Update 1-22-2007

This message is hard to write. On the north side of Cerrito Creek at Pacific East Mall, where hundreds of volunteers did thousands of hours of work restoring natives beginning in 2001, nearly all the native grasses and many, probably most low-growing plants on the bank below the path appear to have been killed by herbicide. Three oaks appear to be dying as well.

My best guess is that this was a mistake by landscapers, who have long used herbicide to kill weeds on the path at the top of the bank. It follows a long series of insults to this restoration project, including repeated mowing that wiped out small native shrubs we had planted and kept grass from setting seed. Despite repeated requests, the owners of Pacific East Mall have never agreed to create a written maintenance plan for this project, as required in their use permit.

I apologize to all who spent so many hours, in all kinds of weather, transforming this creek bank from a fenced-off garbage-and-blackberry jungle to a burgeoning oak savannah, alive with wildflowers.

The sole bright spot I can see now is that City of Richmond staff has been very supportive. They appear ready to require the Mall to have professionals repair the damage AND to rectify other longstanding pollution problems, from failure to pick up litter to allowing grease, soap,and parking-lot runoff to drain into the creek and create a smelly, scummy pond on the bank, due to lack of required filters. However, we have not yet met with the Mall's owners. Given the past, I do not expect that their stewardship will go beyond the minimum required to get rid of government attention in the short term.

We need your help to show that people care about Cerrito Creek and this restoration. Please take a few moments to email Joe Light, a planner in the City of Richmond's Community Development Department, joe_light@ci.richmond.ca.us (there is an underscore between joe and light). If you worked on this restoration, please say why you volunteered and what it meant. If you have walked on the trail and enjoyed the grasses and wildflowers, the butterflies and birds -- or if you have been offended by the litter and smell --please say that. Please also cc us at f5creeks@aol.com. These emails may be critical to getting action and truly protected status for the creek.

Thank you for your help.

Susan Schwartz
President, Friends of Five Creeks