Trail Trekkers Forge a New Path in El Cerrito

Jenny Hammer, Tom Gehling and I take a big step onto a white retaining wall higher than our knees. We pass by Calla Lilies planted in a front yard to our left and a neatly trimmed hedge in the yard to our right. My car is parked steps away on Navallier Street but here, tucked between two single-family houses is a five-foot wide gateway to open space.

We follow a dirt trail and shortly pass the ends of fenced-in yards. The view opens up to a hillside covered in grass with groves of pines further on. About 30 feet from the start, a sign pegged to a Monterey pine reads “Motorcycle Hill Trail” and gives credit to the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers (ECTT).

The start of the Motorcycle Hill Trail. (Photo by Autumn Sartain)

Since 2012, the El Cerrito nonprofit ECTT has built two new trails: Motorcycle Hill Trail and another called Lower Snowdon Trail. Both of these are in the Hillside Natural Area, 85 acres of city-owned open space in El Cerrito. ECTT has also improved other existing trails and surveyed and mapped more than 60. They reach 400 people on their email list, have 31 dues-paying members, and 6 board members.

One of ECTT’s main activities is leading free hikes. In 2013, they led hikes throughout the East Bay, San Francisco and Marin for several hundred people.

Motorcycle Hill Trail, the organization’s showcase accomplishment, has a little more than a 300 foot elevation gain and runs a little less than half a mile through sunny meadows and shaded understories of Monterey pine and eucalyptus.

The hill itself is reasonably steep — a 40 percent grade — so ECTT designed switchbacks, making for easier walking. The trail makers also installed treads made of pressure-treated eucalyptus in particularly steep areas. At the first set of treads, someone has burned the trail name into the eucalyptus with a magnifying glass — to reduce, Hammer says, the environmental impacts of trail-making.

The first tread on Motorcycle Hill Trail. (Photo by Autumn Sartain)

The name for the hill goes back to the 1920s. Hammer stops to pull black and white photos out of her backpack. They show men churning up clouds of dust from the back wheels of their motorcycles as they ride up a steep hill in front of attentive crowds. The site took its name from the National Motorcycle Hill Climb, where men performed these dare-devil-esque shows. “Look at this,” Hammer says, “just dirt and dust and nothing, no trees.”

Gesturing to the now green and tree-filled area in front of us, she says that it’s “not for motorcycles now, obviously.”

The areas where crowds gathered to watch the climbs were eventually replaced by homes. Now, the city of El Cerrito owns the land as part of the Hillside Natural Area.

When Hammer joined ECTT, she helped research and survey existing trails, pouring over assessor’s maps to determine property lines. She discovered that a tiny piece of the Hillside Natural Area squeezed between two houses and reached the sidewalk. Realizing a trail there could provide significant access to the open space, connect to other existing trails, and help prevent erosion by providing a definitive path, she presented the idea to the ECTT board, which decided to build the trail.

Tom Gehling and Jenny Hammer on Motorcycle Hill Trail. (Photo by Autumn Sartain)

As we walk along one of the many switchbacks through a grassy area, Gehling points to a cluster of three small chicken wire cylinders at the trail’s edge. The fences protect scrub-oak acorns planted by the Montessori School of El Cerrito, which has partnered with ECTT to plant acorns and help with the trails. So far, students have planted about a dozen acorns, and they plan to plant more this fall.

With only six board members, ECTT needs partners like the school to help with trail construction and other efforts. Even the treads take careful measuring, Hammer says. “It looks like it’s a snap but it’s not,” she says.

ECTT began building the Motorcycle Hill trail June 2, 2012, on National Trail Day, but the group worked the area for years before shovels hit dirt: pulling out French broom, surveying, and, along with the East Bay Trail Dogs, conducting flagging missions where the proposed trail began to take form. About a year after starting the trail, the group installed treads, and ECTT regularly holds “work parties” to get some extra help.

Jenny Hammer points to an area on Motorcycle Hill that was once covered in French Broom. (Photo by Autumn Sartain)

As we continue up the hill, I see live oak, sticky monkey flower, coyote brush and California buckeye. Native wildflowers are here too and I see lavender blue dicks hiding amongst the non-native grasses. I hear the scold of a scrub jay and spot a wild turkey foraging under the trees. Yellow butterflies bounce on the light breeze over the grass.

