Our hearts go out to all impacted by the fires in the North Bay. Here in the East Bay, we are daily monitoring the air quality and the Red Flag warnings to make the best decisions on what FOSC events must be rescheduled. Please check the event calendar for a cancellation notice prior to heading out to an event. We will also keep you updated via the FOSC listserv. Be careful and stay well!
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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!
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Don't Miss Our 12th Annual Native Plant Sale -- Oct 22!
Join us on October 22 for FOSC's annual Native Plant Sale and Open House. As in the past, we open our nursery to the public on this day only so you can have your pick of our natives for your garden. Come early for best selection! Presentations start at noon with Propagating Native Plants by our favorite green thumb, Karen Paulsell. All day we'll have experts available to help you select local natives for your outdoor spaces as well as information booths with urban gardening tips. We are excited to offer a free Make A Seed Ball workshop--note that this activity will last only while supplies do. And don't forget--bluegrass music (1 p.m.), face painting, and sale sponsor EBMUD with water conservation info--something for everyone!
Native Plant Sale and Open House
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
Sunday, October 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
FLYER
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What do good beer and a healthy watershed have in common? People who are passionate about water quality! FOSC and local brewery Ale Industries are teaming up to celebrate the volunteers who help keep our watershed clean.
Join us on November 4 to pick up litter and then enjoy a complimentary pour at the Ale Industries brewery taproom. (Tipping a glass is not required to join in the cleanup effort.)
We will work our way down Fruitvale Avenue following the path of Sausal Creek, from Ale Industries to Fruitvale Bridge Park, picking up litter before it goes into storm drains, into the creek, and then out the mouth to the San Francisco Bay estuary.
Fruitvale Cleanup
NW Corner E. 10th Ave. and Fruitvale Ave.
Saturday, November 4, 9 a.m.-noon
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This year's Creek to Bay Day was a huge success, thanks to all our hard-working volunteers: 280 volunteers across 11 sites, 98 bags of trash, and 57 cubic yards and 148 bags of green waste. Check out this
infographic to see who did what where in the Sausal Creek Watershed. Thank you, FOSCers!
We are grateful to La Farine and Peet's in the Dimond District and Noah's Bagels in Montclair for their donations to keep our Dimond Park volunteers fueled.
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Explore the Watershed
A Hummingbird's Best Friend
Scientific name:
Epilobium canum
Common name: California fuchsia
This perennial willowherb is found throughout the foothills and coastal regions of California. Its flashy, trumpet-like flowers are a vibrant red, which is particularly attractive to its beloved pollinator, the hummingbird. The elongated flower excludes other pollinators from its sweet nectar, making it the best plant around to attract hummingbirds to your yard. It is
one of the few plants in the area that will flower at the height of summer, and it loves sunny growing areas.
The FOSC Native Plant Nursery will have a large stock of these local natives available at the plant sale, but they go fast! Make sure you get there early to secure your own hummingbird's paradise.
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Friend of the Month: Lech Naumovich
FOSC volunteers and staff have been working for two decades to save the endangered pallid manzanita, and thanks to tree removals at the Chabot Space and Science Center, the colony there has seen a dramatic increase in germination. This year, as we conduct the second round of annual monitoring at the site, we are extremely grateful to have the pro bono services of biologist Lech Naumovich of
Golden Hour Restoration Institute who is overseeing implementation of the Habitat Enhancement and Conservation Plan. Lech has extensive experience in rare plant surveys, vegetation mapping, restoration ecology, conservation science and, key to this project, he's a pallid manzanita expert. He authored the
East Bay Regional Park District Pallid Manzanita Management Plan and continues to work with the district on species management.
Lech has generously given of his time to answer countless questions on field methods and research approaches, lent his staff to help with monitoring, and offered advice that led to creating the Pallids Crew--a dedicated group of monthly volunteers. If that weren't enough, Lech is someone everyone enjoys working with and has a way of explaining science that makes you eager to learn and do more--from the details of tagging to the hard work of understanding the site's role as a piece in a habitat-wide puzzle. Thank you, Lech, for helping us be superior pallid manzanita stewards!
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Dimond Park Restoration Gets Major Award
It really began five years ago when volunteers (maybe you?) began planting 400 California blackberry cuttings and collecting seed for 270 California fescue plants. Nearly two years ago, a total of over 2,700 FOSC-grown plants went in the ground to complete the Dimond Park Sausal Creek Restoration Project, which daylighted and restored a large section of the creek in the park. At the State of the Estuary Conference on October 10, the project received an Outstanding Environmental Project Award from the Friends of the San Francisco Estuary. Thank you to everyone at the City of Oakland who made this project happen, especially to Oakland Watershed Program's Kristin Hathaway who managed the project. We laud Restoration Design Group for project design, Four Dimensions Landscape Company for the planting plan, D-Line Constructors for project construction, and Shelterbelt Builders for getting all the local natives grown by FOSC volunteers into the ground. We are proud to have been a partner on this unique project to enhance one of our city's most popular parks.
