Ecesis

ecesis \I-’se-sus, i-’ke-sus\ noun [from Greek oikesis meaning inhabitation]: the establishment of an animal or plant in a new habitat.

The Quarterly Newsletter of the California Society for Ecological Restoration

Fall Equinox 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3

In this issue:
Volunteers &
Volunteers and Restoration
Restoration…
1... Restoring more than the
land: involving volunteers
6... Volunteers make an
investment in park’s upkeep
Plus…
3... SERCAL Contacts
9... Coastal Habitats Guild
Workshop, 13-14 September!
10... SERCAL 2007 Fieldtrips!
10-11... Membership

Ecesis is published quarterly by

the California Society for
Ecological Restoration, a
nonprofit corporation, as a
service to its members.
Newsletter contributions of all
types are welcome and may be
submitted to any of the
regional directors (see p. 3).
Articles should be sent as a
word processing document;
and accompanying images
sent as jpg or tif files.
ABOVE Volunteer circles create
a ritual that connects the
student volunteers to their
work. Courtesy Mark Stemen.
RIGHT Digging a $5 hole is
challenging… and rewarding.
Courtesy Mark Stemen.
Restoring more than the land
Practical advice for involving volunteers in restoration projects
by Dr. Mark Stemen, CSU-Chico Environmental Studies & SERCAL Regional Director
Past editions of Ecesis have shown that restoration professionals in California have successfully
restored acres upon acres of degraded areas in our state. While we should be proud of our work, we
should also recognize that we have not outpaced the current destruction. Everyone can agree that
things are worse than when we started. For restoration to be truly successful, it must begin to
transform the community, as well as the landscape. Restoration can change social behavior, but only if
we involve the community in the actual work.
For the past four years, researchers at the Butte Creek Ecological Preserve have been developing
models of citizen involvement that can restore people’s connection to the land while also getting trees
in the ground. A sidebar offers practical advice for project managers on what we have learned about
involving volunteers in restoration projects and tips on how to make it a manageable and meaningful
experience.
continued next page
Restoring more
than the land continued
RIGHT Making a pledge.
FACING PAGE Soup for lunch.
Here I layout the philosophy on why it is
so important to include others in the work
we do. What follows is adaptable and
possible for any restoration project. I am
not asking that you turn over your
business to volunteers. I simply hope you
recognize the enormous potential our
work has to leading people out of the mess
we are in.
I manage a 93-acre Butte Creek Ecological
Preserve located south of Chico in Butte
Creek Canyon. It is a spectacular landscape
of sheer cliffs and deep gorges, but the
riparian corridor along the creek has been
highly disturbed by in-stream mining.
Butte Creek was dredged for gold as late as
WWII and then it became a sand and
gravel quarry. When the state finally
purchased the property in 1998, it was in
pretty bad shape. Since then, students and
faculty have been charged with repairing
the damage.
We have a small greenhouse where we
raise native trees, shrubs and grasses, and
we host groups of students who do the
planting. We have had success in our
restoration efforts. We have planted 1000
hardwoods, and another 750 associated
species and the plants are thriving with an
83% success rate. We have been successful
in the ground, but how about in our
heads? These were students after all. What
had they really been learning?
It turns out that students were discovering
quite a bit about themselves and their
place in the world as they planted their
trees. Reading William Jordan in class
helped. One of the most provocative
authors in restoration, Jordan started the
journal Ecological Restoration in 1981. He
stepped down as editor after over 20 years,
but he has kept writing and his thoughts
and ideas have strongly shaped the field of
restoration.
The journal Ecological Restoration started
as a nuts and bolts semi-annual
2 Ecesis Fall 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3
publication entitled Restoration &
Management Notes. Most of the articles
were technical applications and
techniques, or scientific analysis of results.
As the field of restoration matured, the
journal’s focus expanded. In 1998 the
journal changed its name to Ecological
Restoration and began publishing
quarterly. Many of the articles now include
philosophical discussions on the meanings
of restoration and the multiple purposes
we seek to achieve.
Jordan has made a similar transformation
himself. His first book, Restoration Ecology:
A Synthetic Approach to Ecological
Research, was a fairly straight forward of
the ecology behind restoration, and how it
intersected with the tradition fields in
biology. His latest book, however, is far
more philosophical.
In The Sunflower Forest: Ecological
Restoration and the New Communion with
Nature, Jordan argues for “restoration as
context for negotiating the relationship
between humans and the rest of nature.”
He lays particular emphasis on volunteer
work. He writes in the introduction that,
that “the best restoration projects, those
that result in the highest quality
ecosystems with the best chance of
surviving over a long period of time, are
those carried out by people who have a
chance to develop a close attachment to
and an intimate understanding of the
landscape through direct participation in
the work.”
Too often restoration projects focus on the
effects on the landscape, while ignoring
what Jordan calls the “inner results. For
Jordan, “what really needs to be renewed is
not the landscape at all, but the human
community’s idea of the landscape, on
which the well-being of the landscape
ultimately depends.” As they planted trees,
it was these ideas of the landscape, and
their place in it, that captured my students
attention.
Jordon has found that the projects that
have the most successful in transforming
the volunteers are “those projects in which
this work has been ritualized to some
extent.” It is here, in ritual, that Jordan gets
to heart of his philosophical argument:
At the deepest level, ritual offers the only
means we have of transcending,
criticizing, or revising a morality or
ethical formulation prescribed by
authority or handed down by tradition.
Most fundamentally, it is the means by
which humans generate, recreate, and
renew transcendent values such as
community, meaning, beauty, love, and
the sacred, on which both ethics and
morality depend.
continued page 4
 SERCAL Board of Directors
PRESIDENT Mark Tucker Tucker & Associates
tuckerandassociates@cox.net
PRESIDENT-ELECTKaren Verpeet H.T. Harvey & Associates
kverpeet@harveyecology.com
PAST PRESIDENTRegine Miller
regine_m_miller@yahoo.com
SECRETARY Paul Kielhold LSA Associates, Inc.-Riverside
Paul.Kielhold@LSA-Assoc.com
TREASURER Bo Glover Environmental Nature Center
BoGlo@aol.com

