CALENDAR OF EVENTS Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Sunday, May 3, 2009, 10 am to 5 pm Huckleberry Regional Preserve, French broom removal Saturday, May 9, 9:30 am Field Trips (see page 4) Sunday, May 10, 10 am, Briones Park - Blue Oak Trail, Spengler Trail Saturday, May 16, 9:30 am, field trip to Hamilton Range area near Arroyo Mocho Sunday, May 17, 9:30 am. Corral Hollow at Carnegie SVRA Saturday, May 23, 10 am. Mount Diablo State Park, North peak trail from Devil's Elbow to Prospectors Gap June 13-June 14, overnight field trip to Donner Pass area MEMBERSHIP MEETING Creating a Native Meadow Speaker: David Amme Wednesday, May 27, 7:30 pm Conference Center, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (directions below) Landscaping with native plants is a passion and a natural outcome of our love for California's unique and beautiful flora. The more involved we become with native plants, the more we want to create in our gardens a balanced, sustain- able landscape that reflects the actual plant communities we treasure. Perhaps one of the most important landscape motifs is the open expanse. In the built landscape, more often than not this expanse is the lawn, not exactly the plant community we have in mind to fulfill this important function in our home native gardens. The logical evolution (or passionate rebellion) for the native plant gardener is to create a native meadow. More than just a replacement for the lawn, the native meadow is the plant community that best reflects California's natural open space. This month's speaker, David Amme, will outline a plant community approach gardeners can employ to create native meadows in their home gardens. He'll address everything from soil and moisture needs and characteristics of various Native Here (see page 6) Fridays, 9 am to 12 pm, Saturdays, 10 am to 2 pm, and Tuesdays 12 pm to 3 pm. Native Here open for business & volunteer help Sunday, May 24 at 1 pm. Plant Fair 2009 Planning meeting Thursdays, meet at 9 am at the nursery. Native Here seed collecting Saturday, May 2, 10-5, Bringing Back the Natives Nursery Extravaganza Sunday, May 3, 10-5, Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Saturday, May 9, 9 am, 3rd Annual Find the Buckwheat Day Board Meeting Wednesday, May 27, 6:00 pm. University of California Botani- cal Garden at Berkeley, 200 Centennial Drive native grasses to site preparation and planting. And since meadows are made of more than just grasses, he will also include information about adding colorful wildflowers and forbs to the meadow. David Amme has been a leader in the research and develop- ment of California native grasses for over twenty years and a collector of many native plant cultivars. He is one of the founding members and the current president of the Cali- fornia Native Grasslands Association. He is also a part-time lecturer, writer, and consultant specializing in native grass horticulture, grassland restoration, stewardship grazing, and integrated roadside vegetation management. He works as the Wildlands Vegetation Program Manager for the East Bay Regional Park District. East Bay Chapter CNPS membership meetings are free of charge and open to everyone. This month's meeting will take place in the Conference Center of the University of California Botanical Garden at 200 Centennial Drive, east of Memorial Stadium and west of the Lawrence Hall of Science, above the main campus of the University of California in Berkeley. The Garden gate will open at 6:00 pm; the meeting begins at 7:30 pm. Stroll in the Botanical Garden before the meeting or attend our board meeting, which will take place in the meeting room from 6 to 7:15 pm. Please contact Sue Rosenthal, 510-496-6016 or rosacalifornica@earthlink.net, if you have questions. Continued on page 2 Directions to the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley From 1-80: Take the University Ave. exit and proceed east on University toward the hills until it ends at Oxford St. Turn left on Oxford, right on Hearst Ave., right on Gayley Rd., left on Stadium Rim Way, and left on Centennial Dr. The Garden entrance is 3/4 mile up Centennial Dr. on the right. Parking is just past the Garden on the left. Bring quarters for parking. From Contra Costa County: Take Hwy 24 westbound and exit at Fish Ranch Rd. At the end of the off ramp, turn right on Fish Ranch Rd. and follow it to the stop sign at Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn right on Grizzly Peak Blvd. and follow it 3.1 miles to the stop sign at Centennial Dr. Turn left on Centennial Dr. HELP SAVE OUR OAKS East Bay SOD-Blitz: Enlisting citizen participation to help protect our oaks Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death (SOD), spreads best in the wet, warming weather of early spring. So the late spring of 2008, coming on the heels of a winter when the rain all but stopped after February, seemed an unlikely time to find new infestations of Sudden Oak Death in East Bay wildlands. But inquisitive and diligent participants in the first East Bay SOD-Blitz did indeed find a number of new locations for the disease last year, contribut- ing valuable information to the effort to slow its spread. This year's East Bay SOD-Blitz will take place on May 16 and 17, and everyone is invited to participate. Using the model of local mycological societies' popular mycoblitzes (short-term but thorough surveys conducted by groups of people to identify the fungal species in an area). Sudden Oak Death researcher Matteo Garbelotto and his colleagues organized the first-ever SOD-Blitzes in May and June of 2008. The four blitzes took place in four different areas of north-central California