Meet LandPaths - Sharing Our Love Of Nature Every Step Of The Way

In partnership with the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and Sonoma County Regional Parks, LandPaths will be offering a new opportunity for Bellevue District elementary teachers and Sonoma County high school teachers to bring their students to explore Taylor Mountain. All teachers who wish to participate in the program must complete a teacher training and orientation facilitated by LandPaths. The training will include completion of the Taylor Mountain Permit Orientation, training in the LandPaths-developed curriculum, and program administrative requirements (scheduling, permission slips, reporting).

Contact Heather Knoll, LandPaths Program Assistant, for more information and orientation dates: (707) 544-7284 x17 or heather@landpaths.org. 

Working on a school project that helps restore an ecosystem and will endure for years to come is not something most students have time to squeeze in between math and spelling, but the Flowery Elementary 3rd graders in Sonoma are doing just that. Begun in the 2008-09 season as part of LandPaths' In Our Own Backyard (IOOBY) program, and continued this year with a grant from the EPA and the Sonoma Valley Fund, Flowery students are restoring a native grassland with far-reaching implications.

Last spring, Flowery students collected native purple needlegrass, California brome, and blue wild rye seeds from Glen Oaks Ranch, a Sonoma Land Trust property in Glen Ellen. This year's 3rd grade planted the seeds in their school's greenhouse in September. By November the seedlings were robust and ready to be transplanted back at Glen Oaks to an oak meadow over-run by thistle and non-native grasses. Students planted the seedlings, mulched and watered them, and marked each one with a flag so that they could be located later in the year. On subsequent visits to the property, they kept their grasslings watered and mulched, and their plots weeded. By June, most of the grasses had grownseveral feet, and even produced seeds of their own! Next year's third grade will repeat the process, steadily increasing native grass populations on the property.

There are several differences between the non-native, annual grasses that were introduced to the California landscape from the Mediterranean by European settlers and thnative, perennial grasses that comprised our grasslands for hundreds of years. Perennial grasses are more drought tolerant than their annual counterparts. In fact, when only native grasses grew here, the hills of Sonoma County used to stay green all year long!

Perennial grasses live for several years, and are able to establish deep root systems (purple needle grass has been reported to have roots 16 ft deep!) that can absorb water from deep underground. In contrast, annual grasses complete their entire life cycle in one season, and only grow roots a few inches deep, dying as soon as the rains stop.

Annual grasses lose most of their nutritional value after the rainy season and turn brown. In contrast, native grasses persist as high-quality forage for native animals throughout the year, providing food for deer, birds, insects, and rodents.

Settlers both introduced annual grasses and suppressed wild fires to protect settlements and livestock. As a result, annual grasses spread quickly. However, published research in Ecology (2004) shows that, once reintroduced, perennial grasses hold their own against non-native annual grasses (more on CA grasslands at www.cnga.org).

By working to strengthen native grass populations, Flowery students are acting as positive role models and ecological stewards in their community, providing valuable food and habitat for native California wildlife, and creating a legacy of environmental education that will continued as a Flowery 3rd grade tradition for years to come.

In Our Own BackYard (IOOBY) is LandPaths' school-based education program. If you'd like to be a part of this wonderful work, contact Bree Benton at Bree@LandPaths.org and register to become an IOOBY volunteer.

This article was written by Lansia Jipson, LandPaths Assistant Education Director.  It appeared in the Summer 2010 edition of LandPaths Calendar / Newsletter.

August 13 UPDATE: The second public access meeting for Stewarts Point Ranch will be on Wednesday, August 18th from 6:30pm-8pm at the Gualala Community Center. It is located at: 47950 Center Street Gualala, CA 95445-7538. Alta Planning and Design, the consulting firm we have hired to help with the public access planning, will be presenting and discussing the opportunities and constraints and preliminary options for granting limited public access to this coastal working landscape. Please join us if this is of interest to you. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

July 23 UPDATE: Over 45 neighbors, partners, and members of the public turned out to discuss public access and other planning details for the Stewarts Point Ranch, 871 acres of redwood forest and coastal bluffs (including a future section of the California Coastal Trail).   LandPaths has been working with Pacific Forest Trust and Alta Planning to assist with public outreach for this project.  If you missed the meeting, see the links below for the draft plans, maps, and full powerpoint presentation.  We will post future edits to the draft plan as they become available.

July 18 UPDATE: "Alta Planning and Design, the consulting firm hired to help PFT create a Public Access Plan for Stewarts Point has researched the potential public access areas and compiled their findings into two reports, which are attached. You can read about the preliminary planning ideas and opportunities and constraints for public access on Stewarts Point. Further discussions will take place at the public access outreach meeting on July 22nd in Sebastopol. Please feel free to also send any comments regarding these documents to Jessica Neff: jneff@pacificforest.org if you cannot attend the meeting."

Click here for a project overview and basic map of the property.  More details, including a draft plan, will be posted here as they become available.  

If you would like to submit comments or if you simply have a question, please contact:

Jessica Neff
Stewardship Manager
Pacific Forest Trust
1001-A O’Reilly Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94129
415-561-0700 x26
jneff@pacificforest.org

Bayer Farm Neighborhood Park and Gardens is proud to once again be a site for the Free Summer Lunch Program, designed to serve children in low-income neighborhoods.  In collaboration with the Redwood Empire Food Bank and with the assistance of St. Joseph’s Health Systems and numerous neighborhood volunteers, all children under the age of 18 who come to the volunteer-run program are given a freshly-prepared, nutritionally balanced lunch for free.  The program runs Monday through Friday, 11:30-1pm throughout the summer, and we are averaging 80 children a day! 