Directors
REGION 1 Mark Stemen (Appointee) California State
University-Chico mstemen@csuchico.edu — NORTHERN
INTERIOR (Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity)

REGION 2 Harry Oakes (Appointee) Jones & Stokes-Sacramento

HOakes@jsanet.com — SACRAMENTO VALLEY (Butte, Colusa,
Glenn, Lake, Sacramento, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, Yuba)

REGION 3 Karen Verpeet H.T. Harvey & Associates

I taught a graduate seminar that developed into the logistics of a volunteer activity. kverpeet@harveyecology.com — BAY AREA (Alameda, Contra
In general, we found that 15 to 25 people is ideal and 3 to 5 assistants give an ideal Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara,
Solano, Sonoma)
1 to 5 ratio. Make sure you have plenty of tools and supplies and enough planting
material to give everyone something to stick in the ground. We suggest you plan for REGION 4 Open — SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY (Amador, Calaveras,
2 to 4 hours for entire “event” with 1 to 2 hours of planting time. Fresno, Kern, Kings, Mariposa, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin,
Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne)
We designed a “planting festival” that had specific stages. The day started at a set REGION 5 Margot Griswold EARTHWORKS Restoration, Inc.
time with an opening ceremony. We would get in a circle, say our name and our earthworks@telis.net — SOUTH COAST (Los Angeles, Orange,
favorite place in nature. The purpose was to get know a little about each person, San Diego, Ventura)
and get him or her to connect to our preserve by remembering his or her favorite REGION 6 Dave Hubbard (Appointee) Coastal Restoration
place. Consultants david@coastalrestorationconsultants.com —
CENTRAL COAST (Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Food and drink are important, but they do not have to cost much. During warm Barbara, Santa Cruz)
weather we make a fruit salad for lunch. During colder weather we make a soup. In REGION 7 Nick Pacini (Appointee) soilsnick@hotmail.com
our invitation, each participant was asked to bring a spoon and a cup filled with as — NORTH COAST (Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino)
much fruit or vegetable that they would eat—their portion. As we went around the REGION 8 Michael Hogan Integrated Environmental Restoration
circle introducing ourselves, we also passed around a community pot and everyone Services, Inc. michael.hogan@integratedenvironmental.net
emptied our individual cups into it. The preserve staff provided yogurt and granola — SIERRA (Alpine, El Dorado, Inyo, Mono, Nevada, Placer,
for the fruit salad, or bread and bullion stock for the soup. For lunch, everyone Plumas, Sierra)
scooped out their “portion” from the communal pot, reinforcing the idea that REGION 9 Paul Kielhold LSA Associates, Inc.-Riverside
things are better when we work together. Paul.Kielhold@LSA-Assoc.com — SOUTHERN INTERIOR
(Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino)
It is important to connect the volunteers to the place they are restoring. During
lunch we talked about the history of the salmon, and our ability to bring them back Guild Chairs
in butte Creek. We then tried to brainstorm things they could do to protect the COASTAL HABITAT Vince Cicero California Department of Parks
favorite places in nature that they mentioned at the opening. & Recreation vcicero@hearstcastle.com
EDUCATION Mark Tucker Tucker & Associates
We always include a silent time portion in the day, usually during planting. During
tuckerandassociates@cox.net
“silent time” no one is allowed to talk, and all communication is gestures. Being
UPLAND HABITAT Margot Griswold EARTHWORKS Restoration,
silent forces people inside themselves and provides the opportunity for Jordan’s
Inc. earthworks@telis.net
“communion with nature.” Strangely, we found it easier to get people to be quiet if
we called silent time a ritual since rituals are by definition “proscribed by others.” WETLAND & RIPARIAN Max Busnardo H.T. Harvey & Associates
mbusnardo@harveyecology.com
We like to schedule time for a closing event rather than letting volunteers drift ____________________
away. We get back in a circle and this time everyone is encouraged to offer up a ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Susan Clark
smclark@lightspeed.net
declaration or pledge of how they are going to change they are going to make that
2701 20th St., Bakersfield 93301
help will protect “their favorite place in nature.” Recycling more, driving less and tel. 661.634.9228 fax 661.634.9540
buying organic are among the most popular statements. Personal commitments
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Julie St. John julieDesign@cox.net
made publicly are some of the most powerful motivations for lasting change.
WEBMASTER Steve Newton-Reed webmaster@sercal.org

