MARCH  |  APRIL 2013   

  


In This Issue (Links)
Trash Removal Walks in the Creek
Board Farewells
Board of Directors 2013
Water Quality Monitoring Data
Adopt a Garden
Plant Discount Table


donate

RESTORATION WORKDAYS

 

Barry Place

Sat., April 20 

9 a.m.-noon 

 

Beaconsfield Canyon

Sat., March 30, April 20 

9 a.m.-noon

  

Bridgeview Trailhead

Sun., March 24, April 14

10 a.m.-noon

Sat., April 20

9 a.m.-noon 

 

Dimond Park

Sat., April 20 

8:30 a.m.-noon

 

Marj Saunders Park

Mon., April 1

11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Sat., April 20

9 a.m.-noon 


Monterey Redwoods

Sat., March 9  

9:30 a.m.-noon

 

Montclair Park

Sun., April 7

9 a.m.-noon 

Sat., April 20 

9 a.m.-noon

 

Palo Seco Creek at Joaquin Miller Court

Sat., April 20

9 a.m.-noon 

   

Shepherd Canyon

Sat., April 20  

9 a.m.-noon

 

Wood Park

Sat., March 9 & 16, April 20  

9 a.m.-noon

 

 

 

 MONITORING

   

Aquatic Insect Monitoring in Dimond Park

Sun., April. 7  

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

Sat., April 13 

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

    

 

 

 NURSERY 

WORKDAYS

 

Thur., March 14 

1:30-4:30 p.m.

 

Sat., March 9 & 23

April 6 & 13

 1:30-4:30 p.m.

  

Sat., April 20

9 a.m.-noon

  

 

  

GET THE TRASH OUT 

 Walk in Sausal Creek

Meet at El Centro Trailhead 

Sun., March 17

10 a.m.-noon 




MEMBER MEETINGS

 

Gardening for Native Bees

Celeste Ets-Hokin 

Wed., March 20  

7-9 p.m.

Dimond Library 

 

Forming Flowers: How Beauty and Function Evolve

Dr. Chelsea Specht

Wed., May 15

7-9 p.m.

Dimond Library 

 

 

BOARD MEETING 

Wed., April 10 

7-9 p.m.

Park Blvd. Presbyterian Church

  

  

 

SUDDEN OAK DEATH (SOD) BLITZ 2013 - East Bay

   Sat.-Sun., April 27-28

www.matteolab.org 

 

 

    

 

For more information:

 FOSC Calendar 

 

 Megan Hess 

Restoration & Nursery

Manager

510-325-9006

 

 Kimra McAfee 

Executive Director

510-501-3672

 







donate

We need more plant tables at the nursery. Your $100 donation covers the materials needed to build one sturdy, long-lasting table. Thank you!





  

 

 

 

Photo Credits

Tom Coroneos

 Celeste Ets-Hokin

Megan Hess

 Rob Leidy 

 



Editors:
Richard Kauffman
Kimra McAfee

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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FOSC logo

Megachile female Spring is in the air! Read on for opportunities to get your hands dirty, clean up the watershed, support the bees, and save some trees.

 

Gardening for Native Bees

presented by Celeste Ets-Hokin

Wednesday, March 20, 7 p.m.

Dimond Library, 3565 Fruitvale Ave. 

Come catch the buzz on native bees! Celeste will present wonderful images of native bees and discuss the importance of these pollinators, introduce native bee ecology and life cycles, give tips on species identification, and discuss plantings to encourage native bees. Take a field trip to the Gardens at Lake Merritt to see the vibrant native bee garden that Celeste designed. Download a flyer.

 

Earth Day Workdays

Saturday, April 20

Check out the event calendar to find details on a worksite near you. Join an intimate neighborhood workgroup or pitch in with the throngs of energetic students in Dimond Park and Dimond Canyon. Please contact the site leader if you have a group interested in volunteering. All volunteers under 18 must bring City of Oakland and FOSC waivers signed by their parent or guardian.

 

Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz 2013

Saturday-Sunday, April 27-28 

Sign up now to help with the East Bay SOD Blitz 2013 to track Sudden Oak Death, the pathogen that threatens our beautiful coast live oaks and thus the many species that depend on them. One-hour trainings will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Orinda Public Library and at 1 p.m. on the UC campus in Berkeley. On Sunday afternoon, turn in the suspect bay leaves you've collected at your training site. Click here for more details and for contact links. Please email Kimra if you plan to collect samples in the Sausal Creek Watershed so we can coordinate routes. This year trees are being marked with aluminum tags to become permanent sample trees; volunteers with a GPS device or a tablet or phone with GPS capability are especially encouraged to help out. 

