Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Upcoming Mount Tam watershed volunteer days
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(begin press release)
Embrace the new year by participating in a fun, invigorating, outdoor event on Mt Tamalpais. Volunteers work with MMWD to restore habitat, improve trails, educate the public or gain service learning credits for school, all while exploring beautiful Mt Tam. Individuals are welcome to drop in; groups of ten or more should pre-register.
Trail Crew
Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Volunteers are needed for tread work and erosion control on Vic Haun Trail above Mill Valley. We will meet at 9 a.m. at Gravity Car Road by Throckmorton Fire Station, 816 Panoramic Hwy, Mill Valley.
Habitat Restoration and Hike on Lagunitas Creek
Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Improve salmon habitat by restoring native plant populations with MMWD's community partner SPAWN (Salmon Protection and Watershed Network). This event is part of the districts Gateway project, funded by the State Coastal Conservancy and the California Resources Agency's River Parkways program. After the lunch break, volunteers are invited to hike with naturalists to learn more about Lagunitas Creek. Please meet at 8:45 a.m. at the Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area at Shafter Bridge on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in West Marin before Samuel P. Taylor Park.
Habitat Restoration at Bon Tempe Lake
Saturday, January 16, 2010 from 9 a.m. to Noon
Invasive species removal at Pine Point on the northern shoreline of Bon Tempe. We will meet at Lagunitas Picnic Area at 9:00 a.m. Lagunitas Picnic Area is at the end of Sky Oaks Road, off Bolinas Road in Fairfax.
Help Protect Native Frogs and Turtles on Mt. Tam
Were looking for volunteers who can dedicate time from March through June to monitor two vulnerable animal species. Training to become a Frog Docent will be on February 27 and Turtle Observer training will be on March 13. After training, contribute time on your own schedule. More information coming soon...
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Save these dates!
Upcoming Trail Days: February 6, March 6
Upcoming Habitat Restoration Days: February 20, March 20
More details about MMWD's Volunteer Program can be found here: http://www.marinwater.org/controller?action=menuclick&id=253.
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Dress for changing weather, wear work shoes, bring your lunch, a water bottle and your friends! We provide snacks, water, instruction and inspiration.
Please note that all events are subject to cancellation due to heavy rain. Please call (415) 945-1128 the morning of the event. It could be raining on Mt. Tam. but sunny 10 miles away or vice versa!
Thank you for your participation.
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Suzanne Whelan
Volunteer Coordinator
Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters
Marin Municipal Water District
415-945-1128
volunteerprogram@marinwater.org
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Pygmy nuthatches
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Manzanitas at San Pedro Valley Park
There's always something to enjoy at San Pedro, one of my favorite local parks.
Read more here: http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/sanpedro.html
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Jenner Headlands preserved
Read more about the acquisition on the Sonoma Land Trust website and on SFGate.
Sierra Club Trails website
Hikers can post trail descriptions and updates can be added by subsequent visitors. Links to maps and websites as well as Google maps-based trailhead directions and trail photos are often included. Here in the bay area we have a plethora of on-line hiking information for our immediate area and beyond, so I don't know how useful bay area hikers will find the trail descriptions. Perhaps the best attributes of the site are the ability to comment on trail conditions and find information about out-of-state locations where on-line information is lacking (do places like this still exist?).
Anyway, check it out at http://trails.sierraclub.org/index.html
Monday, December 21, 2009
Missing hikers on Tam
Sean Dodd, 40, of Napa was reported missing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday near the railroad grade of the Corte Madera trail above Mill Valley. More than 39 search and rescue personnel - including five sheriff's deputies, five rangers from four different agencies, six firefighters from two departments and three dog teams - spent six hours combing the mountain before locating Dodd about 7:30 p.m.
'He was ultimately able to make his way down to surface streets, where he summoned a taxi to deliver him back to his car,' said Michael St. John, search and rescue coordinator for the Mill Valley Fire Department. 'There he encountered our incident personnel.'
Search and rescue teams were also looking for a group of 12 hikers from the East Bay who were additionally reported missing on Mount Tamalpais. That group was also able to find its way out of the woods and contact rescue personnel, St. John said.
'One of the things that was a common denominator in both of these incidents was the fact that it's getting dark earlier - we're right at the solstice, and it's pretty dark by 5 p.m.,' St. John said. 'We encourage people to plan accordingly, to make sure they've completed their hike before it gets dark and to bring a map and flashlight along. The most important thing is to tell people where they are going.'
Neither the Marin County Search and Rescue Team nor its member agencies charge groups or individuals for the cost of a rescue, St. John said.
'We feel charging would discourage people from seeking help,' he said."
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Here's a photo near the junction of Corte Madera Trail and Old Railroad Grade. Corte Madera Trail is a narrow path less than 1 mile long, that connects Old Railroad Grade and Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Trail. No details about the group of 12 from the East Bay; wonder where they were lost?
Franciscan manzanita found in Presidio
From the SF Chronicle 12/14/09:
"A San Francisco native plant that was believed to be extinct has been discovered near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The last, wild Franciscan Manzanita was believed to have perished in the 1940s when the city cemeteries where it grew were moved south to allow for neighborhood expansion.
But when construction crews recently cleared eucalyptus trees in the city's Presidio area, it exposed the only specimen known to exist in the wild.
Botanist Daniel Gluesenkamp spotted the manzanita shrub in the Presidio, a federal park overseen by the National Park Service.
Gluesenkamp reportedly spotted the rare shrub, which he was familiar with through his scientific work, as he drove from the Golden Gate Bridge into the Presidio. He later visited the site to confirm his sighting — the first in nearly 70 years.
'Finding this wild plant under our noses gives us a fantastic opportunity to protect this indigenous plant and to restore it,' said Brent Plater, executive director of the Wild Equity Institute.
Plater and other environmental groups filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the plant under the Endangered Species Act.
Plater said he did not expect the plant's discovery to affect the nearly $1.5 billion replacement of Doyle Drive, the south access road to the Golden Gate Bridge."