Update 4-4-2007
PLEASE SUPPORT PIERCE ST. BICYCLE PATH SOUTH OF CERRITO CREEK
After much effort (and big thanks to longtime F5C member Preston Jordan), a plan has been developed that will eliminate only one of the existing 114 parking spaces. Although condominium residents do have difficulty finding parking, I believe this plan should be supported in view of the importance of this link in creating an eventual pedestrian/bicycle link from the Ohlone Greenway to the Bay Trail (a longtime Friends of Five Creeks project), the critical need to reduce automobile traffic in the face of global climate change, and the benefits of slowing traffic that now speeds northbound down the hill. The Albany Traffic and Safety Commission voted 3-1 in favor of this plan. However, there will be opposition from some condominium residents. Thus, I hope you will speak out in support.
ART-TO-ACTION GALLERY SHOW MOVES TO LIVE OAK PARK
--Berkeley High students at the headwaters of Codornices Creek,
All the sessions were led by local environmental artist Zach Pine and organized by Friends of Five Creeks. River of Words helped organize the Live Oak session -- Besides beautiful photos, you'll see creek-related poetry submitted to their international annual contest for watershed-related art and poetry, as well as a fascinating timeline on Codornices Creek history. Do drop by to see it! (If you have children, they'll love the new play structure, finally open.)
THANKS
FROG SURVEY UNDERWAY
VOLUNTEERING WITH OTHERS
Friends of Sausal Creek needs help preparing their native-plant nursery in Joaquin Miller Park for the native-plant sale in connection with the Bringing Back the Natives garden tour May 6. The nursery volunteer hours are 1:30 - 4:40 pm Saturdays; directions and more information at www.sausalcreek.org.
Information on the free native-plant garden tour is at www.bringingbackthenatives.net. They need volunteers to help host at gardens, and volunteers are invited to special "garden soirees" throughout the year.
Volunteers also are needed for Alameda County's April 29 Bay Friendly Garden Tour -- Contact lgrodeska@stopwaste.org.
TALKS, WORKSHOPS
Talk on Delta Future
Workshops on Grasslands
Hope to see you soon!
The Albany City Council is scheduled to vote Monday, April 9, on restriping Pierce Street south of Cerrito Creek, in front of the large condominiums on Albany Hill, to slow traffic by narrowing the street and create a bicycle path. Albany F5C members, please support this by contacting your Council members and coming to the meeting.
Our gallery show, "Art to Action on Berkeley Creeks," is now at Live Oak Park's recreation center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. The photos -- stunning against the dark wood -- show art-making and ephemeral art made from natural and found materials last year by three groups:
--homeschoolers and seniors on mid-reaches at Live Oak Park, and
--general public at the mouth of Schoolhouse Creek.
Special thanks to River of Words for hosting the Art to Action show at its Young at Art Gallery for the past three months, and to Krishna Feldman, Alfredo Chingcuanco, Pamela Michael, and Zach Pine for help in moving it. Big thank-yous to Oceanview Elementary School 4th and 5th graders, and to more than 20 participants in Christ Church Berkeley's Peace Project for help with weeding on lower Codornices Creek last week. Great job!
Our every-other-year survey seeking to locate local frog populations by listening for their calls is officially on. ( Thanks, Krishna Feldman, for organization and for the fascinating presentation on serious threats to amphibians.) You can download instructions and survey forms on our website, www.fivecreeks.org. Please email me if you have questions.
Friends of Five Creeks' next work party will be Saturday, April 28, El Cerrito's Earth Day (with a free barbecue afterwards). If you're hankering to volunteer before that, On April 21, East Bay Regional Parks will host trail-maintenance events at various parks, as well as a cleanup at Eastshore State Park; information at http://www.ebparks.org/volunter/volunter.htm.
Ellen Hanak, research fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California, speaks on "Envisioning Futures for the Sacrameno-San Joaquin Delta," 5:30 - 7:30 pm in Room 250, Goldman School of Public Policy, 2607 Hearst Ave. at LeRoy, Berkeley, as part of the UC Berkeley Water Resources Archives Center Colloquium on Water. The Delta is the hub of California's water supply system and home to a unique and threatened ecosystem and to a vibrant recreational and agricultural economy, but it is threatened by precipitous declines in some fish species and increasing threats to the stability of the levee system. The lecture will explore alternatives for resolving these problems.
On April 20-21, native-grass expert David Amme will teach a California Native Grasslands Association worshop in Identifying Native Grasses and Graminoids in Oakland. CNGA also is offering a one-day workshop in vernal pools April 21, and condensed versions of grasslands workshops will be offered May 17 in connection with the association's annual meeting, May 19-20 in Santa Barbara. For information and registration go to www.cnga.org.
Susan Schwartz