By Nikki Muench Summertime in the Bay Area: tourists visiting from other states and countries flock to San Francisco and Point Reyes National Seashore, bundled in newly purchased fleece jackets from The North Face, and questioning why the Northern California beaches are foggy, cold and windy. As a volunteer Snowy Plover Docent at Point Reyes, I answer many visitor questions all summer long during my shifts, in addition to talking about a petite, federally threatened shorebird that inhabits the large beaches of the park. The Western Snowy Plover, a small, sand-colored, sparrow-sized …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
What Difference Does One Field Trip Make?
By Anne Bremer It’s lunchtime on a crisp, clear January day. Ivonne, a 5th grade student, has spent her morning exploring Wildcat Creek on a field trip to Alvarado Park, and now she approaches us brimming with excitement. Normally shy in class, she tells us that she feels so much more confident speaking up here in the outdoors than in class! As Ivonne returns to her friends, her teacher chimes in. “This is awesome,” she tells us. “I’m so grateful to have you leading the field trip. I don’t have any of the training to be able to lead something like this on my own, even if we had the budget for …
From weeds to flowers: Hope Gardens create urban oases in North Richmond
By Paula White Got weeds? If you live in North Richmond, there's hope for you. Last month a crew of North Richmond residents helped plant "Hope Gardens" for their neighbors. These five gardens have transformed planting strips between the sidewalk and street from weedy eyesores into beautiful urban oases. Each of the gardens was adopted by a resident whose home is behind the garden. In exchange for having an attractive new garden planted, the garden adopters have agreed to water and maintain them and received a tool kit containing a hose, large metal bucket, digging tools, and gloves to help …
Mentoring for the future
By Sharon Gibbons At The Watershed Project, we’ve had the great pleasure of hosting high school students as part of our Greening Urban Watersheds team for the school year. The students participate in the Albany High School EDSET program, (Environmental Design, Society, English, and Technology) and they volunteer with us on Fridays during the school year, instead of attending classes. They have had a busy time helping us plant trees in North Richmond, planting and tending new bioswales on the Richmond Greenway, and helping to host our fall/spring Shoreline Cleanup days at the Albany Bulb. Our …
Neither a pickle, nor a weed, its pickleweed!
With the summer approaching and warmer weather already here, shorelines like Point Pinole, Albany Bulb, and Shimada Friendship Park become great options for outdoor activity and recreation. If you find yourself at a shoreline in the Bay area, you may find this versatile plant lining the shorezone! The pickleweed, sea bean, sea asparagus, or Salicornia pacifica is a perennial herb native to northern, central, and southern california. While native to California, it can occasionally be found in Alaska and on the East coast near the Great Lakes. Interestingly enough, despite the name, it is …
Spring Cleaning and Greening on Earth Day
By Paula White There was a holiday mood in the air at our Earth Day events this year—perhaps because of the sunshine after a rainy winter and the profusion of plants and pollinators we’re seeing at our newly planted bioswales. We had nearly 300 volunteers helping us fulfill our mission to improve the health of our watersheds. We kicked off the Earth Day season by putting some plants in the ground at our bioswale near 17th and Ohio on the Richmond Greenway. These beautiful and hardworking plants filter pollutants from stormwater, improve air quality and provide habitat for pollinators. The …
Bioblitzes and Biodiversity
By Sarah Haselton What is a bioblitz? A bioblitz is a citizen-science event combining the efforts of the public to record as many species as possible within a specific region. These events often take place over a short period of time, up to 24 hours, and the area studied can vary in geographic region as well as size. At a bioblitz event members from the community work together with the common goal of better grasping the local biodiversity. The data collected from bioblitz events are important resources for local conservation efforts. The end goal of a bioblitz is to get an overall tally of …
Go With the Flow: Urban Creek Care Tips
By Paula White A creek flowing through your back yard can be a restful oasis with proper care. In the pages of the newly updated Living With Creeks brochure, we offer guidance on how to keep your creek healthy so that you, your neighbors, and local wildlife will be happy. Tip 1: Get informed about how to care for your creek. If you don’t have a creek running through your backyard but want to be involved with creek stewardship, The Watershed Project has many opportunities throughout the year to participate in creek cleanups and water quality and habitat monitoring. Tip 2: Give the creek some …