Update 10-10-2007
Big thank-yous to UC Berkeley student members of Circle K, Girl Scouts of Troop 1230, and their moms, for great work on Cerrito Creek at Albany Hill Saturday, Sept. 29. And special thanks to our Weekday Weed Warriors for removing the waterfront wall of broom at Berkeley's Shorebird Park - the restored Bay views are wonderful!
An exciting weekend ahead for watersheds:
Oct. 14 Work party on at Strawberry Creek mouth on Bay
EVENTS OF OTHERS
Oct. 14 Tiburon wetland center's Discovery Day, fall classes
State of the Estuary conference Oct. 16-18; more upcoming classes
Sausal Creek will be the focus of a class on basic principles of hydrology, erosion, and riparian biology, offered by Laurel Marcus at Merritt College Oct. 23 - Nov. 27, with Tuesday night meetings and weekend field days. Information at laurelm@ix.netcom.com or www.merritt.edu, code M1020.
Alameda County residents may register now for StopWaste's Feb. - May 2008 Master Composter class providing extensive training aimed toward passing on knowledge and enthusiasm. Teachers will be eligible for a stipend. For information contact www.BayFriendly.org or 510-444-SOIL.
Student art, poetry contest
Volunteers wanted for plant sale, Pt. Reyes restoration
Point Reyes National Seashore Habitat Restoration needs weed warriors to remove invasives, usually meeting at the Bear Valley Visitors Center at 9 am on the second and last Sundays. Contact Ellen Hamingson, restoration biologist, Ellen_Hamingson@nps.gov or 415-464-5196 to be added to the email list or to confirm day (HRP occasionally travels to other parks). Ask about a possible East Bay carpool. Bring lunch and water; tools and gloves provided.
Action alert for environmentally friendly flood control
Oct. 13 Art-Making on Cerrito Creek
From 11 am - 1 pm Saturday, Oct. 13 (come any time), environmental artist Zach Pine will join us in "Celebrating Cerrito Creek through Art," making a "vast, collaborative, temporary, multi-element, site-specific sculpture" at this beautiful restoration project on the south edge of El Cerrito Plaza, between Cornell and Kains. You can also enjoy the adjacent Saturday farmers' market, and we'll have snacks including a taste of jam made from the elderberries along the creek. Map and information at www.naturesculpture.com, You'll also find photos of Zach's previous art-making with Friends of Five Creeks on Codornices and Schoolhouse Creeks. Don't miss this experience!
From 10 am - noon Sunday, Oct. 14, please help us remove invasives from the mouth of Strawberry Creek in Eastshore State Park (behind Sea Breeze Deli, south side of University Avenue just west of I-880/580). Our progress here has been fantastic, the migrating waterbirds will be wonderful, and we'll take a short nature walk in the park afterwards for those interested. (Note, this is a location change for this work party.) We'll work in a light drizzle, but heavy rain cancels.
RSVP for Oct. 13 Codornices Creek tour
Please RSVP by tomorrow, Thursday, for the Codornices Creek Watershed Council's Saturday, October 13th, tour of Codornices Creek watershed with free lunch, 9am-1pm, including the new restoration project just beginning at St. Mary's High School, the recently completed restoration project at Sixth Street, and talks about shorelines birds and watershed habitat corridors. RSVP to Pam Boyle, pamboyle@gmail.com, (510) 759-1689.
Romburg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies holds its annual "Discovery Day," where you can look "behind the scenes" at exciting research, Sun., Oct. 14; information at http://rtc.sfsu.edu/discovery_day.htm.
For information on the center's fall professional-development short courses this fall, including Wetlands Restoration Ecology, GIS for Wetlands, and Tidal Marsh Plant Communities, go to http://online.sfsu.edu/%7Ewetlands/schedule.htm.
The every-other-year State of the Estuary conference, a wide-ranging assessment of the ecological health of the Bay-Delta Estuary, will be Oct. 16-18 at Oakland's Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive. Contact http://sfep.abag.ca.gov/soe/ or 510-622-2398. Pre-registration ends tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 11. It's not cheap - but the information is great!
The Coastal Commission's annual Coastal Art and Poetry Contest invites California students in grades K-12 to send art or poetry with a California coastal or marine theme. Winners and their teachers will receive gift certificates; students' work may be featured in Commission materials. Information at www.coastforyou.org, coast4u@coastal.ca.gov, or (800) Coast-4U.
The East Bay chapter of the California Native Plant Society is looking for volunteers before and during its annual plant sale and fair at Native Here Nurseryin Tilden Park, Oct. 20 and 21. Contact bkeer@sbcglobal.net or elainejx@mindspring.com. Information on the fair at www.ebcnps.org.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has only a few day in which to decide which bills from the previous legislative session to sign or vet. The Planning and Conservation League has urgently asked that people CALL the governor to ask him to sign the package of environmentally-oriented flood-control bills that passed the Legislature, important for protection of both citizens and the environment. For information and the number(s) to call, go to http://action.nwf.org/pcl/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=6219848.