AUGUST  |  SEPTEMBER 2012  

 


In This Issue (Links)
Summer Interns
Rare Plants
Pallid Manzanitas
Standout Species
Insect & WQ Monitoring
Restoration Class
Special Thanks


donate
*SAVE THE DATE* 

 

  Native Plant Sale & Open House

Joaquin Miller Native Plant Nursery 

Sun., Oct. 21

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

 

 

 MEMBER MEETING
Dimond Library

Wed., Sept. 19 

7-9 p.m.

 

 

FIELD EVENTS 

  

Aquatic Insect Monitoring in Dimond Park

Sun., Sept. 2  

9 a.m.-1 p.m.
 
Bird Monitoring (start at Sequoia Arena)

Sat., Oct. 13  

8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

 

Crew Leader Training Event at Monterey Redwoods

Sat., Aug. 25

9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 

   

Seed Hike

(location TBD, check calendar) 

Thur., Aug. 23

10 a.m.-noon

 

   

 

 NURSERY 

WORKDAYS

Sat., Aug. 18, 

Sept. 8, 22, & 29   

1:30-4:30 p.m.

 

Sat., Sept. 15

9 a.m.-noon 

 

Thur., Aug. 23 & 30   

1:30-4:30 p.m.

 

 

RESTORATION WORKDAYS

 

Beaconsfield Canyon 

Sat., Aug. 25, Sept. 15  

9 a.m.-noon

  

Bridgeview Trailhead

Sun., Sept. 9

Sat., Sept. 15  

10 a.m.-noon

 

Dimond Park

Sat., Sept. 15

8:30 a.m.-noon

 

Fern Ravine

Sat., Sept. 15

9 a.m.-noon

 

Fruitvale Bridge Park

Sat., Sept. 15

8-11 a.m. 

 

Marj Saunders Park

Mon., Sept. 3  

11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 15

9 a.m.-noon

 

Montclair Park

Sun., Sept. 2  

9 a.m.-noon

 

Big Trees Pallids Site

Wed., Aug. 22 

5:30-7:30 p.m. 

 

Shepherd Canyon

Sat., Sept. 15  

9 a.m.-noon 

 

Wood Park

Sat., Aug. 18, Sept. 15 

9 a.m.-noon

 

 

 SUDDEN OAK DEATH 

(SOD)

SOD Blitz-East Bay Results at UC Berkleey
Thur., Oct. 4
6:30-7:30 p.m.

SOD Treatment Workshop at Garber Park
Fri., Oct. 5
10 a.m.-noon

See
for details

 

   

   

 

For more information:

 FOSC Calendar 

 

 Megan Hess 

Restoration & Nursery

Manager

510-325-9006

 

 Kimra McAfee 

Executive Director

510-501-3672

 



donate

Have you had it with birthday presents? Do what others have done and ask your friends and family to honor your birthday, anniversary, or other momentous occasion by donating to FOSC.

Plant Photo Credits (all photos copyrighted and used with permission)
Dianne Fristrom

David Graber

Karen Paulsell

Robert Potts/California Academy of Sciences

Steve Schoenig
Vernon Smith

Robert Steers/NPS Dean William Taylor



Other Photo Credits 

Kathleen Harris 

Megan Hess
Kimra McAfee


Editors:
Richard Kauffman
Kimra McAfee 
FOSC logo
We hope you will participate in Oakland's Creek to Bay Day on Saturday,
September 15. See the FOSC event calendar to get details about workday
sites from hills to estuary. If you are interested in being a crew leader, please contact Megan.

Get ready for FOSC's annual Native Plant Sale and Open House by learning about native plants at our Member Meeting on Wednesday, September 19, 7 p.m. at Dimond Library. We are excited to have Dave Kaplow of Pacific Open Space, Inc., share his expertise on native plants in wild, restored, and enhanced natural settings. He will give advice on caring for native landscapes, including tips on design and plant selection.

The Native Plant Sale and Open House will take place on Sunday, October 21, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The lineup for this year's workshops and tablers will be available on our website soon. Music will again be provided by the Harlan James Bluegrass Band. Look for the available plant list in late September. Last year we propagated and planted nearly 3,000 plants at restoration sites in the watershed. Your purchases, and your donations, make this incredible work possible.
Summer Interns Walk, Talk, Weed...and Rock!
 