Volume 17, Issue 3 Fall 2007 Ecesis 3


Restoring more than the land
continued from page 2
I have also found ritual acts to be a simple
and powerful tool so I will explain what
this means in more a bit more detail.
When people hear the word “ritual” they
often think of religion, and specific
ritualistic acts like reciting the liturgy or
taking communion. Those are powerful
rituals, but what makes them so? In his
book Ritual and Religion in the Making of
Humanity, Rappaport writes that “ritual
denotes the performance of more or less
invariant sequence of formal acts and
utterances not entirely encoded by the
performers.” Rituals have power because
performing these acts “logically entails the
establishment of convention, the sealing of
a social contract.” In other words, rituals
connect us to a larger culture. So, creating
new rituals could allow people to re-
imagine their world.
Planting offers the clearest opportunity for
rituals that in Jordan’s words, “generate,
recreate, and renew transcendent values.”
We are planting on a highly disturbed site,
the location of a former sand and gravel
quarry. All the “dirt” is gone, and what is
left is a pile of rocks, flattened and
smoothed over to make housing pads. The
house never happened, and now we are
trying to make the rocky ground support
plants.
There is a slogan in horticulture that “It is
better to put a fifty-cent plant in a five-
dollar hole, than a five-dollar plant in a
4 Ecesis Fall 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3
reflect on the needs of the plant. In that
sense, it is mindful. You pay attention to
the needs of another. We have another
saying, “to a plant, hole is fate.” Where its
planted, and the hole it is planted in, in
large determine if the plants survives and
thrives.
Digging a five-dollar hole also gives
volunteers the time to reflect on the larger
issues of the world. Most of our plantings
are part of mitigation efforts. One in
particular has us plant oak trees for
Caltrans to mitigate, or compensate for
trees they cut down to widen the highway
to make room for more cars. Participants
have the time to think how they can
ABOVE Getting into it.
change their own lives in ways that would
make mitigation unnecessary.
I believe the ritual has impact. Carpooling,
for example, rose throughout the planting
fifty-cent hole.” The emphasis is placed on season as students wrestled with driving to
the work done by the gardener not the a preserve to plant trees to mitigate people
nursery. I started to play with the term on like themselves driving to places like the
site, urging the students on to grander and preserve to plant trees. They also
grander holes. A shortage of plant material connected with the place. They often come
one weekend allowed the students to focus back to see “their plant,” and they make
even more on each seedling and the place sure to empty their water bottles on them
it would call home. Five-dollar holes have as they leave.
become our first ritual. The large hole is a
great benefit to the plants, and a great By allowing volunteers to participate in
benefit to the planted our restoration project, they became
attached to their plants and the preserve.
For the most part, digging five-dollar holes More importantly, they had the
means removing rocks and adding opportunity to think about themselves and
compost. It is a repetitive activity. In the their place in the world. Hopefully, they
course of a four-hour workday, students took it with them to change their lives so
will dig four or five holes. For the most future mitigation will be less likely.
part, students appreciate the work. It is a
way to pay back. In Jordan’s
words, “It is an expressive act. It Here are four books that touch on the power
expresses our membership in the of restoration to change society, and one
land community. The implication about how we fit in a worldwide movement.
is that we have a role here: we
The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New
belong in this community, and so Communion With Nature by William R. Jordan, III.
perhaps we belong on this planet University of California Press, 2003
after all”
Restoring Nature: Perpectives from the Social Sciences and
Digging a five-dollar hole gives Humanities by Paul H. Gobster and R. Bruce Hull,
Island Press 2000
participants time to think. When I
asked my students they gave me Nature’s Restoration: People and Places on the Front Lines
two basic answers. Digging a five- of Conservation, by Peter Friederici, Island Press, 2006
dollar hole gave them to time to In Service of the Wild: Restoring and Reinhabiting
think about nothing, and time to Damaged Land By Stephanie Mills, Island Press, 1995
think about everything. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World
Came Into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming by
Digging a $5 hole gets you close to
Paul Hawken, Viking Press, 2007
ground and gives one time to
Many thanks to these 2006 Conference sponsors…

