Sequoia Riverlands Trust Blog

sequoiariverlands — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:11:00 +0000

Artists and Scientists collaborate on love shacks for mating birds.

Many visitors who come to Año Nuevo State Reserve to watch the elephant seals breed this time of year have no idea about an island half a mile offshore where animals reign supreme. It’s also a place where a collaboration between artists and scientists have come up with a life-saving solution for mating seabirds by developing ceramic, underground love shacks.

Año Nuevo is a wildlife reserve that’s been closed to the public for more than half a century: researchers with permission from State Parks are the only people allowed. It’s among only a handful of predator-free islands in California where seabirds can successfully raise their chicks. At least nine species of seabirds lay eggs on the island. One of the breeding birds is the rhinoceros auklet, a stocky black bird the size of a small chicken. These close relatives to puffins get their name from the distinctive horn they grow on their bills in the weeks that they’re looking for mates. The auklets share the scarce space on Año Nuevo Island with mating elephant seals, Steller sea lions and harbor seals. California sea lions are also here in large numbers.

“It’s like the Galapagos of California,” said Ryan Carle, a biologist with Oikonos, the Bolinas-based conservation nonprofit leading the restoration project. “It’s just an incredible density of wildlife on a tiny island.”

But this small sanctuary faces large problems. Drought and storms have stripped the island of native vegetation, and the eroding sandy soil is blowing away. This poses problems for rhinoceros auklets, which use their claws to dig 6-foot-long tunnels just under the soil surface to lay their eggs.

“If you’ve ever been to the beach, you dig a hole in the sand and it collapses on you all the time because there’s nothing to hold it up,” said David Sands, president of Go Native, Inc., a Montara- based habitat restoration group involved in the project. The same thing can happen to a rhinoceros auklet burrow, killing the one and only chick the birds raise each summer.

In the past wooden nest boxes were built with PVC pipe but they required a lot of maintenance and weren’t a long-lasting solution.

In 2009 the Rebar design studio in San Francisco and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Oakland joined together to come up with an artistic solution to solve the problem.

A dozen students with backgrounds ranging from illustration to industrial design tried their hand at crafting ceramic cottages or bird condos. “We went from zero to 60 in terms of ceramics skills,” said Kolle Kahle Riggs, who at the time of the class was a junior majoring in jewelry and metal arts.

Riggs said she was excited to create a piece of art that could solve a problem. “It had a life beyond just being an art object in a gallery, or just being treasured by one person,” she said. “It had more of a purpose.”

That purpose was to help the rhinoceros auklet, considered a “species of special concern” by the California Department of Fish and Game, because its California breeding spots consist only of Año Nuevo Island and the Farallon Islands. The birds disappeared from Año Nuevo for about 100 years.

Part of the trouble arose from the Coast Guard light station that operated on the island from 1872 to 1948. The light keepers built a house and a garden on the island, cleared native vegetation and introduced rabbits, which overran the auklet burrows and drove the birds away.

In 1958, State Parks acquired the island as part of Año Nuevo State Reserve and closed it to the public. After State Parks removed the rabbits in the 1980s, the rhinoceros auklets naturally returned. But in 2000s, biologists realized the eroding soil could stand in the way of the birds’ breeding success. With money from the National Pollution Fund Center of the U.S. Coast Guard, and the help of more than 100 volunteers, State Parks engineered a solution with three main components: protection, plants and a little private space for the birds.

After a surge of California sea lions trampled a previous vegetation restoration in 2005, the team knew they needed to take extra steps to give the project a fighting chance. So in the fall of 2010, the team constructed a log wall to fence off a single acre of the island most heavily used by rhinoceros auklets. To minimize the environmental impact, team members used eucalyptus harvested from the San Francisco Peninsula as part of nonnative species removals. Then to stabilize the soil, they planted over 10,000 native plants in their protected patch, including American dune grass, salt grass and the seeds of coastal shrubs.

The final piece of the project was the ceramic burrow project. Scientists consulted with the California College of the Arts students on the biological and logistical specifications of the bird housing.

The modules needed a tunnel leading to a nest chamber that curved away from the light, similar to a natural burrow. They also had to protect against overheating, flooding and collapse. “They needed to be strong enough to withstand the weight of a sea-lion and light enough that we could carry them out there,” Lynch said.

