FOSC is a volunteer-based, community organization. Your donations go directly to support our projects and programs in the Sausal Creek Watershed. Check out the multiple ways to support FOSC, including contributions to our For the Future endowment fund! To see a summary of last year's accomplishments, review our Annual Program Report.
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Act Locally for Creek to Bay Day
Do you have that nagging feeling that you want to "do something" and be part of a bigger movement? This Saturday you can on Coastal Cleanup Day (in Oakland Creek to Bay Day), a volunteer effort to remove litter from waterways and shorelines across California, the nation, and in about 100 participating countries. What's so important about the timing of this event in our Mediterranean climate is that you can pick up the litter
before it gets flushed downstream into our bay and ocean with the first rains. Check out the
FOSC event calendar for details on the 11 work sites in our watershed, or visit the
city web page for a full list of Oakland sites. If you are interested in being a crew leader or have a group interested in volunteering at a FOSC location, please contact Jill Miller at
[email protected] or (510) 853-3533. All volunteers under 18 must bring
City of Oakland and FOSC waivers signed by their parent or guardian.
Creek to Bay Day Workday
Saturday, September 16
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With the relief of last year's rains came the pain of losing many, many trees in the watershed's parklands, including beloved majestic oaks. We've asked Dr. Igor Lacan of University of California Cooperative Extension to speak at our next bimonthly meeting to teach us about the variety of factors that negatively impact tree health and reduce their lifespan. He will discuss the
most common insects, pathogens, and abiotic problems that affect trees in Oakland, noting the "upcoming attractions" of the pest world (problems currently occurring elsewhere that may be coming our
way).
Our Urban Trees
Dimond Branch Library
3565 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland
Wednesday, September 20, 7-9 p.m.
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Hiking with native plant people is truly a walk in the park. Join botanist Camille Nowell and geochemist Angus McGrath for a 1.5-mile exploration of Dimond Park and Dimond Canyon Trail. We will botanize along the recently daylighted 180-foot stretch of Sausal Creek to become better acquainted with the many native plants that have been used to stabilize the creek banks and enhance the valuable riparian habitat. After exploring the stretch along the restored creek, we will loop through the park and follow the Dimond Canyon Trail up to Leimert Bridge. Along the way we will look at rock outcrops and discuss the geology, soils, and erosion/mudslides that form in the canyon as a result of the stream hydrology and geology.
Some fall highlights of the area: a quickly regenerating native willow thicket, a huge buckeye tree in fruit, pungent bay laurel trees, and fall-blooming species including bright monkeyflowers, yarrow, and possibly some tarweed. Please note that the walk includes uneven and rocky terrain and a moderate incline. Significant rain will cancel.
Sausal Creek Botany and Geology Walk
Meet at the Dimond Park Scout Hut
Sunday, September 24, 10 a.m.-noon
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Friends of the Month: Team Oakland
The numbers are stunning: In six weeks, 115 Team Oakland youth picked up more than 3,065 bags of litter. FOSC had the incredible pleasure of working with three of the 10 crews one day each week--that's 30 teens and young adults. Our role was to provide a special project--something other than picking up litter. They weeded the rock river at Woodbine Corner, removed algae from the Dimond Park daylighted reach, cleared trash out of the creek above El Centro (okay, it was trash pickup, but it was also a great adventure IN the creek!), pulled weeds and spread mulch at Barry Place, prepared the sunny growing grounds at the nursery for the new irrigation system, and "stuck" cuttings of endangered pallid manzanitas (donated by a homeowner who had to prune her special shrub).
Team Oakland is a summer job training and life skills program hosted by Oakland Public Works. The FOSC crews learned to identify plants, use a variety of tools, prune for aesthetics, transplant, collect seed, sow seed, and test w
a
ter quality. We had animated discussions on biodiversity, restoration ecology, urban runoff, marine debris, native plants, wildlife, and, of course, the unifying theme of watersheds. The three FOSC teams pulled 88 bags (14 cubic yards!) of invasive nonnatives and spread four cubic yards of mulch.
Team Oakland crew members and leaders--THANK YOU. If you are reading this, please share the thank you with your Team Oakland friends in case they don't see it. We truly appreciate what you did for Oakland this summer.
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As we head into field trip and planting season, and as we work to expand our
Walkable Watershed vision, our small staff needs help. Please circulate these two job announcements to your network of contacts.
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Explore the Watershed
Hiking the Sinawik Loop Trail
Take a step away from the sunny and more heavily used Sanborn Drive and you'll land in an entirely different world. The Sinawik Loop, located in Joaquin Miller Park and just over a mile in length, is awash with botanical delights. It is shaded by bay laurels, has a relatively gentle grade, and sees less traffic then some of the more popular trails of the park. Quintessential plants of the watershed dot the sides of the trail, creating a community as diverse as it is beautiful. Our local friends on the Sinawik Loop include mugwort, hazelnuts, oceanspray, honeysuckle, wood mint, sticky monkeyflower, snowberry, thimbleberry, and so much more. Don't miss Lookout Point, near where Sinawik Trail and Sinawik Loop intersect: Your endeavors will be rewarded with one of the most breathtaking views in Oakland. The vista reaches across Oakland, the bay, and even to San Francisco on a clear day.
