Now, during our 20th anniversary year, we're looking ahead to the next 20 and beyond. For FOSC to continue and expand its work, we need a steady source of income. So in 2011 we established an endowment, the For the Future Fund, to provide a steady base of investment income that will allow us to plan farther ahead and do projects we might not otherwise be able to tackle.

To mark this special year and special fund, we've decided to put all donations we receive from July through October into the endowment. Our goal is to reach $100,000 by the end of 2016, and we already have $75,000. So if you'd like to help us reach this special milestone, it's as easy as sending a check or going online and clicking the Donate Now button on our website.

There are other ways you can secure FOSC's future as well. You can donate stock, you can add FOSC to your will or trust, or you can direct your IRA distributions to the endowment and avoid paying income tax on them. (See article below.)

The For the Future Fund provides a special opportunity to ensure that the seeds we've planted over the last 20 years continue to grow, flower, and proliferate. If we know one thing, it's that the watershed can't restore itself. At least not with the pressures of urban Oakland all around it. It needs our help, today and tomorrow.  For more details on making a donation or a legacy gift, contact Executive Director Kimra McAfee at coordinator@sausalcreek.org.

Check out our staff web page to meet Summer Education Specialist José Luis Martinez and Water Resources Intern Daniella Cazares. We are excited to have them on board and look forward to all that will be accomplished this summer thanks to their help.

Stay tuned for job announcements for a fall environmental education intern and an education specialist for next school year.

With the completion of the Sausal Creek Restoration Project in Dimond Park, folks will be able to observe the rainbow trout from the new creek overlook at the Wellington Street entrance and then stroll or roll beside the creek on a new, ADA-accessible creekside path. Along the way, you can see how the redwoods that had to be removed to give the creek more room have been reused--as root wads in the new channel to provide trout habitat, as edging for the beds of local native plants, and as benches. Guided tours of the project area will be offered at 11:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. during the Dimond Picnic on Sunday, July 17. For a glimpse of how things will look 15 years hence, a FOSC-led walk of the 2001 restoration project area upstream from the El Centro Trailhead will start at 2:45 p.m., directly following the second new project tour.

FOSC asks that park users and their four-legged friends kindly stay on paths as the new plantings get established, which will also give the fish an undisturbed chance to make use of the new riffles and pools. If you see others disturbing plants or wildlife, you can help steward the parkland by gently urging them to protect the new habitat. If you are interested in having a stack of FOSC's Pick Up After Your Dog flyer, contact Kimra at coordinator@sausalcreek.org.

Thank you to Google employees (see photo at top) for their help in reducing the fire fuel load by attacking invasive, nonnative plants near the Police Activities League (PAL) Camp on Skyline Blvd. This effort would not have happened without dedicated site leader Wendy Tokuda and her crew leaders, Dee Rosario and Deidre Martin. We appreciate our partner, HandsOn Bay Area, for bringing this GoogleServe group to FOSC!