ECTT focuses also on restoration, or at least removing invasive species, so when we come to a meadow covered in French broom – a particularly tenacious shrub with pretty yellow flowers — Gehling heads off the trail and starts weeding. Hammer pulls up her own, and then says to me, “You gotta pay your toll.”

I pull on a small shoot and successfully get the root out.

“When you get rid of broom the natives come back,” Hammer says, and she points out another section now covered with California sage and grasses. She has also spread poppy seeds on the hill. “Won’t this be gorgeous,” she says, “You look up here and the whole side of the hill is poppies.”

A view from Motorcycle Hill Trail. (Photo by Autumn Sartain)

At the top of the hill there’s a bench beneath a eucalyptus. From the summit, the view extends over the roofs of El Cerrito and Richmond, over the waters of the Bay, to the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge and Mt. Tam.

A fire road from the summit leads to the 8-acre Madera Open Space, an area ECTT would like to help the city of El Cerrito purchase from its current owner, the Trust for Public Land, which is holding the land temporarily until December of this year. Hammer says the price tag would clean out the city’s parks and recreation fund, so ECTT has been working with Friends of Five Creeks and the El Cerrito High School mountain bike team to try to raise $100,000 from the community to help offset the cost. So far, Hammer says, they’ve raised $36,000.

The 85-acre Hillside Natural Area has oak woodlands, riparian areas and trails for the community, but it is divided by Potrero Ave and rows of houses. The Madera property lies between the two sections and would help provide a natural connection. Hammer describes Madera as “dark and peaceful and cool” with its glens and groves of oaks. “It’s other-worldly,” she says.

Madera, Hammer and Gehling say, offers not only natural connections but educational opportunities. The Madera elementary school is adjacent to the land, and so it offers a chance to get “young people out appreciating nature and doing physical exercise,” Hammer says.

We walk back down the trail. Soon the sounds of scolding scrub jays and our feet patting the dirt are replaced by the tinkling of a backyard wind chime. When we step onto the sidewalk, the views of meadows are replaced by cars driving along Navallier. “You’re right in the middle of a developed area,” Gehling says, referring to our hike.

“Then,” Hammer says, “you step up this wall and you’re in a whole different world.”

Autumn Sartain reviewed the Motorcycle Hill Trail in the July issue of Bay Nature.

For more information about the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, including membership, trail maps and events, visit www.ectrailtrekkers.org

San Francisco Group Launches Pop-Up Gardens

When Stephanie Goodson first approached a developer about her idea to create community gardens in San Francisco, he was hesitant.

According to Goodson, the developer was concerned that people became attached to their gardens, and he didn’t want to be responsible for later tearing down something precious. After all, when the Hayes Valley Farm was bulldozed last summer to make way for a housing project, there were accompanying protests. Late last year, the city announced plans to replace another garden in Hayes Valley with mixed-use housing — Project Homeless Connect’s garden on Octavia.

While community gardens have many clear benefits, they are a hard sell in a city like San Francisco with multi-million dollar property prices. But a light bulb turned on for Goodson: what if the gardens could be portable? That is, they would roam between vacant lots around the city as spots became available. NOMADgardens — in concept — was born.

“Our win, win solution is an opportunity for developers to have a very positive impact within the neighborhood that they are influencing,” said Goodson.

It’s been almost four years since Goodson first had the idea, and the process of creation hasn’t been easy. She and other volunteers had to present their idea to city agencies, get development approvals, secure fiscal sponsorship as a project with the SF Parks Alliance, prototype containers, and gain access to electricity and water for the gardens.

Their efforts culminated in April at the opening of NOMADgarden’s first community garden amidst the tall buildings and dense cityscape of Mission Bay. Inside the fenced-in area, shiny new silver containers were placed in rows on pallets, and fresh soil was piled in a mound about 4 foot high and 15 feet across.

The half-acre site has space for 220 gardeners to each rent a 2 by 4 foot container to grow whatever plants they like. NOMADgardens has leased the site for two years and at the end of the lease they will either renew if the land is still available or move to another site. Goodson said she’s already identified some possible areas in Mission Bay for relocation.

