Stewardship Update
Written by Haley Sutton, Land Stewardship Associate and Frenchy Hendryx, Education & Outreach Associate
“You Are Bigger Than You Think”
Coastal Cleanup Day is California’s largest annual volunteer event, where we care for our local bodies of water to prevent trash from ending up in the ocean.
This year’s theme was “You’re Bigger Than You Think” to remind us that volunteering together has significant positive impacts.
The events take place the third Saturday of September, and at Save Mount Diablo, volunteers gather at Thomas Kirker Creek in Pittsburg.
This year was a windy and clear morning and volunteers removed about 150 pounds of debris from the 10-acre property. The most surprising find was the many car parts found along the creek banks.
Our volunteers also cut artichoke thistle flowers to help manage the population in that area. Thank you to everyone that helped us clean up Kirker Creek!
DocuSign Makes an IMPACT
The DocuSign team at Big Bend. Photo by Haley Sutton
DocuSign employees joined us at Big Bend to give back to the land as part of their annual IMPACT Week.
The team worked together to add another layer of sheet mulch to the trail on the eastern floodplain going from the parking area to the pond.
The volunteers removed weeds from the trail, and laid out burlap bags on top, followed with a thick layer of mulch.
The team of 17 went through a trailer full of 15 cubic yards of mulch and spread it across the whole trail. Thank you, DocuSign, for your hard work!
Watering Crew
The Save Mount Diablo volunteer watering crew.
Our watering crew has been busy tending to all our native planting areas at Marsh Creek 4 and 6, Big Bend, Curry Canyon Ranch, and Ang.
It’s exciting to see that there are many spots along our local creeks that still have a little bit of water, but the plants are very happy to get the attention from our volunteers.
The watering crew visits properties every few weeks, and this year they go out on Wednesday and Friday mornings. If you’d like to get involved, please reach out to Haley.
Stewards in the Field
Bobcat at Viera–North Peak
The Trail Dogs were busy this month, first with preparing China Wall for our Moonlight on the Mountain gala and helping with cleanup, followed with removing barbed wire fencing at Deer Valley Regional Preserve, and brushing and clearing fallen trees from the Coyote Trail at Morgan Territory Regional Preserve.
Property stewards observed diverse wildlife with a trail camera—including coyotes, bobcats, and owls—enjoying a creek at Viera–North Peak. Stewards at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve observed a coyote and tarantula during their visit.
We appreciate the help from our property stewards and the Trail Dogs for taking care of our properties and informing us of seasonal changes each month!
Discover Diablo
Trail stomp! Photo by Roxanna Lucero
Tarantula Trek for Families, Saturday, September 2nd. Families joined Save Mount Diablo hike leader and naturalist Ken Lavin for a nature walk through Mitchell Canyon in search of Mount Diablo’s gentle giant, the tarantula.
Photo by Maureen McSweeney
As the sun set, families were also on the lookout for another one of Mount Diablo’s arachnids, scorpions!
Tarantula Trek for Adults, Saturday, September 9th. Attendees found it hard to have arachnophobia as they fell in love with Mount Diablo’s gentle giant, the tarantula.
Attendees joined Save Mount Diablo hike leader and naturalist Ken Lavin on a nature walk through Mitchell Canyon as he dispelled any malicious rumors about the misunderstood arachnid.
Trail Stomp: Run with Save Mount Diablo, Saturday, September 30th. Attendees joined Save Mount Diablo Land Stewardship Associate Haley Sutton and Education & Outreach Associate Frenchy Hendryx on an exploratory run at Curry Canyon Ranch.
Attendees traversed through grassland, streamside, and woodland habitats at their own pace. Hilly terrain was rewarded with stellar views of Mount Diablo.
Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve
The Wander Women hiking group enjoyed an early morning saunter through Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve. They ventured the high ridgeline, down through the grassland, blue oak woodland, and chaparral, and spotted the oak savannas and even some Sierran tree frogs.
To learn how you can reserve Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve, visit our website.
Tabling and Outreach
Oktoberfest! Photo by Roxana Lucero
Clayton’s Oktoberfest on Saturday, September 30th and Sunday, October 1st: Staff and volunteers tabled in downtown Clayton, under beautiful Mount Diablo. It was a great outreach event with roughly 15,000 attendees.
We focused on educating the public on our “Missing Mile” campaign and our Krane Pond fundraising efforts.
