Here’s an overview of some of the stewardship activities we were up to during the previous month.
Volunteers Make BioBlitz Successful at Mangini Ranch, Lime Ridge, and Arroyo Del Cerro
Save Mount Diablo held its annual BioBlitz on May 3 and 4 this year. In preparation, volunteers were indispensable in cutting the grass at our check-in headquarters, gathering and transporting all the equipment and supplies needed to create a big event, and setting up our check-in and registration areas and impromptu campground.
And then, a whole team helped to run the event, including registering people, providing maps and directions, feeding people, answering questions, etc. Heartfelt thanks to all of our volunteers for their support and energy!
BioBlitz Researchers Seek Out Species, Investigate Effects of Wildfire
We hosted 36 researchers, including botanists, entomologists, ornithologists, herpetologists, aquatic biologists, and other zoologists. We are currently gathering all of the data and are looking forward to reporting what everyone found next month.
One exciting find: the Alameda whipsnake! (The Alameda whipsnake is currently federally listed as threatened.)
Fire Abatement: Volunteers Save the Day Again
Every year, we have to conduct fire abatement on all of our properties that are not grazed. We need to mow around fences and structures to create a 15-foot break around them.
It would cost several thousand dollars to pay someone to do this work, so we are incredibly grateful to the volunteers who donate their time and skills to help us create these defensible spaces.
We got some rain in May and had to reschedule some workdays. Nonetheless, we made excellent progress on fire abatement this month.
DiRT Day at Big Bend
On May 21, lots of volunteers came out to Big Bend to attack the dastardly milk thistle. Groups from Meridian and Charles Schwab lent a hand. A lot of progress has been made in eradicating milk thistle from the Big Bend property.