Community gardens are known for bringing neighbors together and providing a connection with nature and food. They may even be a way to address climate change locally by reducing the urban heat island, reducing some food transport, and creating a pleasing space for urbanites to walk, rather than drive their cars.

Hayes Valley Farm in its heyday. Photo: edible office/Flickr

With transportable containers, and the expectation of being temporary, it’s possible that this new style of pop-up community gardens could avoid community heartache later on.

“Vacant lots are gems of opportunity to beautify waiting lands and connect the community,” Goodson said.

As of early June, 61 gardeners had signed up. It costs gardeners about $20 a month, and in addition to the space, they can participate in community-building projects at the site, including movie nights and art shows.

Goodson admits that, “Gardens don’t make money.” But the team’s business know-how “keeps the headaches to our team and not on the developer.”

NOMADgardens is raising money to design and install irrigation and to create a workshop space for demonstrations and movie nights. They also plan to create a storage area, library and coffee shop using a portable shipping container, as well as provide a “grow service.”

The grow service is for people that want to be a part of the community but don’t have time to grow their own food. NOMADgardens will take care of the plants for a monthly fee, and can even deliver the food when it’s ready. It isalso hatching a plan to create consumer products, such as pots, for plants to beautify balconies. True to community spirit, NOMADgardens plans to use a local San Francisco artist.

Goodson, a designer and owner of her own design consulting firm, is also looking to the future. She’s making relationships with other developers and thinking of ways to incorporate gardens into future building designs. She’s talked with developers and non-profits across the country — from Las Vegas to Georgia to Hawaii.

“Our goals are huge,” she said. “We want to spread Nomad love everywhere.”

Autumn Sartain is a Bay Nature editorial intern.

Peninsula Measure Would Get People onto More Public Lands

At the top of Miramontes Ridge, there is a viewpoint that people aren’t allowed to visit.

Brian Malone, area superintendent for MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), takes me through locked gates, past an “Area Closed” sign, and over an overgrown road to get there.

On this clear day in early May, the view extends over rolling chaparral hills to where the Pacific Ocean nestles into Half Moon Bay. From the ridge top we can even see San Francisco Bay and the outline of downtown San Francisco. Two red-tailed hawks fly over hills below us, while an ocean breeze and sunshine puts smiles on our faces.

“I hate being the guardian of closed areas,” said Malone. “I can’t wait to invite the public.”

That may soon happen if voters in San Mateo, Santa Clara and parts of Santa Cruz counties approve Bond Measure AA in the June 3^rd election. Miramontes Ridge and MROSD’s other open space preserves would have the necessary funding to provide some public access.

For the majority of MROSD’s 42-year life, its main focus was on land acquisition. But the agency has broader goals.

“Our mission is acquisition, it’s restoration and it’s public access — it’s really those three elements,” said MROSD’s general manager Steve Abbors.

The view from the top of Miramontes Ridge, closed to the public. Photo: Autumn Sartain

In 2011, with increasing demand for public access, MROSD devised a vision plan and assessed potential wildlife corridors, regional trail access, and spots where sensitive species, water resources, and old growth forests needed protection. From this, it identified 74 different project areas, and with public input winnowed those projects down to a top 25.

The agency priced them at $300 million and has asked the public’s support with a general obligation bond funded by property taxes starting at $1 per $100,000 of property value. The taxes would peak by year 20 at $3.18 (that amounts to $31.80 a year for a one-million dollar home).

“We designed it to be affordable. We designed it to really listen to what the public has to say,” said Abbors.

A community oversight committee would report to the board and publish how the funds are spent so the public gets accountability.

“We really enjoy a wonderful quality of life here and a big part of that is having these incredible jewels of scenic beauty here, very close to home, and we want to keep it that way,” said Marc Landgraf, external affairs director for Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST).

POST is sponsoring the campaign for Measure AA, providing funding, staff time, office space and volunteer organization.

For the Measure AA to pass, it needs a two-thirds vote of approval in Midpen’s jurisdiction.