After testing six clay burrows of various shapes in the spring of 2010, the team settled on a long tunnel leading to a curve like the crook of a pipe.

“It just turned out to be the simplest solution and the most elegant solution,” Passmore said. A pair of rhinoceros auklets showed its approval by nesting and hatching a chick in a shack.

The team produced 90 love-shack replicas in the summer of 2010 and buried them on the island in the fall. Last spring, 33 pairs of rhinoceros auklets moved into the new ceramic digs amid a lush, green oasis. The team members visited the island twice a week last fall to monitor the burrows and pull non native weeds. “It’s really changed my view of what’s the most productive relationship between humans and other inhabitants of the world,” Passmore said.

Hester hopes the project will help raise awareness about Año Nuevo Island.

“There’s the challenge of just communicating how rare and critical this land is, because it’s definitely out of sight, out of mind,” she said. “We just want people to recognize that there’s this jewel offshore.”

Pucker up! Increase interest in Meyer lemons from Exeter

sequoiariverlands — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:11:15 +0000

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120111/LIFESTYLE/201110324/Tender-juicy-Meyer-lemon-growing-popularity?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

Bird Boxes for one City inviting feathered friends

sequoiariverlands — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:55:53 +0000

See how one city is trying to help birds find a home.

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee

http://www.mercurynews.com/saratoga/ci_19662256

Waiting for Rain? Guest Blogger explains while it may be a long wait

sequoiariverlands — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:54:34 +0000

Courtesy John Greening

You’ve probably noticed — it hasn’t been raining much lately. And now that we’re well into December, the averages say it ought to be. What’s going on?

As those who pay attention to our local weather cycles know, Tulare County falls within the extremely variable borderland between the wet winter climate of the Pacific Northwest and the equally dry winter climate of northern Mexico. Because of this geographic fact, our winters vary enormously one year to the next. Some are wet — others very dry.

Scientists have been searching for decades for the patterns that control this variability. They’ve found some useful clues, but forecasts remain far from foolproof.

The most broadly followed clues have to do with the ocean temperature patterns we call El Niño and La Niña. Simply put, El Niños see critical parts of the Pacific Ocean warmer than average and often are quite wet in California. When La Niña conditions predominate, the ocean is cooler and California tends toward the dry side.

Unfortunately, however, it’s not always that simple. Strong El Niño years are reliably wet, but moderate and weak events are just as often dry. Moderate La Niña events are often dry, but occasionally, like last year, quite wet.

Last fall, while under the sway of a La Niña forecast, we prepared for a dry season and found ourselves instead enduring one of the wettest winters in several decades. This year, the La Niña pattern again dominates, and the pattern is starting out dry.

As of the beginning of December we have received about half as much precipitation as fell last year to the same date. And last December was extraordinarily wet, seeing rainfall equal to half an average winter. So far this year, we are seeing nothing comparable.

This season feels very different. The storm track has been tending toward north to south instead of the more common west to east, and most of the season’s storms so far have either bypassed or just touched our region. This happened again just a few days ago when a Pacific storm slipped south along the coast, leaving us dry, and then caused rain in Southern California.

I am speaking here more intuitively than scientifically, but all this feels very much like a classic La Niña winter — dry and cool. But there are some real wild cards in all this. They have to do with the fact that historic weather may not be a very good guide to the patterns emerging around us. The reason is climate change.

What does this mean locally? The biggest unpredictability this winter results from the huge changes taking place in the Arctic. The amount of sea ice in the far north has plummeted in recent years, and the Arctic Ocean is warming quickly. As a result, unpredictable things are happening to weather across the northern hemisphere.

Last winter saw extremely cold air spill out of the Arctic and plunge deeply southward into the heart of the nation. Will that happen again this winter? Could one of these outbreaks invade California? This is what is so significant about this winter’s north-south storm track in the far west. It could bring very cold northern air our direction, a rare event in Central California.

In the meantime, I’m assuming personally that we’re headed into a relatively dry winter. We’re coming out of two above-average winters, so a dry winter should come as no surprise. And if I’m wrong, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Personally, I like to see deep snow in the mountains and lots of spring runoff in the Kaweah River.

