Workdays are 9 a.m. to noon the second Saturday of the month. We are asking volunteers to commit to six workdays over the next year. Each workday will begin with an educational unit before we start the habitat restoration work.

 

Topics covered will include the pallid manzanita life cycle, the conditions where it grows, and threats to its survival. You will learn about the native plant community at the site and how to identify invasive and native plants, including pallid manzanita seedlings. Also covered will be habitat restoration techniques, monitoring protocols, and germination experiment design.

 

Please RSVP to Jill Miller at [email protected] or (510) 853-3533 . The first meeting will be on Saturday, April 8 at 9 a.m. located at 10000 Skyline Blvd, Oakland .

Sunlight glimmering through redwoods, majestic oaks framing the trail, creek water rushing through the canyon--Andrew Aldrich's photos transport us to the magical places we love in the watershed. Thank you, Andrew, for capturing those moments that sometimes echo our own experiences and other times allow us to see flows and angles of light that we missed. We appreciate Andrew generously letting FOSC share his photos in this newsletter and elsewhere.

You can see some of Andrew's photos, as well as those of others, on the  Sausal Creek Watershed Flickr Group that Andrew started. Join and add your own!

Thanks so much to Damon Tighe for his fascinating fungus talk and iNaturalist training on March 8. Damon invites you to view the slides from his talk here.

While we are on the subject, bookmark the website of the California Center for Natural History to find other fun events by Damon and his CCNH colleagues. 

Why is Sausal Creek in Dimond Canyon posted for contamination? Is it safe to go in the creek? NO! is the short answer. Dangerous levels of bacteria have recently been present in the creek. Due to heavy rains and one clogged sewer line, there was an accidental discharge of sewage into Sausal Creek in mid-March. The discharge was almost directly under the Leimert Bridge.

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Kudos to Eagle Scout candidate Lane Bentley for creating a fantastic new trail on our nursery grounds that provides access to our evolving native plant demonstration garden. Working with a steep slope, Lane and his team created an interesting route that is level and safe. Thanks to the weed barrier and mulch that they installed, it should also be low maintenance. We look forward to adding this native plant tour to our nursery field trips!

FOSC is looking for a few people to join our board of directors. In particular, we seek to recruit people with experience in finance, human resources, fundraising, grant writing, education, or financial management. We are especially looking for board members who live in Fruitvale to be leaders as we move forward with projects from the Walkable Watershed Concept Plan. But don't rule yourself out if you don't fit these descriptions. Our board of directors is a dynamic, committed, fun community of people from a variety of backgrounds helping to steer our model watershed group into the future. Please contact Board Secretary Richelle Jacobs at [email protected] or (510) 531-1411 for more information on what board involvement entails.

Final push! As of April 2, the fund to buy new, library-grade furniture for Dimond Library was at  $44,491. Donate today to help the  Friends of Dimond Library make their goal of raising $50,000 before the library renovation is complete. Donate via check to Friends of the Oakland Public Library. Please write Dimond Library Furniture Fund on the check memo line and mail to: 721 Washington Street, Oakland, CA 94607. You can also donate online. Please include Dimond Library Furniture Fund in the Designation field. Thank you!

Photo Credits: Brendon Bell, Kathleen Harris, Michelle Krieg, Kimra McAfee, Betsy Nachman, Mark Rauzon