Park Stewardship

ProgramGolden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Highlights • 2011

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Who is Park Stewardship?

We are stewards of the Golden Gate National Parks, working in partnership with the National Park Service to restore and sustain priority parklands.

We are field ecologists, studying park resources, and reporting on amazing scientific findings from right here in our park.

We are environmental educators, providing hands-on learning while sharing the park’s wonders with people of all ages.

We are youth leaders, providing pathways and support for continued involvement and development in the park.

We are community builders, connecting people to nature and to each other.

Together, we are park transformers and sustainers, committed to making our park the best it can be, for all, forever.

We are Park Stewardship, a program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. These are our highlights from 2011. Enjoy!

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Table of Contents

We are stewards of the park We are field ecologists We are environmental educators

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We are youth leaders We are community builders

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We are stewards of the park

Park Stewardship, Marin

Planted nearly 8,000 plants around the newly restored floodplain and frog ponds surrounding Redwood Creek.Pulled enough invasive plants to fill 16 large dump trucks.Engaged 1,376 young people in the Redwood Creek watershed.Led six naturalist walks, organized cultural events including Welcome Back Salmon, and hosted two art classes at Muir Beach.

Muir BeachDias RidgeOakwood ValleyWolfback Ridge

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Our Marin restoration sites

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HIGHLIGHTS

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From wading in Redwood Creek to traversing the wildflower-covered grasslands of Dias Ridge, our work helps to make the vision of a restored Redwood Creek watershed a reality. Hundreds continue to volunteer time and energy to ensure the success of this stunning transformation.

fetid adder’s tongue

Volunteers with Watku display the fruits of their hard work: a small mountain of invasive clover removed from the Redwood Creek floodplain.

We helped to relocate wildlife into the newly constructed creek channel, bucketful by bucketful.

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We are stewards of the park

Park Stewardship,

Before: Merry Dunes, Lands End, May 2007.

• Planted 21,000 plants—including the 100,000th planting since our program was launched in 2006.

• Worked alongside 1,687 volunteers contributing 9,182 volunteer hours of support for the park.

• Welcomed back our dedicated core of returning volunteers, including 19 volunteers who came to 10 or more programs.

• Launched the “Get Buff on the Bluffs!” program to entice hardy volunteer support for some of San Francisco’s most rugged and challenging terrain.

• Joined NPS archeologists in an excavation at Lands End to recover portions of a historic amusement park and learn more about San Francisco’s earliest days.

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HIGHLIGHTS

After: Merry Dunes, Lands End, May 2011; a testament to four years of work by Stewardship staff and volunteers.

San FranciscoPartnering with the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and our urban community, we work to enhance some of the most iconic landscapes and diverse habitats of the Bay Area.

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Our Restoration Sites• Muir Beach• Dias Ridge• Oakwood Valley• Wolfback Ridge

We work to protect some of San Francisco’s rarest plants:

Raven’s manzanitaCoast rock cressPresidio clarkiaSan Francisco gum plantMarin dwarf flaxHookedspur violet

Hookedspur violet, which we recently discovered in the Presidio, a previously unknown location.

Lands EndPresidio Bluffs

Our San Francisco restoration sites

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We are stewards of the park

Planted 13,194 plants at Mori Point and Milagra Ridge.Grew all plants locally at our native plant nursery on the campus of Oceana High School. Cleared the equivalent of 116 football fields of invasive plants from sensitive ecological areas.Engaged 1,890 volunteers, who totaled 12,515 hours of support for the park.Celebrated two San Francisco garter snake appearances at Mori Point in September. The sighting of a juvenile was especially exciting because it provides evidence that this snake—the most endangered land reptile in North America—is part of a reproducing population!

Mori PointMilagra RidgeWe also manage the Oceana Native Plant Nursery.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Stewardship, San MateoPark

Our San Mateo restoration sites

Giving voice to some of the park’s rarest inhabitants, the San Mateo team works to protect threatened and endangered species while finding creative ways to involve families, young people, and volunteers from all walks of life.

9Our nursery at Oceana High School gets a makeover!

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We are stewards of the park

Park Stewardship, TrailsTrails volunteers work across all three counties of the park to

accomplish some of the most diverse, dirty, and fun work. We

dig drains, cut brush, drill holes, haul rocks, hike with packs

across long distances, saw logs, chop trees, pound nails, and

hack weeds.

HIGHLIGHTS

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Maintained 385 feet of sand ladder, 185 feet of boardwalk, and 1,060 feet of trail tread.Brushed 25,015 feet of trail.Installed 75 feet of turnpike.Hosted 55 volunteer events, including five Teens on Trails volunteer days that engaged over 185 local youth.

