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IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain

By Tom Oberbauer

Back in January of 1978, I hiked up onto Corte Madera Mountain with a friend, Tom Scott (now with UC Berkeley and UC Riverside), who had been studying Golden Eagles in San Diego County. Bald Eagles were wintering at Corte Madera Lake. After postponing the hike due to rain, that was a good rain season, we drove out to Corte Madera Lake, which was accessible because Tom Scott had a key, and we hiked up the north side of Corte Madera Mountain on a little used trail. The trail climbed through a woodland of mostly coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), but also Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), as well as Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). It was foggy going up and the view was obscured.

IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain
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In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail

By Jürgen Schrenk

Recently, the new Santa Fe Valley Trail, connecting the San Dieguito River Park’s Del Dios Gorge Trail with the Lusardi Creek Preserve, was opened to the public. The beginning of the trail took us through fields of Menzies’ Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. menziesii).

In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail
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The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains

By Jürgen Schrenk

After yet another week of waiting for the temps to go down watching our Monarch production and limiting our walks to local parks, I was worried that I might completely miss the monsoonal “spring” in the desert. So, I went on a quick drive along S-2

The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains
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CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys

By Justin Daniel, Vice President, Rare Plants Co-chair

With vaccinations allowing more contact outdoors and a workload a year behind, it's been a busy time a few of us to help some of our fantastic environmental conservancy organizations around San Diego County by assisting them in their rare plant surveys. The following are glimpses into some of the recent surveys. Come along for the ride and reach out to support our partners, too!

CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys
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The Mount Laguna Surprise

By Tom Oberbauer

…The next week, I drove up and hiked to the location I visited in December and sure enough, the display of Platystemon californica (above) was pretty amazing. Sheets of color extended across the slopes leading into the center of the meadow. I spent some time attempting to photograph and create video of the breeze gently shaking the small flowers. From this location, the view of the meadow ranges across its full length, extending more than three miles in the distance to the south. Laguna Lake also contained a good level of water reflecting the blue sky, apparently left over from the previous two good rainfall seasons. I attempted to capture the view of the flowers with the lake and end of the meadow in the distance. The breeze and the movement of the flowers in this manner always reminds me of when I was a child and my family visited Estes Park in Colorado and we observed alpine wildflowers…

The Mount Laguna Surprise

habitat resoration

A Small Milestone

By Arne Johanson, Co-chairperson Habitat Restoration Committee

I noted the following in Bob Byrnes' weekly restoration committee email: “Last week we noticed for the first time a large area of Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii, I believe) and California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) interspersed with the endless artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus to us nerds) that I often mention in these emails. We treated the artichoke last week, leaving the natives to continue to thrive and spread. This is yet another encouraging sign that recruitment following the disastrous fire of four years ago is proceeding nicely.”

Report from the Habitat Restoration Committee

Bob Byrnes stands with a robust Coast Live Oak sapling brought into the sunlight after palm fronds shading it were removed.

A report from the intrepid Bob Byrnes of Habitat Restoration:

"We accomplished quite a bit last week. I myself worked with Arne, Heidi, and Casey to treat eucalyptus and palm trees. Arne worked with Brianna to treat eucalyptus, tree tobacco, acacia, fountain grass, and other invasives at Artesian Creek.

On Friday, Heidi and I saw a herd of 4 deer walking in a line up the side of the valley. The last in line must have been the youngest, as it was the smallest. On Saturday, Casey and I saw a coyote, which promptly trotted off. This is the first time I've seen one in the Valley, though we've noticed their scat.

This week we will treat more of the same plants. We will continue monitoring Arundo for regrowth. Retreating pampas grass is on the agenda as well. I have Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday available. Email if you're interested in working with me and let me know your days: habitatrestoration@cnpssd.org"

Working with the ACE (American Conservation Experience)

Working with the ACE (American Conservation Experience)

A report from the Habitat Restoration Committee by Bob Byrnes

We finished our 2017 partnership with ACE (American Conservation Experience) last Thursday.  We worked together for two weeks, with a break in between to let the heat wave dissipate.  ACE worked very hard, as usual - this is our third year with them.  They are paid for by grant funds, and are comprised of young (to me at least) college-age persons acquiring practical experience in the field of conservation and restoration.  We focused on Pomponio Ranch, a horse ranch located in the downstream area of the San Dieguito River Valley. 

Impossible Only Until We Start

By Arne Johansen, Co-Chairperson Habitat Restoration 

There is an old saying: 'The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.' I was reminded of this as I described our current work area to a new volunteer. From where we were standing (surrounded by eucalyptus, Arundo and palms) I explained how our project area extends two miles downstream and another mile upstream. Then I pointed east and added that our project extends three miles along that side creek. Out loud it just seems impossibly large.

Additionally, it also seems that the more we get done the more there is left to do. This happens in multiple ways. First, our success with one project acts as a snowball rolling downhill. So we added two new pieces to our project area this season. While more work, this allows us to manage the watershed cohesively. It also adds to our ability to stay flexible and respond to circumstances. But it just seems like so much more and there is also work which begets more work.

This winter we concentrated our activities on one mile of the San Dieguito River. This is a joint project with USFW, the San Dieguito River Conservancy, many private property owners, and us, in conjunction with the local fire department. Through our joint efforts we have been able to bring in additional resources in the form of ACE (American Conservation Experience) to help with biomass removal, which lessens fire risk – a huge plus. 

Exploring Seldom Visited Areas of the Restoration

By Arne Johanson, Co-Chairperson Habitat Restoration Committee

We were to have an adventure – just two boys going out alone in uncharted territory. Andy is a 5-year old neighbor and this was our first time out with just the two of us. His mother packed water and a snack in his backpack. He added sunglasses and a notepad just like he has seen grownups do. Then we went exploring in some seldom visited parts of a 400-acre open space that our CNPS group has restored. 

Great challenges, greater accomplishments

Great challenges, greater accomplishments

By Arne Johanson, Chairperson Habitat Restoration Committee, CNPS-San Diego

Last month I provided an overview of our efforts. This month I will focus on just one, the San Dieguito River. While nowhere near the finish line, we have certainly accomplished much to get to this point. First, we trained and licensed volunteers who then earned the trust of USFW and the several property owners through our efforts at other sites. With our partners we obtained all of the permits to work in the river. Then we only had to obtain right of entry for some 6-10 parcels before initiating work.