News and Events
from One Tam

Tamalpais Bee Lab events are returning this summer! See below. Photo: Sara Leon Guerrero / One Tam

• June 8: Watershed Recreation Management Plan Community Workshop. Marin Water is initiating a recreation management planning process for the Mount Tamalpais Watershed. This process will identify strategies for balancing the goals of various watershed visitors with protection of its unique biodiversity, habitat, and water quality. Public involvement is key to this project and several public engagement opportunities are being planned, including the first community workshop to kick-off this process on Wednesday, June 8 from 5-7 pm on Zoom. Learn More >>
• August 20: Evolving Shorelines Workshop. Mark Saturday, August 20 on your calendar for an Evolving Shorelines event at the proposed future Tam Junction trailhead. With a new alignment for the Bay Trail planned to ring the edge of Bothin Marsh, we are now exploring ways to enhance the trail connection where the Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve meets the junction of Shoreline Hwy and Almonte Blvd. We want to ensure that moving between the multiuse pathway, the Tam Valley and Almonte neighborhoods, and shops at Tam Junction is a safe and welcoming experience for all. We are excited to share more detailed updates on project designs, imagine a new trailhead experience with you, and hear your ideas for potential trailhead features. Stay tuned for more details.
• Multiple Dates: Tamalpais Bee Lab. It’s a busy summer for the Bee Lab! Join us to help proces specimens collected from the field as part of our effort to learn more about Mt. Tam’s native pollinators. Learn more >>

A local equestrian explores new Rush Creek multiuse trails. Photo: Marin County Parks

New and improved trails have recently opened for your enjoyment in two County parks! Visitors to Rush Creek in Novato can explore new trails in the Bahia area of the preserve. Spurs Trail, Lucky Aces Trail, and Blue Oak Trail opened to the public earlier this spring. The Marin County Parks naturalist notes special sights you may see: a variety of wildflowers and butterflies, a unique oak woodland with hybrids of valley, Oregon, and blue oaks, raucous acorn woodpeckers, and fabulous views of the Petaluma River wetlands. 

Next, near San Rafael, Mont Marin Trail in Terra Linda/Sleepy Hollow Preserve provides improved visitor access and protects natural resources in the area of the Cherry Hill neighborhood. 

Funded by Parks Measure A, these projects were driven by Marin County Parks’ Road and Trail Management Plan as well as the recently completed road and trail designation process. This process involved several years of community engagement across all six regions of Marin County Open Space. 

For more information about Marin County Parks road and trail projects visit marincountyparks.org >>

If your home or business' water comes from Mt. Tam, you need to know that Marin Water recently updated its ongoing water-use rules, adopting new long-term requirements for outdoor irrigation and swimming pools. The District also rescinded its water shortage emergency declaration and lifted the temporary restrictions triggered last year after falling to critically low water supplies. These actions recognize that the District’s reservoirs have recovered to average storage levels for this time of year while also balancing the need for continued water-efficient practices as climate-driven drought conditions persist across much of the state. 

Additionally, State Water Board regulators have recently expanded state-wide drought restrictions, requiring all Californians and local water agencies to take water-saving actions in the face of a statewide drought. Marin Water’s current ongoing water rules already align with the state’s new restrictions with the exception of one new rule which now prohibits the irrigation of purely decorative lawns in commercial and municipal landscapes. Decorative lawns in common areas of subdivisions and housing developments are also included in this restriction.   

Learn More about Current Water Rules in Central & Southern Marin >>

Schedule a Free Onsite Water Efficiency Check Up with Marin Water Experts >> 

REYL participants learning with National Park Service colleagues in Yosemite National Park. Photo: Adriana Castillo/One Tam

Congratulations to our newest Rising Environmental Youth Leaders (REYL) who recently completed our 2022 program, which included 11 participants and 1 Senior Intern. As part of the program, participants completed Community Action Projects, with topics ranging from waste and litter in parks and beaches to fire preparedness to gardening with native plants. More highlights from the program included learning about fire ecology and climate change impacts with California State Parks, and exploring Yosemite National Park during our midyear camping retreat, where we learned about Yosemite's rich history and ecosystems by participating in service projects such as conifer tree removal as a fire management tool. Huge thanks to all our One Tam partners for making this program possible, and thank you to our REYL youth for their commitment to the program and for being resilient throughout these times.

