Silver bush lupine,
Lupinus albifrons
in the FOSC native plant nursery.
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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. Help us kick start our End of the Year 2019 campaign by donating early!
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Check out
the multiple ways to support FOSC, including contributions to our
For the Future
endowment fund.
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Don't Miss It!
14th Annual FOSC Native Plant Sale and Open House -- Oct. 20
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Join us on Sunday, October 20 for FOSC's 14th Annual Native Plant Sale and Open House. We open our nursery to the public one day a year so you can have your pick of our natives for your garden. Come early for best selection! 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.
Propagating Native Plants
by our native plant expert, Karen Paulsell begins at noon.
Shortly after, we will have the Harlan James bluegrass band at 1 p.m. Kids can join in on arts and crafts including basket weaving and face painting. Come out -- there is something for everyone.
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Native Plant Sale and Open House
FOSC Native Plant Nursery,
Joaquin Miller Park
Sunday, October 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
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Thank You to Our Native Plant Sale Sponsors
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Thank You to our 2019 Native Plant Sale and Open House sponsors for supporting this event and the work of FOSC:
We encourage you to support these businesses.
It's not too late to participate as a business or organization sponsor. Please contact Anna Marie
Schmidt at
coordinator@sausalcreek.org
.
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Fire Reduction Work Party
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Join us for an all out effort to pull French broom, limb up, and clear dead debris at the Chabot Space and Science Center. The goal is to reduce fire risks and to also clear an area adjacent to the pallid manzanita to improve the habitat for this fragile colony.
Since we no longer have the Wildfire Prevention Assessment District, we need community help. If you can’t do any heavy lifting, no problem, we need help with the signin table and traffic control.
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Fire Reduction Work Party
Chabot Space and Science Center
Saturday, October 12,
9 a.m.- noon
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Wear long sleeves, long pants and heavy shoes. Bring your own reusable water bottle.
This work party is a collaborative effort with Chabot Space and Science Center, Adopt-A-Spot site leader Wendy Tokuda, Oakland Fire Safe Council, and the Friends of Sausal Creek.
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Explore the Watershed
Analysis of Water Quality
By Shannon Louie
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What is Water Quality?
Water quality refers to the physical, biological, and chemical properties that determine the state, or quality, of water. Common water quality tests include turbidity (cloudiness), coliform levels, temperature, pH, and DO (dissolved oxygen). Measuring these and other characteristics of water allow scientists to assess the health of an ecosystem.
Monitoring Sausal Creek
Since as early as 1994, the Friends of Sausal Creek has been testing the water quality of Sausal Creek. With the help of citizen scientists, who comprise the water quality team, pH, temperature, coliform (bacterial colonies), conductivity, and E. coli levels are tested twice a year during the wet and dry seasons. For each season, testing occurs for five consecutive weeks. Water samples are collected at eight points along the creek and then sent to the Richmond EPA for laboratory analysis.
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Battle of the Bay - Creek to Bay Day
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Regardless of the which city wins the Battle of the Bay, the Sausal Creek Watershed was a big winner during this year's Creek to Bay Day cleanup on September 21. Our sincere thanks to over 230 hard-working community members who volunteered across 8 watershed sites. Together we filled four large dumpsters and another 125 bags with invasive plant material and picked up 43 bags of trash within the Sausal Creek Watershed. Thank you FOSCers!
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We are grateful to La Farine and Peet's Coffee & Tea in the Dimond District and Noah's Bagels in Temescal for their food and beverage donations that kept our Dimond Park volunteers energized.
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Kudos Korner
Yu Ming Charter School
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Yu Ming Charter School 6th and 7th grade students spent a week exploring the Sausal Creek watershed and giving back to the watershed community through their restoration efforts. They removed over 16 bags of invasive ivy and grasses. Students also selected topics of interest and learned about pollination, benthic macroinvertebrates, and the Oakland estuary.
Thank you to the Yu Ming Charter students for their dedicated stewardship of the watershed!
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FOSC Friend of the Month
Shannon Louie
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With the support of mentor and water quality lead, Kathleen Harris, Shannon Louie dedicated herself to FOSC water quality monitoring efforts this last year. She participated in seasonal water quality testing and tackled the huge tasks of analyzing and reporting the data on Sausal Creek. (See her article in this newsletter).
Shannon has also added another FOSC volunteer role to her very busy life; she recently joined our FOSC Board of Directors as a student
board member.
A senior at UC Berkeley, Shannon is finishing up her degrees in Environmental Sciences, B.S. and Molecular & Cell Biology, Biochemistry, B.A. She
works to instill in her peers her passion for environmental science and environmental health.
In her free time, she conducts immunology and diabetes research in the Saijo Lab, uses GIS to study hydrology and its effect on microrefugia in the RiverLab, and leads the American Red Cross at Cal.
Welcome Shannon, and thanks for your energy and many contributions!
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RESTORATION WORKDAYS
Beaconsfield Canyon
(Last Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 26, 9 a.m.-noon
Bridgeview Trail Restoration
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., Oct. 13, 9-11 a.m.
Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st and 3rd Sundays)
Sun., Oct. 6 & 20, 9-11 a.m.
Dimond Park Native Plant Demonstration Garden
(1st Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 5. & Nov. 2, 10 a.m.-noon
Marj Saunders Park
(1st Mondays)
Mon., Oct. 7 & Nov. 4, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Montclair Railroad Trail
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 19, 9 a.m.- 12 p.m.
Wood Park
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 19, 10 a.m.-noon
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PALLIDS CREW
Chabot Space and Science Center
(2nd Saturdays)
Sat., Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-noon
QUARTERLY BIRD MONITORING
Multiple Sites
Sat., Oct. 12, 12 - 4 p.m.
FOSC NATIVE PLANT SALE AND OPEN HOUSE
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
Sunday, October 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
FOSC COMMUNITY TALK
Oakland Public Library Dimond Branch
Wed., Nov 20, 7 - 9 p.m.
BAY CURRENTS TALK: JOSIE ISELIN
(Green) Power to the People
St. Alban's Parish Hall, 1501 Washington
Tues., Oct. 15, 7 p.m.
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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 --
Amazon Smile purchases donate 0.5% to FOSC
--
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Contact:
Becca Sanchez
Education and Outreach Coordinator
510-853-3533
Jay Cassianni
Restoration and Nursery Manager
510-325-9006
Anna Marie Schmidt
Executive Director
510-501-3672
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Photo Credits
: Becca Sanchez, Shannon Louie, Jeff Stephens, Nicki Alexander
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