It takes about 3 months for 

a salamander to develop lungs. This 

is about the same time that the pool 

it was born in dries up. Salamanders 

spend their summers (the dry 

season) in empty burrows. When the 

rain begins to fall (during the winter), 

the salamanders will travel (at night) 

back to the pools.

The California Tiger Salamander is 

a threatened species. This means 

that there aren’t very many of them 

left. This salamander’s habitat is 

special, and changes to its habitat 

can limit how many salamanders 

there are. Humans often build where 

salamanders live (vernal pools), 

weather can determine if a pool will 

form, and adding different animals 

(fish) to the pool can all affect 

the survival of the California Tiger 

Salamander.

What is a vernal pool?

A vernal pool is a body of water 

that appears after a wet, rainy 

winter—kind of like a giant mud 

puddle. Since vernal pools only get 

their water from the rain (no rivers 

or streams feed into them), they 

dry up in the summertime. The soil 

under the vernal pools are cemented 

together by small particles of clay. 

This means that water cannot pass 

through, and the area can hold water 

for several months. Once the weather 

becomes warm, the water will 

evaporate and the vernal pools look 

like a grassy field. Only animals that 

need water for just a part of their life 

cycle can live in vernal pools. Because 

the pools do not have fish, they are a 

great place for salamanders to raise 

their young.
7

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

Maze

Help Calvin the California Tiger Salamander 

find the vernal pool.
8

Ohlone

CALIFORNIA INDIANS

Fort Ord National Monument was 

home to the Ohlone California 

Indians. They lived in simple domeshaped homes made of tule 

(say ‘too-lee’) reeds. 

Connect the dots to see what 

their homes looked like!

What does your home look like? 

Draw it here.
9

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

Maze

Ohlone Indians were animal hunters, 

plant gatherers, and fishermen. Help 

these Ohlone hunters get to the deer 

to bring back to their tribe.
10

Anza

EXPEDITION

On October 23, 1775, Juan Bautista 

de Anza and about 240 settlers left 

the Tubac Presidio, Mexico, in search 

of a better life. These explorers had 

no guarantee that they would arrive 

at their destination, Alta California. 

However, it was a risk they were 

willing to take. 

On June 27, 1776, the expedition 

arrived in what is now called San 

Francisco. 

The Anza Expedition changed the 

course of California history. Today 

visitors can experience part of the 

Juan Bautista de Anza National 

Historic Trail at Fort Ord National 

Monument.

Journals kept by Anza and by 

a Franciscan priest Pedro Font 

recorded the details of this epic 

journey. These two journals 

document dates, distances 

traveled, places visited, and people 

encountered. Without these journals, 

the details of this journey would 

never be known. 
11

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

Maze

Help Juan Bautista de Anza and the 

settlers find an overland route to 

Alta California!
12

FORT ORD

Military History

In 1917 the U.S. Army purchased 

15,000 acres to use as a training 

field. It was known as the Gigling 

Reservation, named after a local 

German family that had emigrated 

to America many years before and 

owned a local ranch.

By 1938, the training field was renamed Camp Ord in honor of Major 

General Otho Edward Cresap Ord, 

a Union Army officer during the 

American Civil War. Camp Ord was 

used by horse cavalry units until 

the military started using motorized 

equipment.

In 1940, Camp Ord was redesignated Fort Ord and was 

established as a permanent Army 

post. For the next 50 years, Fort 

Ord was a “Basic Training” area for 

Army soldiers. During the 1950s and 

1960s, Fort Ord was a staging area 

for troops leaving for war. At one 

time there were 50,000 troops on the 

grounds. This is more people than 

the cities of Marina and Monterey 

combined!

Fort Ord continued to serve as a 

training and staging area for several 

decades until 1994 when it was 

officially closed. The base closure was 

one of the largest closures during 

that time.
13

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

1. The training field was known as ____________ Reservation

2. Camp Ord was used by _____________________ until the 

military started using motorized equipment.

3. At one time there were _________ troops on the grounds.

4. In _________Fort Ord was officially closed.

5. By 1938 the training field was re-named ________________ .

6. In _________ the U.S. Army purchased _________ 

acres to use as a training field.

7. Major General Otho Edward Cresap Ord was a 

Union Army officer during the _________ .

8. In 1940 Camp Ord was re- designated and 

was established as a permanent ____________ post.

Fill in the Blank

Complete each sentence after reading 

the history to the left.

________________
14

Outdoor Art

LEARNING TO FOCUS

1. Take a walk outside and find a comfortable place to sit—maybe under 

a tree or out in the sun. While you sit quietly look around you—what do 

you see? Perhaps a dog is walking with its owner or a bird is getting a drink 

or taking a bath in a puddle. In the space below quickly sketch a scene 

that you see. Make this a rough sketch, don’t worry about detail yet.

For Younger Children: 

Use pencils and crayons to draw and 

color what things you are seeing and 

hearing in nature. What colors do you 

see? What sounds do you hear? If you 

hear a bee buzzing, draw a bee.
15

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

2. Next, with one hand put your last four fingers onto your thumb in a circular 

shape, creating a hole with your fingers. Now hold this up to your eyes to look 

through—like using 1/2 a pair of binoculars (called a “monocular”). Use your 

monocular to focus on one thing within the scene you sketched above. Study 

this one thing for a few moments very carefully. Use the space below to draw 

what you’ve focused on and use as much detail as you can in your drawing.

3. What happened when your focus went from a rough sketch to a more 

detailed drawing? Did your concentration change? When you were making 

your rough sketch did your mind take in more details like sounds, smells, 

or other activity around you? What about when you were focusing on 

one object in more detail—were you aware of the same sounds and 

distractions or did your focus strengthen your powers of concentration?
16

MY NATURE

Journal

What is the weather like?

Today’s date is:

The time is:

Where are you? Describe the location.

What do you see?

What do you smell?

What do you hear?

What can you touch? How does it feel?

What else is special about where you are and what you are doing? 

(For example, if other people are around you, what are they doing?)

Draw some of the things you have observed (leaves, trees, animals, 

people).

Now on a separate piece of paper, take a 

few minutes to write a short story about 

your nature observations. Your story can be 

fiction or non-fiction.
Bureau of Land Management

Junior Explorer

As a Bureau of Land Management Junior Explorer, 

I promise to:

do all I can to help preserve and protect the natural and cultural resources 

on our public lands,

be aware of how my actions can affect other living things and 

the evidence of our past,

keep learning about the importance of nature and our heritage, and 

share what I have learned with others!

Date Explorer Signature

19

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

 ANSWER

Key

Page 3

trash bag

food

map

first aid kit

water

camera

jacket

sunscreen

phone

binoculars

Page 5

Page 7

Page 8
20

 ANSWER

Key(continued)

Page 9

Page 11

Page 13

1: 7, Division

2: Camp

3: Horse

4: 1917; 15,000

5: Gigling

6: 1940, Fort Ord

7: 50,000

8: training

9: 7

10: Fort Ord, closed, largest
21

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

FORT ORD

Native Plants

Tidy tips Poppies & Lupine Goldfields Baby blue-eyes

Fiddleneck Shooting star Black sage Owl's clover
Bureau of Land Management

Hollister Field Office

20 Hamilton Court

Hollister, CA 95023

Phone: (831) 630-5000

www.blm.gov/ca/hollister BLM/CA/GI-2014/005+8600