Rare Plant Committee


Beth Pardieck, Stewardship Manager of the Muir Heritage Land Trust,
presenting the Volunteer Award to Heath Bartosh. Photo by Carla Koop
of the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District.

Hello, my name is Heath Bartosh. I’m the current Rare Plant Committee chairperson. I’d like to take this opportunity to tell the Chapter a little about myself and my role with our volunteer-based organization. To start, dare I say I’m a fourth generation southern California native that has defected to the Bay Area? It’s true, I spent my life growing up in Ventura County until leaving to attend Humboldt State University where I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resources Planning. From there I landed firmly in Contra Costa County where I’ve spent the last five years.

As Rare Plant Committee Chairperson I am charged with various tasks such as: maintaining information regarding our rare plant populations (although much of that is already tracked by Dianne Lake’s tireless work through the Unusual Plants program), providing comments on rare plant issues for Environmental Impact Report (EIR) response letters, collaborating with the conservation committee and conservation analyst on plant science issues, capitalizing on native plant outreach opportunities, and attending chapter board meetings as well as CNPS hosted functions. As a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) practitioner I also provide map-based spatial analysis for chapter related endeavors. In addition to these duties I have developed other projects to help the chapter in conservation and plant science arenas including a serpentine inventory of the chapter area with a current focus on possible remnant and hidden serpentine bodies supporting unique vegetation in the north Berkeley Hills, an inventory of extirpated and existing alkaline and sandy substrates typical of supporting rare and unusual plants in the eastern chapter area, and developing a system of objectively ranking areas in need of protection within our chapter area in support of the Upland Habitat Goals project.

At a more local level, I am also a volunteer for the Muir Heritage Land Trust based in Martinez. As a member of their stewardship committee I aid them in botanical and GIS matters related to the properties they own throughout the Franklin Ridge area. Recently, I also had the privilege of joining the Land Committee for Save Mount Diablo to provide botanical input related to its efforts.

With all of this volunteering you must be thinking how does this guy pay the bills? Well, two and a half years ago I started an environmental consulting firm with a friend of mine, Jerry Roe, called Nomad Ecological Consulting. Our office is located in downtown Martinez. Primarily our clients hire us for our expertise in botany, wetlands, and wildlife and to aid them in complying with environmental laws, policies and regulations. Field work and the subsequent reports we prepare are typically written for biological resources sections of EIRs although we also conduct regulatory compliance monitoring, species-specific studies, and provide GIS support services.

When not working or volunteering I’m spending time with my wife and two and a half year old son. She is a high school special education teacher and my son is a full-time toddler with all the curiosity and excitement of a person his age. He has already been exposed to the John Muir Historic Site, and it is hilarious to my wife and me that he refers to anyone with a long white beard as John Muir, especially when mistaking Santa Claus for California’s greatest conservationist.

Working with the East Bay Chapter of CNPS is a fulfilling experience. Everyone I have met associated with this organization has been a genuine and an enthusiastic supporter of California native plants. The Rare Plant Committee is seeking volunteers with a good grasp of field botany, geology, and/or GIS. If you would like to volunteer for the Rare Plant Committee feel free to contact me.

Heath Bartosh