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Welcome Education and Stewardship Intern Kelcey Tern. Kelcey was a buildOn volunteer with FOSC during high school. Having recently graduated from Cal State Monterey Bay, she returns to the fold to help Jill with field trips at sites throughout the watershed, assist Erin with plant sale preparations and sale day, support volunteer-led workdays, and tell the FOSC story at the Día de los Muertos festival in Fruitvale on October 29. Check out our
staff web page to virtually meet Kelcey, or introduce yourself when you see her in the watershed.
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Percy Honniball strikes again! As the co-leader of the monthly FOSC Trail Crew, Percy recognized that volunteers might find it a tad easier to meet at the Scout Hut if the meeting location was labeled. Thanks so much, Percy, for crafting and installing the sign.
A huge thank you to Sita Hanlon for donating a refrigerator so that we can keep our seeds convinced that it is winter and time their germination to meet the needs of our propagation plan.
Congratulations to Hillside Gardeners of Montclair
on celebrating their 70th anniversary! We laud the club for its work to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening among amateurs; aid in the protection of native trees, plants, and birds; and encourage civic planting and conservation. The club uses the funds raised in biannual garden tours to support young people in becoming gardeners and conservationists. Hillside grants have benefited students in Merritt College's Landscape Horticulture Department, efforts at UC Botanical Garden, and FOSC interns. Their members also work to maintain two gardens at Lake Merritt, the Garden at Montclair Library, the planter beds around the Joaquin Miller Community Center parking lot, and Shortline Pocket Park in Montclair. Thank you Hillside Gardeners for all you do!
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Second Chance to See What Kills our Urban Trees
It's not the same as hearing Dr. Igor Lacan in person, but if you missed the September FOSC meeting you can view his slides here. The presentation covered the major pathogens and pests that attack our local trees and tips for preventing further losses, like Don't Move the Firewood!
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Friends of Dimond Park invite you to attend a meeting titled
About Dimond Park on Tuesday, October 17, 6:30-8 p.m. at the Dimond Library, 2nd Floor. Speakers include:
Ken Lupoff, executive director of Oakland Parks Foundation:
The Big Picture
Chris Sheppard, arborist:
Dimond Park Trees--Present and Future
Michelle Doppelt, Dimond Park recreation supervisor:
Where We Are and Want To Be
You can help improve Dimond Park by helping at the Table and Bench Painting Day on Saturday, November 4, 9:30 a.m.
Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, director of U.C. Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory, reports that last spring's Sudden Oak Death blitzes recorded the highest statewide infection rate since 2008. This fall there are two East Bay workshops where you can learn about the highest risk neighborhoods and what you can do to protect your oaks and slow down the progression of this lethal exotic disease. See
www.matteolab.com for details on the October 25 and November 8 East Bay workshops (both at 1 p.m. on the Cal campus); register by emailing
kpalmieri@berkeley.edu.
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Event Calendar
RESTORATION WORKDAYS
Beaconsfield Canyon
(last Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 28. 9 a.m.-noon
Bridgeview Trail
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., Nov. 12, 9-11 a.m.
Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st & 3rd Sundays)
Sun., Nov. 5 & 19, 9-11 a.m.
Dimond Park Native Plant Demonstration Garden
(1st Saturdays)
Sat., Nov. 4, 10 a.m.-noon
Fruitvale Cleanup
Sat., Nov. 4, 9 a.m.-noon
Marj Saunders Park
(1st Mondays)
Mon., Nov. 6, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Montclair Railroad Trail
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 21, 9-11 a.m.
Wood Park
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-noon
Bridgeview Trailhead
(last Sundays)
Sun., Oct. 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
PALLID MANZANITA CREW
Chabot Space and Science Center
Join us next spring when workdays resume.
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NATIVE PLANT SALE AND OPEN HOUSE
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
Sun., Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
NURSERY WORKDAYS
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
Fri., Oct. 20, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 21, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 28, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
MEMBER MEETING
Dimond Library
Wed., Nov. 15, 7-9 p.m.
Pete Veilleux, How to Beautifully Landscape Your Home with Natives
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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: Shelagh Brodersen, Marcus Chan, Jeff Ebbner, James DiPalma, Michelle Krieg, Ben Livsey, Kimra McAfee, Jill Miller, Jill Sunahara, Millie Swafford, Kelcey Tern
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