Volume 17, Issue 3 Fall 2007 Ecesis 5

Volunteers Make an
Investment in their
Park’s Upkeep
by Lise Smith-Peters, Volunteer Coordinator,
City of Chico Park Division
IF YOU WANT ONE YEAR OF PROSPERITY, GROW GRAIN.
IF YOU WANT TEN YEARS OF PROSPERITY, GROW TREES.
IF YOU WANT ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF PROSPERITY, GROW PEOPLE.
—CHINESE PROVERB
Bidwell Park, located in Chico, California an
hour and a half north of Sacramento, is 3,670
acres and is one of the largest municipal parks
in the United States. It stretches over 10 miles
along Big Chico Creek from the Sierra Nevada
foothills to the valley floor and serves as an
important biological corridor linking the
mountains to the Sacramento River. Its terrain
is diverse with Lower Park, a lush valley
woodland and, Upper Park, steep foothill
terrain comprised of thin, fragile soils, annual
grasses, over 80 miles of trails and many
geologic formations, including Iron Canyon,
Monkey Face lookout, and various basalt
formations. A riparian corridor runs
throughout the whole length of the Park. This
land that makes up Bidwell Park was a gift to
the City of Chico in 1905 by Annie and John
Bidwell, the latter being the founder of Chico.
The community affectionately refers to
Bidwell Park as its “Crown Jewel.”
The City of Chico’s Park Division employs
just 6 full-time Park maintenance staff
members who maintain the Park’s heavily
used recreation and play areas, restrooms,
lighting, plumbing, a unique, concrete
swimming pool that the creek runs through,
as well as supporting the upkeep of Chico’s
additional parks, such as City Plaza and
Wildwood. With such a large land mass to
care for, a small Park crew, and the City facing
budget constraints (a forecasted deficit of $56
million over the next 10 years) — volunteers’
contributions are vital to Bidwell Park’s
health, upkeep and preservation. Indeed,
volunteers work on a myriad of projects that
the Park crew would simply never have time
to address.
Bidwell Park faces many of the land resource
management problems of other areas, such as
6 Ecesis Fall 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3
the onslaught of invasive weeds, increasing
visitor use of facilities and trails, and limited Bidwell Park Volunteer
financial resources. I was hired in 2006 as the
full-time volunteer coordinator for the Park.
Programs/Projects
The following observations and information Adopt-A-Picnic Site
are the result of a year and a half of building Adopt-A-Trail Program
a new, pro-active volunteer program for the Flower Bed Adoptions
Bidwell Park and learning first hand the Litter Removal
meaning of investing time, energy and the One Mile Oak Regeneration
return! Project
Painting Park Benches/picnic
The Park’s Volunteer Program offers
tables/Signs, etc.
opportunities that meet the needs of our
Park Internships (mapping,
willing community volunteers as well as
restoration & trails)—CSU,
addressing the on-going resource
Chico and Butte College
management of the Park. In 2007, volunteers
Park Watch (docent & patrol
provided over 17,000 hours in labor on trail
program)
repair and maintenance; removing invasive
Restoration Efforts and
weeds and restoring native plants; working
Vegetation Management
on construction projects such as accessible
(Restoration sites: Caper Acres,
picnic sites; painting benches and removing
the Sycamore Restoration Area,
litter along the creek (see sidebar for a list of
One Mile Recreation Area,
volunteer activities available in Bidwell Park).
Annie’s Glen, Lost Park, Cedar
In many ways, volunteers are one of the most
Grove, and Five Mile Recreation
valuable resources to the Park.*
Area)
Keep in mind volunteers donate their time for Trail Days (maintenance &
a variety of reasons. For an Eagle Scout it may repair -- 10 weeks in spring and
be earning the top badge of his scouting 10 in the fall)
career; for college and high school students it Vegetation Management
may be completing needed service learning Partners group meets
hours or extra-credit for a class; some monthly
volunteers cite the enjoyment of meeting Vegetation Mapping Project
others with similar interests in the Park; (in planning stages with CSU,
Chico professors)
continued page 8
*For those who associate the term investment with dollar value, according to the Points of Light
Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, one volunteer hour is assigned an
independent sector rate of $18.05 an hour. Following this line, volunteers contributed $306,850
in labor to Bidwell Park in 2006 (17,042 hours) and if we threw in the professors’ and
professionals’ time donated to helping craft vegetation management guidelines, or sharing their
skills in GPS mapping, this number would go way up.
Many thanks to these 2006 Conference sponsors…