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No need for a gym! Volunteers from Health Advances get a workout and make a difference.

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We are field ecologists

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2004/05   2005/06   2006/07   2007/08   2008/09   2009/10   2010/2011  

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f  Egg  Masses  

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Ca.  Red-­‐legged  Frog  Egg  Masses  Mori  Point    

California red-legged frog egg masses at Mori Point. Numbers recorded each year from 2005-2011. 2005 marked the construction of the first of three ponds, and the onset of our restoration work.

Using advanced science and monitoring, we strive to further understand the complex natural systems of the park and how our restoration efforts enhance these resources.

Photomonitored restoration sites.Monitored critically threatened and endangered species including mission blue butterflies, San Bruno elfin butterflies, and California red-legged frogs.Mapped invasive plant outbreaks.Experimented with different methods of controlling some of the park’s most damaging invasive plants.Reported our findings to NPS and local land managers.

ACTIVITY SNAPSHOT

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Good news from the field...

Things are looking up for the California red-legged frogs at Mori Point. Since 2007, when we constructed the first frog ponds, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of egg masses with 128 in the past year alone!

Our surveys also have found a significant increase in the number of endangered San Bruno elfin butterflies at Milagra Ridge. We documented a 400% increase in butterflies compared to 2010.

... and a troubling call for action

Unfortunately, our monitoring also recorded a significant decline in mission blue butterfly populations at Milagra Ridge. We are working hard to identify new conservation measures for this endangered species. In this past year we partnered with the California Garden Clubs Inc. to grow and plant lupines to enhance existing habitat. These plants will go in the ground in 2012.

Setting up transects for butterfly monitoring.

We are environmental educatorsSharing the park’s wonders with people of all ages and interests. We lead wildflower walks, night-time frog expeditions, star-gazing parties, tours for Bay Area land managers, professional trainings, and more!

Hosted 187 school field trips.Led 25 interpretive walks. Shared 302 informal, educational talks in the park.Wrote weekly and monthly e-newsletters for each of our four different volunteer programs, highlighting natural phenomena and happenings within the park.

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HIGHLIGHTS

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Program participants take a moment to admire a garter snake.

A group of Marin City youth search the Mori Point ponds for California red-legged frogs. 15

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We are youth leadersWe are passionate about connecting our youth to each other and the

environment. Park Stewardship Youth Programs engage students in

hands-on learning and service while providing pathways and support

for continued involvement and leadership. gage

Fostered 33 students through LINC and Restoration Youth Crew, our in-depth summer youth programs.Placed 16 students in advanced internships.Served 4,300 students in our school year programs.Engaged 113 youth in five Teens On Trails events.

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Youth from our LINC summer program prepare for their kayaking adventure at Aquatic Park.

HIGHLIGHTS

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Spotlight on three program alumni

Ruby returned to the park for her fourth year, as an advanced intern with the Presidio Park Stewards program, and also as a seasonal employee for the National Park Service. As a Park Service seasonal staff, she coordinated a new citizen science monitoring project.

“When I was doing rare plant monitoring... I realized that, if not for restoration work attributed to countless volunteers years ago, the Lessingia populations would not be as abundant as they are today. This realization was for me a piece of tangible evidence showing the importance of volunteer work in the parks.”

Josh had the extraordinary opportunity to work for the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. He spent time in the Office of Youth working on the American Latino Heritage Initiative, on programs aimed at bringing the outdoors experience to a broader spectrum of the population. Josh said this advanced internship was “totally transformative” both personally and professionally.

“The highlight of my time in Washington D.C. was having the honor and privilege of meeting Ken Salazar and President Barack Obama in person! Meeting them and taking in what D.C. represents has further inspired my ambitions to go into public service and the political field.”

LINC 2010 Advanced Internship with Department of the Interior, 2011Park Stewardship Program Education Intern, 2011

LINC 2008Advanced Internships 2009, 2010, 2011NPS seasonal employee, 2011

LINC 2007Restoration Youth Crew leader, 2011

Through the advanced internship program, David stepped into the role of youth leader, as a coordinator of one of our summer youth programs.

“I’ve gotten the chance to work with really motivated, inspiring, diverse individuals. Nothing is better than working beside people who enjoy and believe in what they are doing. This program has reaffirmed my belief that the most important thing in life is to follow one’s passion, and that everything else falls into place.”

Ruby Kwan

Josh Romero

David Pon

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We are community buildersConnecting community and parklands to create passionate and informed citizens invested in the health and future of open space. Last year, our talented staff led 302 programs that engaged 7,034 people spanning all three counties in the park. These programs foster camaraderie and create connection between individuals from all walks of life.