One Tam’s partnership with Canal Alliance continued this spring. We took 15 middle schoolers to Muir Woods in April, where highlights included storytelling with Park Rangers and seeing a total of 10 banana slugs! In May, we supported Canal Alliance’s annual intergenerational family celebration at Stafford Lake, where One Tam partners along with Latino Outdoors brought activities and supplies, and held a guided walking tour of Stafford Lake.

We are now looking toward an adventure-filled summer with the Linking Individuals to their Natural Communities (LINC) program for high schoolers. With the support of our partners, we’ll be engaging in skills building workshops, service learning and cultivating our LINC community. We can’t wait!

Keep an eye on our Instagram for more updates from our youth programs! 

One Tam's restoration work at Roy's Redwoods will improve visitor experience and accessibility. Photo: One Tam

With a big contribution from the County of Marin Disability Access Program, which has been committed to maximizing accessibility of the County since its inception in 2006, One Tam's Roy’s Redwoods restoration project is much closer to its funding goal, and is on target for groundbreaking in the summer of 2023.

The Roy’s Redwoods Restoration Project will restore natural conditions along Larsen Creek’s floodplain and enhance the overall health of this ancient redwood forest. Restoration will include removing social trails and creating a new trail system that balances a sense of exploration with minimizing impact to sensitive areas. The planned trail improvements have been designed with the principals of Universal Design which aim to make visiting open spaces safer and more comfortable for everyone to use. At Roy’s Redwoods, the new trails will be as gently sloped and smooth as possible. For the trails leading to some special destinations, such as the fairy ring tree, the trails will be built to the highest accessibility standards detailed in Marin County Parks’ Inclusive Access Plan.

“It’s very exciting to see trail projects like this that were envisioned in the Inclusive Access Plan come closer and closer to reality,” said Craig Richardson, a Marin County Open Space Planner, adding “creating these opportunities for outdoor immersive experiences for users of all abilities is ultimately what the Inclusive Access Plan is about.” 

Learn more about the Roy’s Redwoods project >>  

One Tam is working to protect the mountain's forests through a focus on long-term health and resilience. Photo: Bill Disbrow/One Tam

What does a healthy forest look like? Well, it depends on the kind of forest, but we can think of health like a desired condition, and we can measure whether a forest meets that desired condition or departs from it. Mt. Tam is home to several forest communities, such as redwood groves, oak woodlands, and Sargent’s cypress stands. One Tam is working to understand, protect, and improve the health and long-term resilience of forests in the face of climate change and other stressors. With funding from the California State Coastal Conservancy, we're working with partners across the region to develop a strategy for forest health on Marin public lands, which will be published later this year.  

Does One Tam’s work relate to wildfire? We know the fire season is on our community’s mind. One Tam’s role in forest health work focuses on long-term health, bringing partners together, and sharing our work with you. This work helps our partners identify opportunities to improve the health of forests and, where appropriate, to design treatments that also reduce wildland fuels to protect communities and infrastructure. One Tam is also a resource for fire agencies in bringing a forest health lens to their hazard reduction work where possible. But forest health work on public lands is just one part of living in a fire-adapted landscape like ours. One Tam’s work as a partnership, the work of individual One Tam land managers  and fire agencies, and community preparedness, are all different and complementary. We all have a role. 

Where can I learn more? 

• Learn more about how this exciting new work will protect forests: 
• marinwater.org/watershed-projects 
• onetam.org/our-work/forest-health-resiliency 
• Learn about fire preparedness:
• marinwildfire.org
• firesafemarin.org
• Get in touch with your local fire district  
• Stay tuned to this newsletter for updates on One Tam’s work