So let’s cross our fingers and hope that the weather gods decide to confound my expectations and send some major storms our way.

Three Rivers resident William Tweed writes about the natural world of Tulare County. His column, copyrighted and printed by permission, appears every other week in the Visalia Times-Delta.

Saving Farmland: SRT Closes Historic Easement

sequoiariverlands — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:45:46 +0000

SRT's Historic Easement Closes: Productive Farmland Saved!

Sequoia Riverlands Trust has closed the second phase of a 1,043 acre agricultural conservation easement between Wasco and Shafter in California. These were among the first ag easements in the history of the southern San Joaquin Valley and by far the largest. SRT is proud with the help of generous donors to be able to protect land in the most productive food producing region in the world!

http://www.conservation.ca.gov/index/Documents/2011-14%20Howe%20Ranch%20conservation%20easement.pdf

Get Back In Touch With Nature, Walk A Preserve!

sequoiariverlands — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:33:06 +0000

Sir David Attenborough

British Naturalist says people aren’t interacting with Nature

People in towns and cities are losing touch with the “realities of the natural world”, which is putting the future of the planet at risk, Sir David Attenborough has warned. The veteran wildlife presenter and naturalist said due to rapid urbanisation over the past 60 years, a growing number of people were not regularly coming into contact with the natural world. In an interview with Eureka magazine, published by the Times, Attenborough added, “We have a huge moral responsibility towards the rest of the planet. A hundred years ago people certainly had that … They were aware of the seasons and aware of what they were doing to the land and animals around them.” He says a majority of people are simply out of touch with the natural world and don’t even see an animal from one day to the next unless it’s a rat or a pigeon. ”

Saving the most productive food producing region in the world

sequoiariverlands — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:01:12 +0000

President Hoover and King Tut

After serving one term in the White House, Herbert Hoover decided to farm. He hired experts to find the best agricultural land available. They selected two spots, near Wasco and Pasadena. The way Keith Gardiner sees it, who’s he to argue with the nation’s 31^st president and his team of experts? “Hoover told them to find the best combination of soil, water and climate, and they didn’t let him down,” Gardiner said. “We’re on some of the best ground in the world. If you can’t make it as a farmer here, you can’t make it anywhere.”

Gardiner, Holly King and members of their extended families formed a partnership that two years ago created the first agricultural conservation easement in Kern County, permanently shielding the 472-acre Wasco I farm from development. That partnership and Sequoia Riverlands Trust have announced that the adjoining 571-acre Wasco II property likewise has been set aside for agriculture. President Hoover would be proud. “I don’t have a lot of history on this particular property – we only bought it four years ago – but my history has been to try to find this kind of land,” Gardiner said. “I’ve been farming for 40 years, and this is exactly what I’ve always wanted. We want to keep it in farming, with no outside pressure for development. There’s no better calling for this kind of land than what we’re doing with it.” “The state and national significance of this property was recognized so many years ago by President Hoover and his team of experts, says Scott Spear, Board President of Sequoia Riverlands Trust. “Crops and food needs change over time but this easement will ensure this property will remain in food production in perpetuity”.

Wasco II is primarily planted in almond orchards that will come into production next year; Wasco I is in almonds. While the nearest concentrated urban development is approximately 2½ miles to the south in Shafter and five miles northwest in Wasco, the property could have been split into 20-acre “ranchettes” for folks working in Bakersfield but desiring a rural homestead. Numerous estate-size lots 10 to 20 acres in size, are evident south of Wasco’s sphere of influence boundary and north of Shafter’s sphere boundary.

“It’s hard to overstate just how good this land is for growing things, and it’s ideally situated to help ensure the continuity of agriculture in the area,” said Brian Leahy, chief of the Department of Conservation’s Division of Land Resource Protection, which administers the CFCP. “We congratulate the landowners and Sequoia Riverlands Trust, on the creation of this conservation easement and encourage other Kern County landowners to explore the easement option for their property.

Interesting tidbit: German Shepherd King Tut helped get Hoover elected, pictured with the candidate, the dog made Hoover appear warm and friendly!

