Update 7-18-2007
CERRITO CREEK WORK PARTY SATURDAY
CREEK FOLKS RUN AMERICAN RIVER RAPIDS AUGUST 11
This is a Class III whitewater trip - suitable for beginning and intermediate paddlers, but with real rapids. You must be willing to exert yourself, and there's always a chance you'll take an unexpected swim. We'll do our best to arrange carpools, but unless you go up Friday (camping is a possibility), we need to leave the Bay Area about 5 am.
If you're interested or have questions, email me or my daughter Ariel, adz2101@columbia.edu, or call 510 848 9358. Hope to see you on the river!
EVENTS OF OTHERS
JULY 21 BIOREGIONAL EDUCATION WORKSHOP
FREMONT TULE PONDS OPEN JULY 21, AUG. 11
Free twilight tours, 7-9 pm also are being offered July 24 and August 3, 8, and 27, with registration required; contact the Math Science Nucleus at 510-790-6284 or york@msnucleus.org with your name, the number of people attending, the night you would like, and your phone number and/or email. Bring binoculars; twilight tours are not suitable for strollers or very small children.
TRAINING TO PROTECT FISH FROM WATER-MAIN BREAKS
FRIENDS OF TEMESCAL CREEK SEEKS VOLUNTEERS FOR FROG PARK
COHO CONFAB AUGUST 17-19
Thanks for reading! Hope to see you soon,
Please join us at 10 am this Saturday, July 21, on Cerrito Creek at Adams Street (one block west of San Pablo, on the Albany/El Cerrito border) to continue our removal of thornless blackberries and cape ivy on the south bank - and see our great progress! . Adams is the stub street jutting south from Carlson one block west of San Pablo. By AC Transit, take the 72 on San Pablo and get off at Carlson, just opposite the main entrance to El Cerrito Plaza.
Friends of the River, California's major river-conservation organization, offers low-cost whitewater-rafting trips for fundraising and public education. Full disclosure: my daughter is one of their volunteer river guides this summer. On Saturday, August 11, we're hoping that up to 10 creek folks will join several of our board members on a Class III raft trip on the South Fork of the American River. It's a blast, and the cost is only $40 including lunch. (However, a short talk on river issues will include a request for a donation.)
Lots more going on in the watersheds:
Planet Drum Foundation and Friends of Sausal Creek offer a full-day workshop TAKING A HOLISTIC ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE Northern California, 8:30 am - 5 pm this Saturday, July 21. Workshops in the Dimond Canyon reach of Sausal Creek cover native habitats, restoration, personal map-making, and more. Registration at outreach.planetdrum@gmail.com or 415.285.6556; information at www.planetdrum.org. This workshop condenses two days into one, and will be offered again August 12.
The Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon are earthquake sag ponds with fascinating geology and wildlife, right next to the Fremont BART Station. They are used for youth environmental education but normally closed to the public. However, on Saturday, July 21 and August 11, they will be open 10 am - 6 pm for family fun, with nature crafts, guided tours, hands-on activities like making tule boats, and, on August 11, a geologic "walk through time." Free, with no registration required. Information at http://www.msnucleus.org/watersheds/tule/events.html.
The Codornices Creek Watershed Council and EB MUD offer training to form a "Chloramine Response Team" to place treatment tablets to keep chloramines from harming fish and wildlife in the event of a water-main break. Training will be offered 6-8:30 pm Wed., July 25, or Thurs., Aug. 2, at the EB MUD Maintenance Center Administration Bldg., 1100 21st St., Oakland (between Adeline and Chestnut). Please RSVP to (510) 759-1689 or pamboyle@gmail.com.
Most of Temescal Creek is buried, but in the Rockridge-Temescal Area, a bit is pumped to the surface to make a charming bit of creek in FROG Park. Unfortunately, kids love to build dams, and this leads to floods - which may lead to the creek being turned off! Friends of Temescal Creek needs volunteers to help clear the gratings and creek path for 10-20 minutes once a month or more. If you can help, contact jennifer@live-work.com or 510 653 6581.
The 10th annual Coho Confab, a gathering of salmonid-restoration folks with workshops on everything from underwater fish identification to stream health assessment, plus lots of fun, will be August 17-19 on the Mattole River. Information at www.treesfoundation.org.
Susan Schwartz