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A common buckeye butterfly in the Bridgeview Pollinator Garden. Photo by May Chen.
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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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March Community Meeting
On Ohlone Land
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The Sausal Creek Watershed is Chochenyo Ohlone territory |
Join us for a presentation from Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) to learn about Ohlone history and how their members created the Sogorea Te' Land Trust.This is the first urban indigenous women-led land trust. The trust is working to regain access to native lands and preserve their traditions and cultural heritage.
On Ohlone Land
Wednesday, March 20, 7-9 p.m.
Dimond Library
3565 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland
As always, our bi-monthly community presentations are free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
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Explore the Watershed
A Hike in Fern Ravine
Karen Paulsell
I sometimes choose a hike location depending on the kind of vegetation I'd like to see or the seeds or flowers I'm interested in. Shall it be a hike in the understory of oaks and madrones or a visit to the redwood forest? Maybe I'll check out some coastal scrub, see what's blooming and what insects are visiting. Of course, including a stretch of creek is always sweet--that's a big point in being a friend of the creek! Well then, hmmm, why not go to a spot that's got a bit of each, and more?
The hike described here, especially the first stretch, is often my go-to hike, because it's short and easy enough for my creaky old knees and diverse enough to satisfy my need for a solid, sweet sample of native plants. It starts at the Fern Ravine wetland, goes through the FOSC redwood restoration site, follows Fern Ravine Creek down to Orchard Creek, and then takes Orchard Trail back uphill. A short stretch on the paved park road completes the third side of the triangle, and we're back at the wetland.
When Janet Gawthrop asked me recently if I'd like to lead a California Native Plant Society field trip sometime this spring, I decided this would be a good spot, and we might just get lucky and catch the small white trilliums in bloom.
The whole area up there has always puzzled me. Here we are at about 1,450 feet above sea level, and we've got the wetlands (originally one, now divided by a park drive into two wetlands), and we've got the headwaters of many small creeks all along the upper part of the park. There are many seeps and places where water just gushes from the ground during and immediately after rains. There were at least three homesteads in the wetland area back in the 1880s when you didn't homestead a place that did not have water available. Plus, the vegetation is really lush, not just in the wetlands and along the creek, but in many places across the upper part of the park. What's going on up here?
I found the answer when I wasn't really looking. I downloaded some GIS data from the USGS, the United States Geological Survey. It was the Oakland area USGS map of rock units, faults, and contacts. Poing! Surprise! There's a fault/contact that crosses Skyline Blvd. very close to this site. Above Skyline, we have Oakland Conglomerate, below is the Joaquin Miller formation. The web page above includes a pamphlet with descriptions of the rock units.
Join us for our hike at Fern Ravine with California Native Plant Society on March 16 (1
0 a.m.-noon) with Karen Paulsell and Beth Keer t
o learn more about this trail and its native plants.
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FOSC Friend of the Month: Justina Wong
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| Justina (right) with her husband Sean |
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Justina has been working in international development and sustainability for more than 14 years and cares deeply about FOSC's mission and its impact on the community. She is a Sustainability Program Manager at Facebook and is focused on improving labor and human rights and environmental sustainability in the supply chain. She holds a B.A. in government from Harvard College and a M.A. in international economics from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
A native Bostonian, Justina loves living in Oakland with her husband Sean and her two children Cate (2 years old) and Finn (4 months old). She is appreciative of the work that FOSC staff and volunteers accomplish and would like to acknowledge her dear family friend Ricky Jacobs (FOSC's board secretary) for her tireless work and devotion to environmental stewardship.
Thank you, Justina, for your support and your help with promoting FOSC events on Facebook. For more information on Facebook's sustainability initiatives, visit their web page.
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Event Calendar
RESTORATION WORKDAYS
Beaconsfield Canyon
(last Saturdays)
Sat., Mar. 30, 9 a.m.-noon
Bridgeview Trail Restoration
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., Mar. 10, 9-11 a.m.
Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st and 3rd Sundays)
Sun., Mar. 17 & Apr. 7, 9-11 a.m.
Dimond Park Native Plant Demonstration Garden
Sat., Apr. 6, 10 a.m.-noon
Mon., Apr. 1, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Montclair Railroad Trail
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3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Mar. 16, 9 -11 a.m.
Wood Park
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Mar. 16, 10 a.m.-noon
TRAIL CREW
TBD
(Last Sundays)
Sun., Mar. 31, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
PLANTING IN DIMOND CANYON
El Centro Trailhead
Sat., Mar. 9, 9 a.m.-noon
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FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
(2nd and 4th Saturdays)
Sat., Mar. 9 & 23, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
MARCH COMMUNITY MEETING
On Ohlone Land
Dimond Library
Wed., Mar. 20, 7-9 p.m.
FLYER
QUARTERLY CREEK CLEANUP
Dimond Park
Sun., Mar. 17, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
HIKE WITH CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Fern Ravine
Joaquin Miller Park
Sat., Mar. 16, 10 a.m.-noon
Save the Date
EARTH DAY WORKDAY
Various Sites
Sat., Apr. 20, 8:30 a.m.-noon
EVENTS OF OTHERS
Rangeland Matters: Grazing's Role in the East Bay
St. Alban's Parish Hall, 1501 Washington St., Albany
Tues., Mar. 12, 7:30-9 p.m.
CAL-IPC Invasive Plant Management Training - Alameda County
Livermore Public Library, 1188 S. Livermore Avenue, Livermore
Sat. Mar. 30, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
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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: May Chen, Karen Paulsell, Justina Wong
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