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Volunteers helped to remove invasive grasses, plant native plants, and mulch the Jingletown Native Plant Garden on our Martin Luther King Jr. Workday
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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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Help Protect Our Rainbow Trout!
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A rainbow trout swims in Sausal Creek |
We are lucky to still have a population of
wild rainbow trout living in Sausal Creek, and we all must work together to ensure their survival. FOSC was alarmed and saddened to receive a report on renewed fishing in the vicinity of Dimond Park, and we want to make sure everyone knows what to do if they observe people in or around the creek with fishing poles and/or nets.
Fishing for rainbow trout in Sausal Creek is against California State Law regardless of whether you hold a valid fishing license. Any fishing activities should be reported immediately to
CalTIP (Californians Turn in Poachers and Polluters)
. You can download the application on your phone, or call their toll-free 24/7 number directly: 1-888-334-CALTIP (888-334-2258).
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Explore the Watershed
Micrasema: A Sausal Creek Architect
Common Name: Little caddisfly
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A little caddisfly
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Scientific Name: Micrasema sp.
Our most abundant caddisfly is a little creature that makes its case from grains of sand, packing each tiny particle into a tight, silk-lined home with architectural precision.
This caddisfly is tiny, only about half a centimeter long. The case in which it resides is curved like a cornet. If you find one, you have to be patient; you will not see the case's inhabitant until it feels safe enough to stick out its legs and tries to make an escape. To watch a caddisfly emerge from the case, check out our video on YouTube.
Micrasema sp.
(the genus is Micrasema, and we have not keyed down to species) is in the family Brachycentridae. We have found it in Joaquin Miller Park and, in spite of a low tolerance for pollution, as far down the creek as Barry Place at East 27th St. It is the only one of the cased caddisflies in our watershed that appears below Highway 13.
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FOSC Friends of the Month: Wood Park Leadership Team
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| Photo: The Leadership Team in Wood Park. Sitting: Raidan Behr, Taylor Wong, Steve Alavardo, Standing: Jennifer Lilla, Yvette Hash, Tracy Chocholousek, Lisa Lemus, Katy Alvarado. Not Pictured: Rick O'Heron & sons, Fredrika Sumelius, Rolando Morales and Susannah Mackintosh & daughters. |
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Thank you to the Friends of Wood Park Leadership Team, which works to beautify Wood Park and to turn it into a more sustainable habitat for the wildlife of the Sausal Creek Watershed.
Team members collaborate on the maintenance of the park and rotate the lead as needed for long-term sustainability. Jennifer Lilla is the current lead; fellow team members serve as back-ups. This allows their third Saturday gardening events to continue even when leaders need to take care of health issues, need a vacation break, or tend to other pressing commitments. With a dynamic core of volunteers, this system has worked for over 14 years of stewarding the park.
A note from the team: "We are so grateful for FOSC support over the years! We feel your support keeps things moving beautifully. We are grateful that Wood Park is looking more beautiful and cared for."
The Wood Park volunteering workday is every 3rd Saturday at 10 a.m.
The team is thankful for their volunteers, who come from the neighborhood, schools, or youth groups, or just show up on the workday "out of the blue." Every bit makes a difference for Wood Park.
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The completed soil platform at the FOSC nursery
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Kudos to Hazel Hopper who created a
metal bottomed platform for soil at the FOSC nursery. She used donated materials secured from her mother, Kristen Hopper, who is the owner and manager of Oaktown Nursery.
The new platform is another best management practice for preventing the spread of phytophthora (the pathogen responsible for Sudden Oak Death). This elevated structure helps keep the soil (not currently pictured) for planting separate from soil/water that runs downhill after it rains. Soil from outside of the nursery is a potential contaminant, but the platform reduces that risk.
Thank you, Hazel, for your work on our new platform, and Kristen for donating materials to make the project possible.
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Welcome to our spring Education and Stewardship Intern Moises Alvarez. Moises holds degrees in Geology & Environment and Anthropology from San Francisco State University. He comes to FOSC from his year-long internship at the Presidio where he
discovered his passion for birds and had the opportunity to participate in habitat restoration projects around the Bay Area.
Moises will collaborate with our Education and Outreach Coordinator Nicki Alexander on field trips throughout the watershed and assist Nursery and Restoration Manager Jay Cassianni with restoration and nursery workdays. Check out our
staff web page to virtually meet Moises, or introduce yourself when you see him in the watershed.
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Event Calendar
RESTORATION WORKDAYS
Beaconsfield Canyon
(last Saturdays)
Sat., Feb. 23, 9 a.m.-noon
Bridgeview Trail Restoration
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., Feb. 10, 9-11 a.m.
Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st and 3rd Sundays)
Sun., Feb. 17 & Mar. 3, 9-11 a.m.
Dimond Park Native Plant Demonstration Garden
Sat., Mar. 2, 10 a.m.-noon
Mon., Mar. 4, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Montclair Railroad Trail
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typically
3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Feb. 9, 9 -11 a.m.
Wood Park
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Feb. 16, 10 a.m.-noon
Trail Crew
Bridgeview Trail at Monterey Blvd.
(Last Sundays)
Sun., Feb. 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
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PLANTING IN DIMOND CANYON
Sat., Feb. 9, 9 a.m.-noon
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
(2nd and 4th Saturdays)
Sat., Feb. 9 & 23, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Save the Date
MARCH COMMUNITY MEETING
Dimond Library
Wed., Mar. 20, 7-9 p.m.
On Ohlone Land
Save the Date
QUARTERLY CREEK CLEANUP
Dimond Park
Sun., Mar. 17, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
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| The second storm drain mural in Jingletown, painted in collaboration with Jingletown Arts and Business Community on our MLK Jr. workday. |
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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:
Nicki Alexander
Education and Outreach Coordinator
510-853-3533
Anna Marie Schmidt
Executive Director
510-501-3672
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Photo Credits: Kathleen Harris, Hazel Hopper, Nicki Alexander, Lisa Lemus, Moises Alvarez
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