Native Plant Restoration Team

Saturday, September 4, at 9:00 am, Skyline Gate at Redwood Regional Park

Join the park staff to remove Genista, but also to monitor habitat changes since the trails and roads crew widened the East Ridge Trail in mid-August. All are welcome, but anyone with previous experience on East Ridge Trail can contribute memories or photos of vegetation to keep track of machine grading on the surrounding parkland. Bring gloves and tools, or park staff can loan those to you.

Directions: From Highway 13, exit at Park and turn left at both the traffic light at the exit ramp and again at the traffic light for Mountain and Park. Follow Mountain northwest for several blocks to the traffic light for Mountain and Snake. Turn right (uphill) onto Snake. In one short block, you will reach a fork where Shepherd Canyon Road goes straight uphill and Snake turns left. Follow Shepherd Canyon Road uphill to its end at the intersection with Skyline. Turn right onto Skyline and follow it south; turn off at the Skyline parking lot on the left.

Saturdays, September 11 and October 9, 9:30 am, Restoration crew at Huckleberry Regional Preserve

We will revisit the knoll and canyon near the entrance, to keep several invasive species in check over this cool, moist summer. Volunteers can work in one of several locations near the entrance. If you want to go further into the preserve to pull cape ivy or veldt grass, then be sure to take a bag so the weed seeds do not stay behind. There will be large plastic bags, water and snacks, and some tools available at the entrance. Bring gloves, or send an e-mail to janetgawthrop47@gmail.com if you need to borrow a pair.
Directions: Exit Highway 13 at either Park (from the south) or Moraga/Thornhill( from the north). From Park, turn left over 13 and left again onto Mountain. Turn left at the stoplight for Mountain and Snake, and turn right (uphill) on Snake. After a very short distance, Snake will split, with the left-hand fork keeping the same name and winding hard to the left. Stay on the left fork--the right side is Shepherd Canyon Road. Follow Snake uphill until it ends at the stop sign at Skyline Blvd. Turn left onto Skyline and follow it a short distance to the Huckleberry parking lot on the right. From Moraga/Thornhill, proceed straight through the traffic light on Moraga. Moraga runs south parallel to 13 and changes its name to Mountain. Turn left (uphill) onto Snake at the traffic light for Mountain and Snake, and follow the previous directions to Huckleberry.

Janett Gawthrop



Our chilly summer seems to be helping the new plantings at Pt. Isabel. Except for a young bunchgrass or two, which seem to have been carried off by moles, the newly planted shrubs and grasses are all thriving along the trail. The restoration team held a work party on August 7 and tackled a myriad of tasks. Nel removed a large infestation of invasive pea that was creeping up on the coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) and we took out the remaining few mustard plants in the area. Doris inspected every inch of a large section where she had previously removed countless young radish plants and found only a few small resprouts. That entire stretch is now invasive free and contains only sagebrush (Artemisia californica), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) , blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus), purple needlegrass (Nassella pulchra), June grass (Koeleria macrantha), farewell-to-spring (Clarkia amoena), and California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) full of popping seed pods. On the northern stretch of the trail, Calvin and Tom picked up huge piles of invasive plant debris (radish, mustard, exotic grasses, fennel and ice plant) that we had stacked up at previous work parties and piled it into a dump truck that the District provided. Most of the ice plant had decomposed into a dark, earth-like material which we spread over the area where it had been left. We pulled out a number of newly growing fennel plants (watching carefully for anise swallowtail caterpillars) and added them to the dumpster stash.

The six California buckeye (Aesculus californica) saplings, which we grew from seed harvested at the site, are losing their leaves on schedule. We grew three of the saplings at home and three of them by pushing the seeds into the earth. The latter three saplings look a little stronger than the ones grown in pots.

At a mini work party a few weeks ago, we discovered a massive pile of car battery pieces right along the marsh and our young volunteer, Michelle, helped us collect and dispose of 4 large bags of this material. Doris and Jane removed another 7 full bags at today’s work party, carefully picking up hundreds of large and small pieces lodged amongst the pickleweed (Salicornia virginica) and saltgrass (Distichlis spicata). Our reward was the discovery of a beautiful patch of sea lavender Limonium californicum) in full bloom and covered in visiting insects. There are a lot of battery pieces left but we intend to remove them all during subsequent work parties.

The Pt. Isabel Restoration Team counts itself lucky to be supported by Kevin Takei and Bruce Adams from the EBRPD. Both of them provide us with their unfailingly cheerful and valuable support.

Jane and Tom Kelly



Nel pulling out invasive pea


 Doris at marsh side collecting battery pieces   Photos by Jane Kelly  

Jane and Tom Kelly
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Contact: Janet Gawthrop

 







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