Volume 17, Issue 3 Fall 2007 Ecesis 7

Volunteers Make an Investment in their Park’s Upkeep continued from page 6
others belong to interest groups, such as
Friends of Bidwell Park, which have goals
for the Park (they volunteered their time
and expertise to help formulate the current
vegetation management plan!); or
volunteers are members of a community
service group (Rotary, Exchange Club,
Soroptimists, Kiwanis…) that wants to
conduct a Park project. Then there are
those who come to work in the Park
simply because they grew up here with the
Park as their playground and want to give
back to their community’s crown jewel.
Volunteers who participate in Park projects
have varying levels of commitment, ie.,
investment. In this day and age, everyone
has competing interests vying for their
time — be it a job, school, children, sports
or even electronic technology. The fact
that volunteers make the time to work in
the Park is in many ways evidence of their
investment or stake in the Park. No matter
whether it is individuals or families or
Friends of Bidwell Park members pulling
weeds on Earth Day in the Park, Starbucks
Green Team picking up trash on Make a
Difference Day or the CA Native Plant
Many thanks to these 2006 Conference sponsors…
8 Ecesis Fall 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3
Society members outsloping a section of
their adopted trail to stop erosion — all
are investing their time and energy to make
the Park healthy and in better condition
than the way they found it.
Regular weekly work parties, known as
Volunteer Thursdays in the Park, are
tailored to offer a more structured, in
depth experience in the Park. Folk of all
ages and backgrounds can learn more
about current habitat restoration
measures; the effects invasive plants have
on habitat; about native plants and
replanting them; and meet area specialists
who volunteer their time to make the
program a true learning experience. These
work parties attract individuals (many
retired and many in their early twenties),
youth groups, and more official volunteer
groups, such as CSU, Chico’s Community
Action Volunteers in Education students (a
30 hour/semester Adopt-A-Park program)
or Butte College Service Learning
students. Other volunteers choose to work
independently having their own schedules
and tasks they enjoy doing in the Park
while still others call and request a
workday for their particular group.
Perhaps the most important thing I have
learned about volunteer investment and
return, comes from a long time volunteer
who donates 25 hours or more a week
removing invasive Himalayan blackberry,
pokeweed and ivy in our Sycamore
Restoration site. Laura shared that “people
like to feel successful — that what they are
doing is important and has an impact, and
that’s what makes people come back.”
Volunteers join in activities that have a
lasting impact and are not a wasted effort.
As with any investment, when people have
given input or their time — (perhaps
helping craft a restoration plan or working
on their adopted trail) — they now have a
stake or ownership in the success of an
activity and support it.
Investing in the upkeep and preservation of
our Crown Jewel today through volunteering
will assure its sustainability for future
generations to come. What better local
investment to have a stake in? For more
information on how you can get involved
or invest in Bidwell Park, call 530.896.7831
or email lspeters@ci.chico.ca.us
Resources:
Bidwell Park Volunteer
Program, City of Chico Park
Division, April 2007— see
www.ci.chico.ca.us/
General_Services_
Department/Park_
Division/Volunteer_
Program.asp
The Weed Workers’
Handbook: A Guide to
Removing Bay Area Invasive
Plants, The Watershed
Project, California Invasive
Plant Council, 2004
Points of Light Foundation &
Volunteer Center National
Network
 Coastal Habitats
SERCAL Guild Workshop
Visit ongoing dunes restoration projects on the Mendocino Coast
September 13–14, 2007 — visit www.sercal.org to register!
September 13, noon to 5pm — We will spend the afternoon at Manchester Dunes looking at
ongoing and potential restoration projects. Resource challenges include managing mountain
beaver breeding habitat, relocating an existing campground, managing recreation access
through endangered species habitat, and controlling introduced species such as Monterey pine
(Behren silverspot butterfly habitat restoration).
6pm at Russian Gulch State Park — Hosted BBQ with an evening presentation and discussion.
September 14, 8am to 4pm — At MacKerricher Dunes State Park’s Inglenook Fen Ten Mile Dunes
Natural Preserve. The preserve hosts a number of sensitive species and resource management
challenges. We will visit several dune restoration sites and discuss restoration goals,
methodology, and results.
Accommodations are available in the local communities. We will also have an option to camp at
the Russian Gulch State Park. Space will be limited so please RSVP if you plan on attending.
Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to meet and network! Workshop fee is $30 or $15 for students.