Lessons in Life From Those With Experience

sequoiariverlands — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:13:03 +0000

Here at Sequoia Riverlands Trust we strive to leave a lasting legacy through our work in land stewardship and restoration efforts as well as education. And after I saw this article I thought about the wisdom of our parents, grandparents, older friends and neighbors. I thought about how we don’t always realize how their experiences and life lessons can shed light on our journey through life. They have a legacy we should really be recognizing. Below a bit of that wisdom gained through the years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-a-pillemer-phd/top-10-lessons-for-living_b_1133585.html?ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=120711&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

Rancher wins $10,000 conservation award: easements allowed him to carry on

sequoiariverlands — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:13:12 +0000

Bay Area rancher Tim Koopmann has won the 2011 recipient of the Leopold Conservation Award in California. The sixth annual Leopold Conservation Award for California was presented December 5 at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Sparks, Nevada. “Tim Koopmann’s commitment to the health of the land and wildlife in his family’s care is exemplary, but he has also made extraordinary improvements in water quality that benefit those on and off of his ranch,” said Brent Haglund, Sand County Foundation president. “In addition, he has taken steps to help ensure that his land and land ethic will continue to thrive for future generations.” Koopmann owns and operates an 850-acre cow-calf operation within the San Francisco Bay Area in Sunol. The ranch is surrounded by urban development. Koopmann’s management practices have improved the soil and wildlife populations on his land, and he enhanced the water quality on and off of his ranch. As a Watershed Resource Specialist for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), Koopmann manages over 40,000 acres of watershed lands. The Koopmanns have played an integral role in the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, which was developed at their ranch in 2005. The Coalition brings together environmentalists, ranchers and resource professionals from state and federal agencies to advocate for the preservation of working ranches. Faced with encroaching development and the reality of selling or sub-dividing his ranch, Koopmann placed two conservation easements on his family’s ranch. He conserved a naturally occurring pond and the surrounding 31 acres of grassland in perpetuity for the California tiger salamander. Koopmann also conserved 107 acres in perpetuity to slow the encroachment of an adjacent golf course. These easements allowed him and his family to pay their estate tax bill and, most importantly, allow them to continue their work on the preservation of the land and other natural resources for the benefit of future generations.The $10,000 Leopold Conservation Award is named in honor of world-renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold. The award is presented annually in eight states to private landowners who practice exemplary land stewardship and management.

Help yourself and others: where, how and why you should volunteer

sequoiariverlands — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:01:54 +0000

Five places to volunteer right now and feel really good!

It doesn’t take a great deal of effort to make a difference… but volunteering makes a BIG difference in so many ways. And there are many ways to volunteer whether you want to protect and help restore open space at outdoor planting events, connect with those in need by serving a nourishing meal, help build lives by building a house for a family or ring a bell and fill up a red kettle, raising money to provide comfort and support all year long.

According to a recent survey, 21.5% of residents in Visalia (including Porterville) volunteer their time in some way. But no matter where you live, there are organizations that need volunteers to help. It’s a great way to connect you to your community and feel an enormous sense of satisfaction. To all our Sequoia Riverlands Trust volunteers, we say, thank you! And for those looking to start volunteering, here are some ideas and organizations where you can get started.

1. Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County

Build lives by building homes for low-income families or get involved in their home repair program. Not handy? Be an office volunteer or help connect with families.

http://www.hfhtc.org/

2. Sequoia Riverlands Trust

Help protect, conserve and restore working landscapes in beautiful outdoor settings. Check out the planting days scheduled where volunteers “dig in” with native plants at Nature Preserves and see the landscape change before their eyes.

http://www.sequoiariverlands.org/

3. Salvation Army

Ring that bell! Be a bell ringer at local businesses and as the Army says, “do the most good” for those in need. Or help prepare food boxes or assist in programs working in disaster relief or emergency services.

http://www1.usw.salvationarmy.org/usw/www_usw_goldenstate20.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/4D960D54804DFA5E882577FC00771700?Opendocument

4. Valley Oak SPCA

Get involved in helping some furry friends. Foster life long relationships between people and animals by working with mobile pet adoptions or humane education.

http://www.vospca.org/

5. Visalia Rescue Mission

Help with this organization’s outreach that includes serving 3 meals a day 365 days a year. Serve your community by becoming a mentor and share your experience or expertise with someone who would be grateful.

http://www.visaliarescue.org/