Stormwater Outreach_Hess From star thistle and broom removal at Lookout Point to ivy rings deep in Dimond Canyon to door-to-door stormwater pollution education in the Dimond neighborhood, FOSC's nine high school interns covered a lot of ground this summer. The program offered high school students an opportunity to learn about conservation biology while working hard outdoors, leaving a feeling of accomplishment at the end of each day. Intern Jason To revels, "The Friends of Sausal Creek internship is simply amazing and has been one of the most memorable summers of my life. In the five short weeks that I have attended the program I was able to determine new plant, bug, and tree species that I never gave a second glance to before." For intern Karina Chan, the program was a bridge between high school and college. "I leave the Bay Area this fall for college, but the culmination of this entire experience has inspired me to delve deeper into environmental sciences and to continue habitat restoration work wherever I go." 

Olivia Anton and Renata Robles, summer interns last year, led this year's crew while home from college. Thank you to The Clorox Company Foundation and the Hillside Gardeners of Montclair for making this summer programming possible and to the Clean Water Program for funding our stormwater pollution outreach. You'll be able to meet some of the summer interns at upcoming workdays as they apply their new skills as FOSC crew leaders. 

Now is the time to apply if you are interested in interning with FOSC this school year.
Rare Plants of the Watershed   

Pallid manzanita_Graber What determines when a plant species is to be considered rare? In part, it depends on the scale: The Sausal Creek Watershed has only one species ranked as rare at the global and federal levels--the pallid manzanita, Arctostaphylos pallida. It's gotten the lion's share of FOSC's rare-plants attention, with numerous work days devoted to the areas in which it grows.

Read more...


 

View the rare plants list

FOSC's Efforts to Protect the Pallid Manzanitas

The pallid manzanita, Arctostaphylos pallida, is the only species in the watershed that is listed as endangered at the federal and state levels. The pallid manzanita occurs only in the East Bay, with most of the plants located in two of the East Bay Regional Parks, Huckleberry and Sobrante Ridge. Other single plants and groupings are scattered, with most of them near Skyline Boulevard across the upper edge of the Sausal Creek Watershed. The total number of pallid manzanitas is approximately 1,500 plants. FOSC has been working since 2003 to protect a population of about 70 plants on both sides of Skyline Boulevard near the entrance to Roberts Recreation Area, as well as a group on the campus of the Chabot Space and Science Center.

Read more...

Standout Species--Here and Nowhere Else
 
Hosackia stipularis_Steers For 20 years, the East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society has compiled information on the rare and unusual plants of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Now in its 8th edition, it is published as the Rare, Unusual and Significant Plants of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. I asked Dianne Lake, who spearheads this effort, to pick a few standout species from the Sausal Creek list. Here are Dianne's choices for species of the Sausal Creek Watershed that occur no place else in the entire East Bay (except for Carex globosa, which is also at Mt. Diablo). One plant (Hosackia stipularis) grows in the rare maritime chaparral plant community in Joaquin Miller Park; the rest are redwood understory plants.

Read more....
FOSC Steps Up Water Quality Monitoring Effort  

Water quality is always a concern for the denizens of Sausal Creek, be they human, canine, piscine, or invertebrate. Our water quality monitoring program has grown to include two assessment tools: bioassessment of benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI)--the bugs that live in the creek; and E. coli testing and basic water chemistry measurements.

Read more...
Restoration of Watercourses Class at Merritt College 

Do you want to take your restoration skills to the next level? Learn about the principles and practices for restoring and monitoring creeks and watersheds in Restoration of Watercourses at Merritt College. In the course, you will:
  • gain an overview of the global water cycle and atmospheric circulation
  • glean basic hydrologic principles and processes including erosion, flooding, and deposition of sediment
  • get an introduction to physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of streams, springs, and groundwater
  • practice restoration techniques with native plants
See www.ecomerritt.org for more information, and check out the environmental program's 50th Anniversary Lecture Series this fall.
Special Thanks

Thank you for your summer donations! We succeeded in earning the full $3,500 dollar-for-dollar match offered by the FOSC board of directors.

Thank you to Aidells Sausage Company for donating the tasty sausages for our July Meet & Greet. 

To subscribe to this e-newsletter, email
or call (510) 501-3672.
Donation
Please help us maintain and expand our efforts in the Sausal Creek Watershed by making a donation today!

Donate online or mail this form with your check made payable to:
Friends of Sausal Creek, P.O. Box 2737, Oakland, CA 94602
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