Volume 17, Issue 3 Fall 2007 Ecesis 9


Rancho Jamul
Ecological Reserve
The Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve is
owned and managed by the California
Department of Fish & Game (CDFG). The
5700-acre preserve is located in south San
Diego County and features several
sensitive habitats, species, and cultural
resources, plus a wetland mitigation bank,
and ongoing research and monitoring
projects.
Extensive ranching and agriculture
occurred onsite prior to the establishment
of the preserve and implementation of the
bank. These past land uses contributed to
loss of riparian vegetation, channel
incision, and floodplain narrowing or
isolation. In October 2003, fires swept
through portions of the preserve. Careful
management and restoration of upland
and wetland resources has allowed the site
to fully recover in many areas. Additional
restoration opportunities exist onsite. The
preserve is not currently open for regular
use by the general public. Come join
representatives of the CDFG, United States
Geological Survey, and Wildlands, Inc., for
an exclusive walking tour of this
phenomenal landscape.
Registration maximum: 28
Fee: SERCAL Member $40
Non-Member $65
Tijuana Estuary
& River Valley
Since the late 1980s, the California Coastal
Conservancy, in association with the
nonprofit Southwest Wetlands Interpretive
Association and Tierra Environmental
Services, have been implementing wetland
restoration projects at Tijuana Estuary. To
date, three restoration projects have been
constructed with a large-scale restoration
10 Ecesis Fall 2007 Volume 17, Issue 3
of the south arm of the estuary in the
initial planning stages.
The first stop will be the Tijuana Estuary
Visitors Center in the north end of the
estuary. There we will view the Oneonta
Slough Connector Channel project, a 2.5-
acre wetland constructed in 1996. This
restoration was designed to improve
circulation and reduce sediment
deposition in this part of the estuary. This
site is accessible by footpath and
pedestrian bridge.
The next stop will be in the south end of
the estuary at the 20-acre Friendship
Marsh restoration project. Constructed in
2000, this restoration is the first phase of a
large-scale restoration in the southern end.
An overview of the proposed restoration
will also be presented. Access may require
a short hike (less than 0.25 mile)
depending upon the condition of the
unpaved access road.
The final stop will be the Goat Canyon
Enhancement Project, a series of
sedimentation basins constructed in 2005
to capture sediment crossing the border
from Mexico. A 20-acre mule-fat and
willow scrub habitat restoration was
implemented as mitigation for the impacts
associated with the sedimentation basins.
Registration maximum: 28
Fee: SERCAL Member $40
Non-Member $65
Salton Sea
Experience the unique environment of the
stunning Salton Sea first-hand while
visiting restoration-oriented study sites
and talking with agency representatives
involved in the restoration effort. This all-
day bus tour will include three stops at
California’s largest inland waterbody.
Get the Details
& Register at
www.sercal.org
Registration ends 17 October
The New River Wetlands Project—
Imperial Site is a pilot/ demonstration
project designed to improve the quality of
water flowing from the New River into the
Salton Sea. Marie Barrett, Project
Coordinator, will talk about the
effectiveness of these wetlands at reducing
pollutants carried by the New River. Sonny
Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge
will be the second stop where Refuge
Manager Chris Schoneman will talk about
the restoration effort from the perspective
of the wildlife refuge, which has over
35,000 acres at the Salton Sea. The third
stop will be at the U.S. Geological Survey
Saline Habitat Ponds. Tom Anderson will
discuss the concept of saline wetlands and
how they could be incorporated into the
restoration effort.
Registration Maximum: 35
Fee: SERCAL Member $50
Non-Member $75
Welcome! to our
New Members
through 15 August 2007
USFWS, Conservation Partnerships,
Habitat Restoration Division, Carrie
Thompson, Sacramento
Lindsay Stallcup, RECON
Environmental, San Diego
Alisa Shor, Marin Headlands Native
Plant Nursery, Sausalito
Ellen Cypher, CDFG, Bakersfield
Kathleen Jones, Mountain View
John Pritchard, Watsonville
David W. Carr, Orange
Beth Keer, Oakland
Arlene Hopkins, Santa Monica.
Brittany Woiderski, Yosemite NP
Sara Preston, Yosemite NP
SERCAL 2007 Membership Complete form and payment to SERCAL
and mail to: SERCAL Administrative Office,
Application/Renewal Form 2701 20th St., Bakersfield CA 93301

