Open Space Council: Blog

A Pause from our Regular Programming

PARK by Scott Russell Sanders

Originally, a park was a hunting ground owned by royalty, fenced in and closed off from the hoi polloi.  From there, the meaning expanded to include any pleasure grounds, public or private, usually with lawns, trees, and amenities such as walkways and benches.  By the seventeenth century there were plots in London known as parks set aside for all citizens to enjoy.  By the nineteenth century, the term was applied in the United States to sporting grounds, as in ballpark.  With the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, the term was expanded again, making room for such natural wonders as geysers and grizzlies.  In the Rocky Mountains, forest openings, especially flat, grassy valley bottoms, are also known as parks.  It was the latter meaning Mary Austin had in mind when she wrote in The Land of Little Rain: "They have a better name in the Rockies for these hill-fenced open glades of pleasantness; they call them parks."

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An exerpt from Home Ground, Language for an American Landscape which was edited by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney.  Copyright 2006 by Trinity University Press. 

A Pause is a regular feature of the Open Space Council's blog where we take a moment to step back to consider a word, an idea or a photograph.  This is our first pause. 

This Monday: Moffett Field Bay Trail Grand Opening

The Moffett Field Bay Trail Grand Opening is this coming Monday, September 20!

After many years of work, this much anticipated opening will complete the missing link along a 26-mile continuous section of trail between East Palo Alto and San Jose. The trail opening is the culmination of years of collaboration among many different agencies and is one of several public access and recreation projects within the 15,100-acre South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. It will be managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.



When is the Grand Opening?  Monday, September 20, 2010 from 10:30 am to 12:00pm.  Click here for more information and how to get there.

"Inspiring!"

"Inspiring" is what one attendee said about yesterday's Members' Meeting at the Log Cabin. 

Almost 70 people gathered to say goodbye (or, rather, see you later!) to Neal Fishman and Maxene Spellmen who are retiring from the California Coastal Conservancy, to remember the thousands and thousands of acres now conserved in the Bay Area thanks to the Coastal Conservancy's Bay Program, and to look forward to continued collaboration to protect and steward open space in the region.  We also heard the story about how one request for information turned into a beautiful and game-changing book for the East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (a story that will for sure be retold here sometime soon). 

 

It was a room full of colleagues and friends all working towards the same goal.  And we'll do it again.  Save the date of November 18.  Turkeys might be involved.

 

Opportunity: Vote for Conservation Heros!

Back in July we posted here about the Trust for Public Land's program with Cox Enterprises to nominate conservation heros.  There are now five finalists and they're wanting your votes by October 10.  They are:

• Bruce Beyaert
• Duane DeWitt
• Mark Liolios
• Cassandra Lopez
• Gordon Piper

You can learn more about them by clicking here.  Be sure to watch the videos that go with each finalist.  You're bound to feel good afterwards.

What is Cox Conserves Heroes?  It is an awards program created by Cox Enterprises and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) that honors heroes among us who work to create, preserve, improve or enhance the shared outdoor places in our communities.  TPL is one of the 60 members of the Open Space Council.

Opportunity: Marxan Training in Berkeley

For you GIS folks out there, there will be a training on Marxan on September 30-October 1 in Berkeley.  Our own Ryan Branciforte will be presenting on the second day about how Marxan is used in the Upland Habitat Goals project.  The training is put on by PacMARA which provides more information about the 2 days here and registration can be found here (shhh, the password is Marxan). 

What is Marxan, anyway?
Marxan is the most utilized conservation planning tool worldwide! It is a free software tool that has been used extensively in the design of marine and terrestrial reserves and management areas. For anyone working (or interested in working) in integrated ocean or land management, Marxan will facilitate smart decision-making that takes into account a broad range of considerations, targets and tradeoffs. It specializes in prioritizing conservation area selection based on economic efficiency.

For more information about the training, contact Heather Coleman, Science Advisor at PacMARA.  Office: 250 382 8460, Fax: 250 382 8469, hcoleman [at] pacmara [dot] org

This Thursday: Members Harvest Meeting

Join us this Thursday, September 16 from 10am-1pm for our Harvest Meeting.  We will celebrate the unique partnership between Open Space Council and the Bay Area Program of the State Coastal Conservancy, a partnership that has yielded so much and you are the beneficiaries.  At the meeting you will see some cool technology applications, hear about the Council's work that connects young people to the outdoors and get a peak at what's in the works for 2011.  Amy Hutzel, Manager of the Bay Area Program of the State Coastal Conservancy, will highlight key projects they have funded and share what opportunities lay ahead.

