Stewardship Update
Written by Haley Sutton, Land Stewardship Associate and Kendra Smith, Education & Outreach Coordinator
Kicking Off the Watering Crew
Girl Scout Troop 36G at our Marsh Creek 7 property. Photo by Haley Sutton
The air is getting hotter and the landscape drier, so it’s time to get our watering crew back into motion for the season! This month, we had some groups kick off watering at our Marsh Creek 1 and 7 properties in Clayton.
We were joined by Girl Scout Troop 36G from Danville earlier in the month, and then high schoolers with the Young Lasallian Assembly summer program helped with another round of watering a few weeks later.
Girl Scout Troop 36G at our Marsh Creek 7 property. Photo by Haley Sutton
Staff also watered the oak trees at Irish Canyon, and we’re excited to get our public watering crew out to both sites later this summer. Thanks to all the enthusiastic volunteers who helped us water the 1,000 plants at Marsh Creek 7!
Summer Interns
Stewardship team and interns at the Mount Diablo summit. Photo by Haley Sutton
Our summer interns (through the Mount Diablo Unified School District Expanded Learning Internship program) had an eventful month filled with an assortment of activities that exposed them to the world of land stewardship and conservation.
They dug up and yanked out weeds across various properties and conducted trail checks at Curry Canyon Ranch to ensure safe access for visitors.
They helped in the office too, by looking through trail camera images, organizing digital documents, and each completing a personal project.
Staff, interns, and volunteer with information kiosk at Magee Preserve. Photo by Haley Sutton
They helped us install the information kiosks at Magee Preserve, field tripped to Oakland to wander among the giant redwoods, and visited the tippy top of Mount Diablo to look out at 360-degree views from the summit.
Their time with us has come to an end, and we wish them the best of luck on their future adventures! Thank you, Kevin and Joseph, for your enthusiasm and hard work this summer!
You can learn a bit more about each intern and their summer experience with Save Mount Diablo in their own words.
Giant Reed Be Gone
Pulling out weeds and giant reed (Arundo donax) roots at our Big Bend property. Photo by Roxana Lucero
A few years back we applied for and were granted a lake and streambed alteration agreement permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete a Marsh Creek habitat restoration project at our Big Bend (Marsh Creek 8) property.
The goals of the project are to remove the highly invasive giant reed (Arundo donax) plants from the area, stabilize the soil and prevent erosion with coconut blanket, and then plant locally native plants to establish healthy vegetation along the creek.
Last year, staff removed several trash bags full of Arundo roots, and when we returned this month, there was only one young plant popping out of the soil, which we proceeded to dig up.
The soil at this site is sandy, making for easy and satisfying digging to remove all the pieces of the plant. There were some other plants downstream that we also dug up.
We are excited by the progress of this project and look forward to planting more natives out there this winter.
Sniffing Out Stinkwort
Staff pulling stinkwort at our Marsh Creek 4 property. Photo by Haley Sutton
We are diligently tackling stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens) patches at various properties to keep the weedy populations down and prevent them from spreading.
Stinkwort plants like to grow in areas of disturbed soil, drainages, and creek beds. They look like little Christmas trees with a sticky coating and have a strong minty smell reminiscent of vapor rub or cough drops.
To remove these pesky plants, all it takes is a pair of gloves, a good grip, and a strong pull, making for a very satisfying task.
Staff and interns went after the smelly weed at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve, where they are found in the disturbed soil around the desert olive patch and the dry Galindo Creek bed.
Staff also walked the dry creek beds at Curry Creek, Kirker Creek, and Marsh Creek at multiple points, and at Wright Canyon, to pull the young plants before they go to seed.
The tiny plants are harder to snag, so we’ll continue going after these patches in another round once they are a bit bigger and it’s easier to get a fist full of ‘em.
Discover Diablo
Beat the midsummer heat hike. Photo by Carolyn Balling
Beat the Midsummer Heat, July 11.
Participants were lucky to have a milder summer day to enjoy a pleasant hike right in our backyard. Hiking from a narrow green corridor in the suburbs to the expanses of the Mount Diablo foothills, everyone enjoyed the scenic views and summer wildlife.
Sauntering around Mangini Ranch with Ygnacio Valley High School
Ygnacio Valley High School students and teacher at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve. Photo by Haley Sutton
We kicked off July with a small group of students from the Ygnacio Valley High School Garden Club for an afternoon of nature interpretation at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve.
Students learned how to use binoculars to locate birds and get closer views of the native flora.
It was a toasty, sunny day, but everyone enjoyed the leisurely hike to the pavilion, where they had a nice rest and tapped into their creativity with some plein air watercolor painting.
A mockingbird kept the group company with its melodic song, swooping around to catch bugs in between perching on the top of a nearby tree. All and all, it was a delightful outing.
We hope to have more students from Ygnacio Valley High School join us in the fall for the Diablo Conservation Experience program.