While acquisition is still an important piece of Midpen’s Vision Plan, accounting for 50 percent of the dollar value from the Bond, another 50 percent will go toward providing more public access, including trail-building and other recreational infrastructure. Funds will also be devoted to restoring and managing resources, which could include conservation grazing, fisheries management, and enhancing ponds for sensitive species. While the bond money would be used to implement projects, maintenance costs would come from their existing budget, according to Abbors.

This could be a big win for the public, since 44 percent of Midpen’s lands are currently closed, including most of the 19,000 acres of Sierra Azul that surrounds the Peninsula’s highest peak, Mount Umunhum.

“There will always be some portion that needs to be closed,” said Abbors. “There are sometimes certain types of soils that we shouldn’t even be walking on.”

But with the bond funding, every major land holding will eventually open, in part, to the public.

The 1,152 acres of Miramontes Ridge is a high priority for public access. Mostly chaparral from Skyline Blvd down to Half Moon Day, the land also includes agricultural fields and coastal prairies. It has rare plants and sensitive species, such as steelhead trout and red-legged frog. Projects would include stream restoration as well as public access.

In addition to people, MROSD is also interested in re-introducing cattle to their lands. On its La Honda property about 10 miles southeast of Miramontes, the vision plan includes opening the Driscoll Ranch area. Conservation grazing began there in April when the Markegard family brought in the first cattle in 17 years.

“The new trend in science and research is that bringing cattle back onto the land in a managed way is actually beneficial to these grasslands, because that’s how these grasslands evolved, with grazing animals,” said Doniga Markegard, co-owner of Markegard Family Grass-Fed.

She said that forage production, soil water retention, and the cattle’s weight gains all improve, “so it’s sort of a win-win for everybody.”

The Markegard family also leases land from POST at its Cloverdale Ranch — a coastal area also included in Midpen’s vision plan. POST and Midpen hope to open up even more land for conservation grazing as less than 1,000 of 3,260 acres of grasslands at Cloverdale are currently leased. Trails and habitat restoration would also be added.

The Markegard family and that's near the historic Red Barn on the La Honda property. Photo: Autumn Sartain — The Markegard family and that’s near the historic Red Barn on the La Honda property. Photo: Autumn Sartain

La Honda includes a priority watershed for coho salmon according to Lenington. There, the vision plan includes stream restoration to remove barriers to fish migration. It also includes fire management, building trails, putting on community events, and habitat restoration for red-legged frog.

Landgraf says that Cloverdale has, “one of the healthiest populations of San Francisco garter snake in its range.” There, habitat improvements are planned for the snake, as well as steelhead trout and red-legged frog. Other projects would include trail building and agricultural interpretive programs.

If the bond fails, Abbors says Midpen will move forward on the vision plan anyway, but progress will take much longer and some opportunities would be lost.

“People should vote for the bond measure because it is so important to conservation here on the Peninsula and in the South Bay,” Landgraf said. “We want to see those [closed areas] open to the public so people from any walk of life – any economic background – can go visit their local open spaces.”

Autumn Sartain is a Bay Nature editorial intern.

French Broom and An Earth Day Message of Resilience

Suzanne Whelan stands in front of a thick patch of French broom and addresses a group of 17 volunteers who traded in last Saturday to help remove this invasive plant from the Mt. Tamalpais watershed.

She cautions them about the hazards of the job: ticks, poison oak, sunburn, uneven terrain, bees and general exhaustion from the heat. Pulling weeds is not glamorous or easy work. And yet, volunteers put in about 3,000 hours on Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) land during the 2012-2013 fiscal year in habitat restoration, much of it involving removing the “No.1 weed in Marin County.”

One of the volunteers tells Whelan that the effort is “analogous to reclaiming the Sahara with [her] watering can.”

She laughs: “What are you going to do? Whatever you can.”

That might as well be the motto for Earth Day 2014. As we reflect on the compounding problems facing the planet, as individuals it may seem like the best we can do is keep pulling the weeds we see in our own backyards, however intractable they might be.

In the case of French broom, a woody perennial shrub that comes dressed up in attractive yellow flowers, removal has been a focus of native plant restoration efforts for many years around the Bay Area. Genista monspessulana has taken over an estimated 100,000 acres in California since its mid 19^th Century introduction as an ornamental, growing at a rate of more than two feet per growing a season.