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There's a lot to love about the Oakland Volunteer Park Patrol. These hikers, runners, dog walkers, mountain bikers, and equestrians help trail users get to know the parks and trails (and have
FOSC trail maps in hand!) as well as collect awesome data on how the trail system is being used. If this form of stewardship appeals to you, grab one of the remaining seats at the next training session on Thursday, September 21, 6-9 p.m. at Dimond Branch Library. Click
here for more information.
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Our Annual Program Summary Report leapt into the 21st century. Click
here for a snazzy infographic on what FOSC accomplished last fiscal year thanks to volunteer efforts and generous funders.
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Often someone unexpectedly makes something better, and we have no idea who to thank. Angel stewards are great Friends! Summer camp leader Sara Newman enlightened us about one such community volunteer: Garrott Roddy. Litter eradication is what drives Garrott. Sara beamed, "Each day on our hikes through the canyon and park visits, Garrott diligently picked up trash using the gloves and bags he brought from home." As the photo shows, Garrott's dedication to doing what needs to be done isn't just trash-focused. He noticed that the Dimond Park Native Plant Garden sign was dirty, and he cleaned it up. Thank you, Garrott, for leading by example.
Kudos to Sam Orta for completing his Eagle Scout project. Sam's milestone journey started last fall when he raised funds to help grow bee-loving plants at the FOSC nursery. His team planted them at the Bridgeview Pollinator Garden in January. Sam then led his helpers in building and installing 25 bumblebee houses, some at the pollinator garden, and the rest near the Dimond Park demonstration garden. Sam was inspired to tackle this project because several species of bumblebees were recently put on the endangered list. He researched how he could initiate a conservation project to encourage native bees to settle in his local Oakland parklands.
We are very grateful to the hard workers from Olofson Environmental Inc. for showing up in droves to the Endangered Species Workday on August 5. Alongside many members from the Oakland community, the crew helped to clear oppressive shade over the pallid manzanita colony at Big Trees. They also removed a huge downed tree that had been knocked over by a storm onto a mature pallid manzanita. Thank you for helping us create a better environment for this endangered colony to thrive.
Three cheers for the many hands that restored the rock river at Woodbine Corner! Thank you to Tom Rose for being the mastermind and organizer and for his long-time commitment to this corner of our watershed. We are grateful to the Dimond Improvement Association for purchasing the load of rocks to refurbish the "stream." Two Team Oakland crews cleared nonnative plants from in and behind the stream bed, including a large broom plant. Finally, Tom's rock install team of Hayward Blake, Karen Marie Schroeder, Victoria Wake, and Alex Park completed the work to restore the rock river's "full flow."
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Event Calendar
CREEK TO BAY DAY
Sat., Sept. 16, 9 a.m.-noon
Beaconsfield Canyon
Dimond Ave. at Bienati Way
Dimond Park and Canyon (8:45 a.m. start time)
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Fruitvale Bridge Park
Jingletown
Josie de la Cruz Park
Marj Saunders Park
Montclair Railroad Trail
Wood Park (10 a.m. start time)
Bridgeview Trail
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., Oct. 8, 9-11 a.m.
Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st & 3rd Sundays)
Sun., Sept. 17 & Oct. 1, 9-11 a.m.
Native Plant Demontration Garden
in Dimond Park
(1st Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 7, 10 a.m.-noon
Palos Colorados Trailhead at end of Joaquin Miller Court
(last Sundays)
Sun., Sept. 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
BIRD MONITORING
Sequoia Arena Gate
Joaquin Miller Park
Sun., Oct. 8, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
BOTANY AND GEOLOGY WALK
Meet at the Dimond Park Scout Hut
Sun., Sept. 24, 10 a.m.-noon
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NURSERY WORKDAYS
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
(2nd and 4th Saturdays)
Sat., Sept. 16, 9 a.m.-noon
Sat., Sept. 23, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
COLLECTION HIKES
Location TBD
Fri., Sept. 29, 10 a.m.-noon
Join the Seed Hike Google Group
here
MEMBER MEETING
Dimond Library
Wed., Sept. 20, 7-9 p.m.
Igor Lacan,
Our Urban Forest
Save the Date
NATIVE PLANT SALE AND OPEN HOUSE
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Sun., Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
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A bouquet of thanks to Stephanie Law for creating this gorgeous monkeyflower illustration to promote our sale!
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Get Involved
Our mission is to restore, maintain, and protect the Sausal Creek Watershed. We educate future generations, involve the community in local environmental stewardship, and collaborate with agencies and other nonprofits to have a positive impact on the local ecosystem.
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FOSC needs your support --
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Contact:
Jill Miller
Restoration & Education Manager
510-853-3533
Kimra McAfee
Executive Director
510-501-3672
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Photo Credits: Stan Dodson, Michelle Krieg, Jill Miller, Sara Newman, Camille Nowell, Gigi Orta, Mark Rauzon, Erin Todd, Victoria Wake
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