|
February Fun
Marin Park Stewardship February 2018 Newsletter
|
Dear Friend,
Things are starting to go green in our park! Spring is just around the corner, and everywhere you look our open spaces are beginning to bud.
This month, as we look forward to all this new growth, we celebrate the opportunity for new life and new friendships. Read on to learn more about how we reintroduced some wildlife to a creek in our park, or about how a beautiful love story enabled a dramatic species recovery.
In This Newsletter
Something Fishy at Muir Beach
By Maria Pezza
|
Photo credit: William Elder, NPS
|
As some readers already know, one of our goals at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is to restore habitat for threatened and endangered animal species. One of the species our volunteers work to protect is the federally endangered California coho salmon. We monitor and support the coho salmon in Redwood Creek, the waterway that runs through Muir Woods and meets up with the Pacific at Muir Beach.
In mid-January, we had a very special, salmon-centered event at Muir Beach, where 188 mature coho were released into the creek just inland from the beach, after spending most of their lives in a hatchery in Sonoma County.
As newly-hatched babies (or alevins), these same fish were scooped up from Redwood Creek three years ago, and brought to the hatchery to be raised in a protected environment. Their normal life journey, had they remained in the creek to mature, would have been fraught with peril, and likely would have resulted in a low survival rate (as in previous years). Raised in the hatchery, nearly all the fish made it to adulthood to be released back into the creek.
Coho salmon are anadromous, meaning they are born in fresh water, but migrate out to the ocean for the latter part of their lives. At the end of their life cycle, they retrace their path back to the very same creek into which they were born. They then lay their eggs and, having completed their final mission, die in the creek, where their bodies contribute nutrients to the watershed that will support their young.
The fish that were released into Redwood Creek last month were ready to spawn (or lay eggs), and thus are almost at the end of their life cycle. With luck, they will receive enough rain in the coming days and weeks that they will be able to travel far up the creek and take their pick of spawning sites throughout the watershed. Their offspring will come into the world pre-programmed to return to our creek at the end of their life-cycles, hopefully boosting the struggling populations of coho salmon in Marin.
Coho salmon make up a crucial link in the web of life that exists in Marin. Not only do they provide a food source to numerous predators, including river otters, great blue herons, and humans (coho are not endangered north of California), but their migration between the ocean and our rivers facilitates an important exchange of nutrients across ecosystems.
And, if all that wasn’t enough, they also beautify our California waterways. With their bright red bellies and silver, flashing scales, they are a truly special sight to see!
Tule, Madly, Deeply
By Ailsa Harju
If you have ever visited Point Reyes National Seashore or Tomales Bay, you may have seen the tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes), grazing on the native bunch grasses. Today this species boasts healthy populations (or is even overpopulated in some cases), but it was not always so easy to catch a glimpse of them. At one point, the tule elk was declared extinct. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here’s a love story for the ages that helps explain their turnaround.
Historically, these creatures lived throughout central California, including the Bay Area, in high populations; early explorers estimate around 500,000 individuals. Early hunters in the 1800s, followed by the influx of settlers from the Gold Rush, killed many elk and encroached on much of their habitat. The elk populations suffered heavily, and soon they were declared extinct.
In 1874, however, it is believed that a rancher discovered the last pair of tule elk on his land and intended to preserve them—if they would only choose to mate.
To successfully mate in the wild, the 450 to 700 pound male bull rounds up his “harem,” or small group of female cows (each 375 to 425 pounds). To do this, he takes a mud bath, and urinates, so that he is evenly coated by the attractive smell he produces. With his fully-formed antlers, he would then scratch vegetation and battle rivaling bulls for a larger harem.
All the while, the tule elk bull uses his most romantic gesture: his bugle. A bugle is a high-pitched call used to advertise a bull’s size and fitness for the cows. The sound has been compared to the call of a loon or the howl of a wolf, as it is a very beautiful, song-like whistle.
Though the last remaining tule elk had no competition for mates, the bull still needed to impress the cow. So he bugled loud and clear, showed off his huge antlers, and it worked!
Their relationship led to viable offspring, which earned the couple the title of “Adam and Eve of Elk,” and saved their species. Due to conservation efforts across the state there are now about 5,700 tule elk in California, all descendants of those famous lovers.
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk.htm
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Elk/Tule-Elk#341091213-citations
Muir Woods Parking Reservation Information
The National Park Service has recently implemented a parking reservation and shuttle system at Muir Woods to help accommodate increasingly high visitation. According to the Park Service website, “Reservations will be required for all vehicles and shuttle riders beginning January 16, 2018.”
If you are planning a trip to Muir Woods National Monument any time soon, you can find out more information about the new system here.
Marin Volunteer Program Information and Work Day Schedules
Marin Park Stewardship
Saturdays, 10 am–1 pm, and Wednesdays, 1–4 pm
We alternate between sites, so check the details for each work day. Work day events include a combination of hands-on service and short natural or cultural history lessons.
Click here to learn more or sign up.
Wednesday Programs
March 7: Alta Avenue
March 14: Muir Beach
March 21: Wolfback Ridge
March 28: Muir Beach
April 4: Alta Avenu
April: 11: Muir Beach
April 18: Wolfback Ridge
April 25: Muir Beach
Saturday Programs
March 3: Alta Avenue
March 10: Alta Avenue
March 17: No program
March 24: Muir Beach
March 31: No program
April 7: Alta Avenue
April 14: Muir Beach
April 21: Earth Day event, location TBD
April 28: Alta Avenue
Meeting Locations and Directions
Muir Beach – Meet at the parking lot picnic tables. Map
Alta Avenue at Oakwood Valley – Meet at the park gate located at the end of Donahue Street. Map
Wolfback Ridge – Take a right on Bunker Road (immediately before the tunnel). Park in the lot by the bus shelter behind the Marin Headlands sign, only in a designated parking spot (not along the road). We will meet in the parking lot. Map
Marin Headlands Nursery
Wednesdays, 1–4 pm
1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month, 10 am–2 pm
Come grow with us at the Marin Headlands Nursery! Each year, we grow over 30,000 plants to restore natural habitats within the Marin Headlands. The dedication and support of our volunteers are vital in the effort to grow plants, collect seeds, maintain the nursery facility, and much more. Our projects are outdoors, fun, and always hands-on.
For program updates and registration, click here.
Habitat Restoration Team
2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 10 am–2 pm
Sundays at 9:30 am–2:30 pm
Help restore and monitor critical natural areas from the Marin Headlands to Bolinas Ridge. Volunteers and staff meet at different scenic locations each week to restore native habitat throughout the Golden Gate National Parks. Come out and explore beautiful areas while assisting in invasive plant removal, winter planting, and seed collection. For more information, click here.
Invasive Plant Patrol
Wednesdays, 10 am–2:30 pm
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Invasive Plant Patrol volunteers hike throughout the Marin Headlands to find new invasions of exotics and remove localized infestations before they get out of control. Get to know the park trail systems and learn to identify plants, both native and invasive. Hikes will last approximately four hours. Locations vary from the Marin Headlands to Bolinas Ridge. For locations and to register, click here.
Thank you for supporting the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy!
- Marin Park Stewardship
|