Annual Membership Dues

SERCAL’s newsletter, Ecesis, is received with ALL rates. ________________________________________________________
NAME DATE
INDIVIDUALS BUSINESS
Student
$15 Nonprofit Organization
$45
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Regular
$35 Contributing
$250 *
COMPANY/AFFILIATION
Joint Individual (Discounted) Sustaining
$500 *
SERCAL + Cal-IPC†
$60 Summit Circle
$1000 *
________________________________________________________
SERCAL + CNGA†
$70 ADDRESS
All 3 organizations
$100 * Receive quarterly recognition
Sustaining
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†
Cal-IPC is the California Invasive Plant Council and CITY ZIP COUNTY
CNGA is the California Native Grasslands Association

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Category Ecesis issue ** at SERCAL events

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Contributing Members
Many, Many BUSINESS: $250 Valley & Mountain Stover Seed Co., Los

Thanks… Restoration
Resources, Chris
Swift, Rocklin
Consulting,
Virginia Mahacek,
South Lake Tahoe
Angeles
Vandermost
Consulting Services,
Full Circle Coastal Restoration Julie Vandermost,
Sustaining Members Compost, Craig
Witt, Minden, NV
Consultants, Inc.,
Matt James/Dave
San Juan Capistrano
RECON Native Plants,
INDIVIDUAL: $100 Hubbard, Santa Inc., Ryan West, San
Ecological
Albert Knight, Glendale Barbara Diego
Concerns, Inc.,
Peter Warner, California Department of Joshua Fodor, Hedgerow Farms, Integrated
Santa Cruz John Anderson, Environmental
Parks & Recreation, Mendocino
Winters Restoration Services,
Bo Glover, Environmental Nature Center, Prunuske
Chatham, Inc., EDAW, Inc., Inc., Michael Hogan,
Newport Beach
Occidental Sacramento Tahoe City
BUSINESS: $500 Palos Verdes Hydro-Plant, Inc., Golden Bear
Peninsula Land Rob McGann, San BioStudies, Santa
Tallac Applied Ecology & Design, Gerald Marcos
Conservancy, Rosa
A. Dion, South Lake Tahoe
Rolling Hills Pacific Coast Seed, Kamman Hydrology
Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano Estates Inc., Livermore & Engineering, San
Pacific Restoration Group, Inc., Corona Chambers Group, S & S Seeds, Rafael
EcoSystems Restoration Associates, San Inc., Irvine Carpinteria
Diego

Volume 17, Issue 3 Fall 2007 Ecesis 11

 Photo of Salton Sea courtesy Ian Parker, 2005
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