French broom is a pretty ornamental perennial and a ferocious invader. Photo: Autumn Sartain.

For the past 12 years, the Marin water district has been working against all odds to get rid of the thing. Volunteers have clocked 7,000 hours in the last year alone, and the broom is still spreading at a rate of 50 acres a year. It covers 1,400 acres of watershed.

“We’re making progress in strategic areas — we are not winning,” says Whelan. “It is expanding faster than we can remove it.”

The volunteers range from middle-school age to almost 70. Suzanne reaches down and pulls all the way to the root. She explains that it’s important to get the whole root out because if you break it, the plant just grows back more aggressively, and with multiple stems. Volunteers are given orange weed wrenches to remove the pieces that won’t come out by hand.

Volunteers clocked 7,000 hours of French broom removal in the last year alone. Photo: Autumn Sartain. — Volunteers clocked 3,000 hours of French broom removal in 2012-2013 fiscal year. Photo: Autumn Sartain.

The work is being conducted at Pine Point, 9 acres of which is infested with French broom. The Marin water district mowed the area for decades, but has been hand-pulling since 2010, and Suzanne expects they will need to continue for another six to seven years to be effective. She says you need to, “pull, pull, pull for a dozen years,” to make an impact.

The Marin water district manages almost 19,000 acres of Mt. Tamalpais’ watershed. These lands are part of the UNESCO Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve, an internationally recognized biodiversity hotspot. The watershed boasts 900 vascular plant species, 400 vertebrate animal species, and many species of fungi and invertebrates, including about 50 plants of special significance. That diversity combined with 150 miles of road and trails to hike, bike or ride horses, provides recreational opportunities for about 2 million visitors a year.

Whelan says it isn’t difficult to find volunteers.

“People want to come up here, they want to come out,” she says. “Locals have a great sense of ownership of Mt. Tamalpais.”

She believes that the people who come out to volunteer, “have a connection to place and understand the connections between a healthy environment, a healthy water supply and a healthy community.”

French broom is known as an ecosystem disruptor because it changes the cycling of nutrients, fire and water. It also changes the habitat structure’s value for both animals and plants.

Whelan says that while walking the trails at the end of summer, “you can actually hear the seeds pods pop open and the seeds explode out and sprinkle into the landscape.” These seeds can persist in the soil for 50 years, creating a formidable seed bank for the species’ long term survival.

French broom removal makes way for this lovely native iris. Photo: Autumn Sartain.

The broom replaces the mostly low-growing native ground-cover, Whelan explains. If fire came through the area with only native species, it would act to re-generate the soil. However, broom can grow into a tall shrub — she has seen it as high as about 15 feet. These taller shrubs create “ladder fuel” which allows the fire to jump into the canopy, creating a very dangerous burn.

“It’s an aggressive weed,” Whelan says, explaining that it grows in dense aggregations, creating barriers for human recreation and plant growth. Native animals seem to have no use for it. Suzanne says she’s only seen bees and moths on the plant, and nothing else seems to eat or live in it. Ecologically it is almost equivalent to a barren area.

In return for a few hours of weed-pulling, the volunteers get a little exercise, sunshine, and a free parking pass to enjoy the watershed for the day. Despite the hardships and seemingly little progress or reward, the love for this place and determination seems apparent. Happy Earth Day 2014!

Help out:

Habitat restoration activities take place on the third Saturday of each month from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

For more Earth Week restoration activities and opportunities to volunteer, visit Bay Nature’s events calendar!

Lake Lagunitas in the Mount Tamalpais watershed. Photo: Autumn Sartain. — Bon Tempe Lake in the Mount Tamalpais watershed. Photo: Autumn Sartain.

Autumn Sartian is a Bay Nature editorial intern.

First Blue Heron Cam in California Set up at Stow Lake

A sign placed outside the Stow Lake Boathouse informs visitors of the variety of bird species that use the lake, such as the pied-billed grebe, Canadian goose, downy woodpecker and Allen’s hummingbird.

Yet although about 40 bird species live in Golden Gate Park, there is one that is the main attraction for Stow Lake: the great blue heron.