Also, two important members of our community, Neal Fishman and Maxene Spellman, are retiring from the Coastal Conservancy and we will acknowledge and honor their years of leadership and service.  Join us as we highlight the work they've done over the years and wish them luck in their next adventures.

Would you tell us you're coming so we have enough (but not too much) food for all?  Register here.

The meeting will be at the Log Cabin in the beautiful Presidio of San Francisco.  Click here for directions.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Connecting People to Land in Sonoma County

“Aqui hay una casa de tejon!" shouted a four-year-old boy.  The boy had been dubbed the "Badger Hole Lookout" and was taking great pride in identifying the holes created by the animals along the trail.  He and his family were hiking in the Willow Creek watershed and were participating in something unique. 

On Sunday, August 29 a group of 15 people, including the Badger Hole Lookout and his parents, gathered with LandPaths’ staff at Willow Creek near Duncans Mills in Sonoma County.  They were there to learn about the land and earn permits through LandPaths’ Permit-for-Use program.  What was special about this particular group was that they are all Spanish-speaking.  The group had driven an hour from Santa Rosa to participate and all were excited to get access to this beautiful land. 

 
LandPaths' flyer about the Orientation, in Spanish. Click on it to see larger image.

The spectacular 3,373-acre "community-powered" park covers much of the Willow Creek and Freezeout Creek watersheds. Its rolling grasslands, forested ravines, and fish-bearing streams are home to an abundance of plants and wildlife.  Hikers, bikers and equestrians enjoy the 15 mile network of old logging and ranch roads.  These roads and trails connect with adjacent State Park lands, allowing users to hike or ride the 7+ miles from Duncans Mills to Shell Beach - all on State Park land.

Photo Credit: LandPaths

Due to the ongoing State Parks budget crunch, LandPaths has been asked to provide access at Willow Creek through a Permit-for-Use program which was started in 2005.  A permit for hiking, biking, and horseback access is issued after a required one-hour orientation on the property.

“Over the past few years, LandPaths has made great strides in providing relevant and accessible opportunities for Spanish-speaking families to get out exploring and tending the land here in Sonoma County,” said Meg Hamill, Field Programs Assistant at LandPaths.  “Due to successful bilingual outreach and participation with Bayer Farm Neighborhood Park and Gardens and Taylor Mountain Regional Park & Open Space Preserve, we now have an extensive community of invested Spanish-speaking families who we know are truly interested in spending time in, and stewarding, the public open spaces and lands of our county.”

With a permit in hand, the Badger Hole Lookout and his family can now explore the trails of Willow Creek and search for badgers for hours on end.  This land might have been unknown or scary to this young naturalist, but now it is part of his family.


What happens next for LandPaths?  Meg says, “We plan to continue offering Permit-for-Use Orientations in Spanish, with perhaps another in the Spring.  We have noticed with our other programs that once the word gets around, the buzz begins and more and more people are curious and interested in taking part.”

Learn more about Willow Creek and the Permit-for-Use program on LandPaths’ website.  LandPaths’ Willow Creek programs are offered in partnership with California State Parks and have been made possible with support from the California Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District, and many private donors, park users, and community volunteers.

LandPaths is one of 60 member organizations of the Open Space Council.

Share your ideas with President Obama

President Obama has launched a national dialogue about conservation in America to learn about some of the smart, creative ways communities are conserving outdoor spaces.  See our earlier post about IdeaJam and how Transit and Trails was nominated by Derrick Crandall of the American Recreation Coalition.  The voting tool is available to encourage interaction among those interested in America's Great Outdoors. 

We have learned that administration officials will begin drafting their recommendations to the President on America's Great Outdoors this week!  They will continue taking comments into the fall to validate patterns and themes from earlier input and to demonstrate support for the initiative, but if you have formal comments, innovative ideas, or helpful examples, we urge you to email them to: ago@ios.doi.gov TODAY or by early next week, so they arrive in time to guide the architecture of the report.

Click here to see ideas related to land conservation.  And click here to promoteTransit and Trails.

 

Opportunity: Urban Forestry Grants

CAL FIRE is pleased to announce the offering of Urban and Community Forestry Grants for the 2010/2011 fiscal year.  Grant opportunities include:

• Leafing Out Grant Program: A program to initiate or advance early stage urban forestry programs or projects
• Green Trees For The Golden State Grant Program: An urban tree planting grant program
• Leading Edge Projects Grant Program: A program to fund innovative and creative urban forestry and urban greening projects.

For more information about these grant programs and the others offered by CAL FIRE, click here.  And an important note: Funding of these grants is dependent upon the state budget process and upon the state’s ability to sell bonds.