Of course, having the program at Bayer Farm offers so much more than just a free lunch to the kids – they have the chance to run around, help in the garden, play games, do arts and crafts, and best of all, to form a connection with nature.  The kids especially love sitting in the willow tree, helping to water the plants, exploring the tall grasses and hopping from one hay bale to the next! 

Stop by to lend a hand or just explore the gardens. Click here for directions and more info. If you would like to help at free lunch, we could use more volunteers to help set-up and serve lunch or lead worthwhile activities with the parents and/or kids. Being bilingual is a plus but is definitely not necessary! Please contact Magdalena for more information at 707-544-7284 x11 or Magdalena@LandPaths.org.    . 

LandPaths' IOOBY program (In Our Own Backyard) marked 11 years of environmental education programming in Sonoma County, celebrating teachers, volunteers, and partners for all they do to help over 700 students around the county "adopt", explore, learn about and steward a local open space property. 

Bree and Lansia, IOOBY director and assistant director, showed slides from the field visits, capturing some of the many moments and quotes of kids connecting with the outdoors.

To learn more about IOOBY, click here: http://www.landpaths.org/index.cfm/page/Get-Kids-Outside-In-Our-Own-Backyard

 

Bayer Farm - growing local food and community leaders like LandPaths volunteer Ivan Chang (thanks Ivan!).  Read more in this write-up in the Press Democrat  - and then lend a hand on the farm this Friday, May 14, 2-5pm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kick off the iGROW weekend at Bayer Farm!  Grab your sun hat, shovel, friends and family to participate in a garden workday filled with activities for all ages. Help LandPaths and Conservation Corps North Bay as we install a habitat garden, make garden flags, plant the summer teaching garden, and clean-up potential hazards at Bayer Farm in Roseland. Following the afternoon of working in the garden we will celebrate Bayer Farm and the Roseland Community with snacks and live entertainment from the local group the Imaginists!

Friday, May 14 - 2-5pm at Bayer Farm in Roseland (1550 West Avenue, Santa Rosa - visit link for map)

For more information and to RSVP contact Conservation Corps North Bay at (415) 884-3524 or email takingroot.bayerfarm@gmail.com or contact LandPaths at 707-544-7284 x11.

 

 

 

Spring Calendar of Outings: (PDF link | online calendar)

Spring is here, the flowers are out, and the grass is green - a perfect time to Get Outside in Sonoma County!  LandPaths makes it easy - whether you're looking for vigorous hikes, family explorations, or opportunities to steward some of our beautiful open spaces, you'll find it in LandPaths' Spring Calendar of Outings.

Map caption: LandPaths helped bring the vision of a Sonoma Mountain Ridge Trail closer to reality. This trail is an important link in the Bay Area Ridge Trail, connecting south to the Petaluma Adobe, north west to Hood Mtn, and continuing to encircle the entire Bay Area. More information at: www.ridgetrail.org.

If you prefer, you can now download a printable PDF version of our Calendar. Please note that due to space limitations, the PDF / print version is not a complete list of our outings. For the most current offerings, check our website.

Our Calendar highlights outings from April to June and contains something for just about everybody. Many outings are sponsored by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.

More District-Sponsored Outings
The District sponsors an outings series throughout the county with LandPaths and other partners including the Sonoma Ecology Center, Laguna Foundation, local Resource Conservation Districts, and the Center for Social & Environmental Stewardship.  For a listing of outings offered through this partnership, visit http://www.sonomaopenspace.org/cal.php?view=outings.  

Mailing List Updates
If you are also on our "snail mail" list, you should have received the paper version of our Outings Calendar in the mail. For the sake of saving paper, let us know if you'd prefer to receive only emails. To be added to our paper mail list, or if you have questions or comments, let us know.

Thanks for your continued interest and support as we work to connect people with the land in Sonoma County.

~Your Friends at LandPaths

Learn more about nationwide efforts to reconnect kids with nature - and then get your kids outside with LandPaths (Family Amphibian Search, April 24).  

The SRJC Foundation David Del Monte Lectureship Endowment proudly presents "Reconnecting Kids with Nature" featuring Avery Cleary, Amy Pertshuck, and Susan Sachs Lipman. Their talk is inspired by the work of author Richard Louv (recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal) and his award-winning book, Last Child in the Woods. The event takes place on Monday, April 12, 2010, 12:15pm at the Newman Auditorium, Santa Rosa Campus. The lecture will also be available via video-conference from the Mahoney Library, Rm. 726, Petaluma Campus. Admission is free, but a $4 permit is required to park on the SRJC campus.

Avery Cleary, Amy Pertshuck, and Susan Sachs Lipman from the Children & Nature Network will discuss the nationwide effort to reconnect children to the outdoors. They will highlight the resources that inspire, empower and engage adult participation in the movement to connect children and nature and simple steps that each of us can take to help make day-to-day experiences of nearby nature the cultural norm. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working nationally and internationally to reconnect children with nature.

Additional information on their talk and related efforts is available at:

• http://www2.santarosa.edu/file-depot/download.php?action=dl&id=18325
• http://naturecircles.org/averybio.html
• http://www.childrenandnature.org/

Bike to Work Day - May 13, 2010.

Click here for more details from the Sonoma County Bike Coalition.  

"Energizer Stations" are located along commute routes where bicyclists can stop for refreshments, giveaways, and bicycling information or simply to be ‘cheered on' by fellow participants. 

More than one million Bay Area residents live within five miles of their workplace, an ideal distance for bicycling. The work commute only represents 23% of all trips, so consider how you also may be able to bike to shop, to school, for errands, and for social events. In a world concerned with climate change, pollution, congestion and wasted time, the question is: Why not bike to work?

According to the American Community Survey, 43,000 Bay Area residents use a bicycle as their primary means of getting to work every day. On Bike to Work Day, we expect hundreds of thousands of people to bike to work in the Bay Area, with many being first time bike commuters.