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We could not have done it without you!

Thank you to all the groups and individuals who joined us Oceana High School ∙ George Washington High School ∙ Home School Community of San Mateo ∙ City College of San Francisco ∙ American Hiking Society ∙ Chico State University ∙ Women Helping All People ∙ College of Marin ∙ Galileo Academy of Science and Technology ∙ Aim High ∙ Urban Trailblazers ∙ Bel Aire Elementary ∙ Head Royce School ∙ Marin Country Day School ∙ Project Regen ∙ San Francisco State University ∙ Adventures X-Country ∙ Bethlehem Lutheran Church ∙ CALPIRG ∙ Marin Horizon School ∙ Ocean Shore Elementary ∙ Oracle

∙ Our Lady of Perpetual Help ∙ Salesforce ∙ Stanford Alumni ∙ Urban School ∙ Advanced English Academy ∙ Boy Scouts ∙ Downtown High School ∙ Earth Team ∙ Eastside College

Preparatory School ∙ ESI ∙ FLY ∙ Green Play ∙ Life Tech ∙ McGraw-Hill ∙ New Village School ∙ One Brick ∙ PG&E ∙ PricewaterhouseCoopers ∙ Rothstein Kass ∙ SF Tri Club ∙ SNAP Artists ∙ STRAW ∙ Tehiyah Day School ∙ Trout Unlimited ∙ UC Irvine ∙ University of the

Pacific ∙ Wells Fargo ∙ Achaogen ∙ Angel Points ∙ Antelope High School ∙ Asian American Bar Association ∙ Bank of America ∙ Bay School ∙ Bold Earth Adventures ∙ Branson School ∙ Build On ∙ California Native Plant Society ∙ Capuchino High School ∙ Castro Valley

High School ∙ Childrens Day School ∙ Chinese American School ∙ Christ Lutheran Church ∙ Church of Latter-day Saints ∙ Clarendon School ∙ Coca-Cola ∙ Coronado Elementary ∙ Coverdi Company ∙ Coyote Coast ∙ Creative Arts Middle School ∙ Cytokinetics ∙ Davidson Middle School ∙ Deloitte ∙ Dominican College ∙ Entrepreneurs Foundation ∙ Environmental Protection Agency ∙ Genentech ∙ Google ∙ Green Gulch Farm ∙ Griffon Hotel ∙ Health Advances ∙ Hilltop High School ∙ Home Away from Homelessness ∙ International Language Schools of Canada ∙ Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders ∙ Japanese Exchange Students ∙ Jefferson High School ∙ Key Club ∙ Lagunitas School ∙ Legacy International ∙ Levi Strauss ∙ Lick Wilmerding ∙ MatchBridge ∙ Method ∙ Michigan State Alumni ∙ MTV Network ∙ National Charity League ∙ Nueva School ∙ Oakland Zoo Wild Teens ∙ Presidio YMCA ∙ Putney School ∙ REI ∙ Remedy Interactive ∙ San Francisco Friends

School ∙ SCA Alumni ∙ SF Botanical Gardens ∙ SF Gay Scouts ∙ St Ignatius School ∙ Stanbridge Academy ∙ Stanford POLS Outdoor Club ∙ Stanford University ∙ Step to College ∙ Stinson-Bolinas Camp ∙ Student Conservation Association ∙ Summer Search ∙ TAL Tours ∙Tam

Valley Elementary School ∙Tam Valley High School ∙ The Marin School ∙ UC Berkeley ∙ UC San Francisco, Kappa Psi ∙ USF Law School ∙ Walk/Stroll ∙ Wall Street Journal ∙ Walmart ∙ Watku ∙ Westborough Middle School ∙ Wild Equity Institute ∙ Windrush School ∙ Wonder Voyage ∙ World Savvy ∙ YMCA Southwest ∙ Youth in Parks

*font size correlates with the number of visits by each group

The Park Stewardship Program works to connect people to the land by developing a sense of place, an

understanding of interconnection, and opportunities for engagement and learning. Our programs restore and protect

the integrity of the natural and cultural resources throughout the park while building communities, both human and

ecological. We believe it is the synergy between these elements that creates passionate and informed citizens invested in

the health and future of parklands while engaging a broad constituency in support of public land. Join Us!

(415) 561-3044 volunteer@parksconservancy.org www.parksconservancy.org/our-work/park-stewardship Follow us on Twitter: parks4all Like the Parks Conservancy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/parksconservancy