“Great Blue Herons are probably the most charismatic bird in America – people love them,” says Nancy DeStefanis, executive director of San Francisco Nature Education and a woman dedicated to Stow Lake’s local herons.

Nancy hands me a set of postcards with colorful photographs. She points to one showing a heron chick with a black Mohawk spreading its small and not-completely-feathered wings, and says with a smile, “See this is why I do this. Who couldn’t love these guys? I’m a sucker for them.”

Nancy has worked for 10 years to install a camera at Stow Lake so people can enjoy the birds from home and see the chicks as they grow.

“It takes money, will, and collaboration,” she says, and she is careful to mention the list of acknowledgements on the SF Nature Education website.

Great blue heron on Stow Lake. Photo: Judy H/Flickr

Today, that hard work and collaboration is paying off, because the first official SF Nature Education Heron Cam is finally installed, and it represents the first camera on a heron colony in all of California.

The camera will act as a tool to help educate the public about the herons, especially children. On their website, SF Nature Education will provide activities targeted to 3rd to 5th grade teachers so children can learn about the heron’s biology and life-cycle, as well as the history of the colony. Nancy will also use recordings of the video to continue her 21-year monitoring and research of the colony.

Nancy first discovered herons nesting at Stow Lake in 1993.

“I was totally knocked out – to see a humongous bird fly in and two other humongous birds stand up,” she recalls.

Previously a community organizer and lawyer who often worked pro-bono cases for social justice causes, these nests were the beginning of a new phase in Nancy’s life.

Through SF Nature Education, she has led the popular and free Heron Watch program for the last 12 years. Both adults and children can look through scopes to see the herons up close and learn from volunteer naturalists about bird behavior. Children also get field journals to color in the 40 different bird species found at the Park.

Stow Lake sits near the center of Golden Gate Park. In the center of Stow Lake sits Strawberry Island — so big the lake almost seems like a river around it. Yet, a much smaller island finds space between the shore and Strawberry – “Heron Island,” as Nancy calls it.

Atop the tall Monterey cypresses on Heron Island, above all the other birds and high above the crowds, Nancy shows me a great blue heron sitting in a nest made of sticks about 5 feet wide. This bird is one of their veteran male herons – his tongue protrudes through his neck and this injury makes him recognizable. This is his fifth confirmed nesting year here. She tells me he has been sitting like that for days, indicating the nest is likely full of chicks.

A great blue heron at Stow Lake. Photo courtesy of Nancy DeStefanis.

This year there are three heron nests, all in the same tree. Nancy thinks there may even be another “secret nest” in the back. According to Nancy, chicks should be visible very soon. She is hoping for the same numbers as last year: six, with two per nest. Around mid-May the chicks should start branch-hopping and taking their first flights. Once they start experimenting with flight, they’ll stay around the nest for about another two weeks before heading away from the colony. Nancy says they probably move to other parks in the Bay Area once they leave Stow Lake.

Based on the angle of light, the best time to see the nests through the heron cam will be anywhere from dawn until about 1pm, although it will be on all day. The video can be accessed at SF Nature Education’s website.

With public access postponed to the heronry at the Martin Griffin Preserve of Audubon Canyon Ranch, due to the colony failure last year, Stow Lake may be the best option for viewing herons in the Bay Area this nesting season.

While we talk, Nancy checks her email. “I think we’re on right now,” she says. We check a computer and see that the camera is live. She is thrilled.

“I’m so excited, I can’t tell you.” She lets out a happy laugh, “I’m such a happy camper. I’m going to remember this day.”

If You Go:

Heron Watch is free and will take place from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturdays from April 12 – May 17. Signs will be posted at the Stow Lake Boathouse to the observation site, where volunteers will show adult herons and chicks through scopes and talk about heron behavior. Bring binoculars and water; if you don’t have binoculars, you can borrow some from Heron Watch. Visitors will receive a checklist of the birds and children receive field journals and heron mobiles.

Volunteer-led Nature Tours to see the herons and other birds around Stow Lake and Strawberry Island are also available for $10 for
adults (children are free). Meet at same observation site from 10:30 am to noon on the same days as Heron Watch.

Autumn Sartain is a Bay Nature editorial intern.