G E T   T H E   T R A S H   O U T !
A Chance to Walk IN Sausal Creek

One of our organization's priorities is to help keep Sausal Creek free of garbage, especially within the heavily used city parks. Starting this month, FOSC board members will be leading walks in Sausal Creek to haul out garbage. Sure, we have trash crews scouring the trails and shallows during Earth Day and Creek to Bay Day, but this team of volunteers will pull on boots or waders and go well into the creek--a very different and exciting experience compared to following the trail at the top of the bank.

Creek Trash
You may ask, "Is this really necessary?"  Click here to see what Rob Leidy found on October 5, 2012, in a 300-foot reach immediately downstream of the Montclair Golf Course outlet .

To get your feet wet, please join Rob for the first Get the Trash Out walk on Sunday, March 17, from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at the El Centro Trailhead and make sure you wear your grubbies. Boots will be provided but please bring your own if you have them. Note that this event is not suitable for small children--12 and older only, please. RSVP to Kimra so we can have enough boots for all volunteers.
Thank you, Pat and Kristin!

Kristin on Creek to Bay Day 2012 The FOSC board of directors bids a reluctant farewell to Kristin Ohlson, long- time board member who served nine years as our legal council. KO for short, she was a knockout lawyer who made sure FOSC took no missteps that could harm the organization. She made a huge difference providing guidance through some difficult financial times and always kept a cool head, helping us see the big picture. She helped FOSC transition from a neighborhood group into a regional watershed powerhouse with an equanimity invaluable to our board.

Pat Bacchetti, another long-serving board member, dedicated eight years to FOSC. A veterinarian by training, and growing up in the Central Valley, Pat brought a unique skill set to the board with her background in biology and farming, not to mention an ebullient, can-do spirit. Pat, like Kristin, helped FOSC through challenging times involving changes in personnel, financing, and infrastructure. She was instrumental, for example, in the completion of the nursery renovation, taking the lead on researching how to provide water and power to the newly built shade structure in time to grow new plants for our restoration workdays and plant sale. Pat says she will stay committed to the future of the nursery and will continue to help with the bird surveys, as she has become an avid birder. 

Both of these board members will be greatly missed. We truly appreciate your years of service to community building with the Friends of Sausal Creek.

--Mark Rauzon
Board Changes and Officers for 2013

FOSC's board came away from their annual half-day retreat this February energized and ready to move forward with strategic planning in 2013. The retreat gives us a much needed opportunity to step back and reflect on long-term organization goals and priorities. We are excited by the challenges ahead of us and feel confident that we will grow in our efficacy as a board this year.

After three years at the helm, Carl Kohnert is now serving in the supportive role of vice president, as environmental engineer Helen McKinley takes the mantle of president. Midway through 2012, Glenview neighbor and psychotherapist Richelle Jacobs jumped in with both feet to fill the vacant secretary position. (Goodbye and thank you to Sarah Nathe, whose presence is sorely missed since her retirement took her to a more rural watershed.) Ecologist Rob Leidy is assuming the role of treasurer to fill out the executive committee.

Our other returning board members are veterinarian Eleanor Dunn, civil engineers Paul Frank and Bob Roat, retired banker Barbara Goldenberg, communications specialist Richard Kauffman, biologist Mark Rauzon, retired Oakland Public Works legend Harry Schrauth, and attorney Sean Welch. Thank you to each board member for lending your professional expertise and sharing your passion for the watershed to the great strength of our organization.

--Kimra McAfee 
How Clean is Sausal Creek? We're Finding Out

Barry Place Waterfall_Coroneos Under the leadership of FOSC board member Dr. Robert Leidy, we have completed the first annual cycle of our water quality monitoring program. Volunteers collected samples one day a week for five consecutive weeks last summer (dry season sampling) and this winter (wet season sampling). You can learn more about our water quality monitoring program and review the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lab reports here.

Our objective is to develop a continuous long-term dataset to help FOSC make informed long-term decisions on improving water quality. This data would not otherwise be collected by the city or the county. With the involvement of the EPA lab and the expertise of FOSC board members, we can ensure that we are collecting high quality, useful data. If you have a flexible weekday schedule and are interested in helping collect samples, please contact Kimra

A huge thank you to program volunteers Kathleen Harris, Carl Kohnert, and Rob Leidy!
Our Gardens Need You

Our beautiful native plant demonstration gardens would look even better with just a few hours of your time each month. Please consider adopting our Dimond Park, FOSC nursery, or Joaquin Miller Park Ranger Station demonstration gardens. Contact Megan to help. 
Wanted: Homes for Native Plants

Next time you are volunteering at a Joaquin Miller Native Plant Nursery workday, check out the new discount plant table. We have some California native plants, not local to our watershed, that want to get out of their pots and into your garden. Your purchases help to support our nursery operations.

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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