and lasted for one weekend each. Here in the East Bay, a dozen volunteers— all novices except one pro from the Alameda County Agriculture Department— attended a brief, free training meeting with Matteo on a sunny morning in early June to learn how to identify the symptoms of SOD on California bay laurel trees. Symptoms on bay leaves are often the first signs that SOD has arrived in an area and generally precede oak infections. Options for managing the disease (sanitation, chemical preventative treatments, bay removal) are effective only if implemented before oaks and tanoaks are infected. Therefore, timely detection of the disease on bay laurel leaves is essential for a successful proactive at- tempt to slow the SOD epidemic. Learning to visually identify infected bay leaves is relatively easy, and after the short training meeting that opened the East Bay SOD-Blitz, volunteers fanned out to locations of their choice within Alameda and Contra Costa counties in search Continued from page 1 and continue for 1 mile to the Garden's parking lot on the right. Bring quarters for parking. From Dwight Way in Berkeley: Take Dwight Way east to Prospect St. Turn left on Prospect, which merges with Stadium Rim Way. Turn right on Centennial Dr. The Garden entrance is 3/4 mile up Centennial Dr. on the right. Parking is past the Garden on the left. Bring quarters for parking. Upcoming Meetings East Bay CNPS membership meetings will be on summer recess during the months of June, July, and August, and will resume in September. of symptomatic bays. While a few people collected leaves from trees in their backyards or immediate neighborhoods, most went to parks and open space areas with large stands of native oaks and bays, including Redwood, Joaquin Miller, Huckleberry, Tilden, Briones, Knowland, Leona, and Pinole parks, as well as the UC Berkeley campus. At the end of the weekend, the collectors turned in their samples, and staff in the UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory analyzed them for presence of the pathogen by microscopic and DNA techniques. Because we were collecting leaf samples after a relatively dry winter and close to the hotter, drier time of year when SOD becomes more difficult to detect, we did not have great expec- tations of finding infected bay trees in new East Bay locations. However, 22 (24 percent) of the 92 samples analyzed were positive for Phytophthora ramorum, and many of these were from locations not previously known to be infested with SOD. Our data from the 2008 SOD-Blitz now add to the breadth and depth of knowledge about where SOD is active in the East Bay. This knowledge in turn helps land managers decide how to manage areas infested with the disease. We also increased our own understanding of SOD and our role in helping stop its spread. And we were able to spend some time really looking at the trees in our parks— the ones we usually pass by on the trails without much thought. The success of the first SOD-Blitzes has inspired Matteo and his colleagues to organize blitzes again this year. In the East Bay, the SOD-Blitz will take place on May 16 and 17. Everyone is invited to participate: No previous knowledge or experience is needed, but advance registration is requested. East Bay SOD-Blitz 2009 May 16-17, 2009 Training meeting: May 16, 10 am-12 pm Regional Parks Botanic Garden S. Park Drive and Wildcat Canyon Road Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley 2 THE BAY LEAF May 2009 East Bay SOD-Blitz 2009 information and registration: Sue Rosenthal, rosacalifornica@earthlink.net, 510-496-6016 HAPPY 75TH ANNIVERSARY Ours to Keep 75 Years in the Regional Parks For 75 years, the East Bay Regional Park District has been dedicated to preserving open space and offering enjoyable and healthy recreation opportunities to local residents. The District's roots go back to 1934, during the heart of the Great Depression, when a group of public-spirited citizens organized a campaign to tax themselves. Their goal was to use this money to preserve valuable open space for future parkland. This visionary effort created the East Bay Regional Park District, which today has grown to become the largest regional park district in the nation. Seventy-five years have passed since the Park District's inception. Through wars and unrest, unprecedented population growth, and both challeng- ing and positive economic times, the Park District's mission of preserving land for wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, and nature education has stood the test of time. SOD-Blitz 2008 results: www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ garbelotto Today the Park District manages 65 parks on over 98,000 acres with 1,100 miles of trails throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties. A list of special anniversary-year events may be found online at www.ebparks.org , or call 1-888-EBPARKS for information. Highlights include Earth Day on April 25, and the year-round Trails Challenge self-guided hiking program. Other great ways to get involved are by volunteering at a park, or by joining the Regional Parks Foundation, which sponsors camperships for young people, the environmental education programs at award-winning Camp Arroyo in Livermore, and Parks Express, providing transportation to the parks for under-served communities. Join us in wishing the EBRPD a Happy Anniversary. See you on the trails! HELP THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE CNPS California Legislative Help Needed As soon as the deadline for introducing new bills in 2009- 2010 passed, February 27, CNPS Legislation Analyst Vern Goehring selected numerous bills that seem to have a na- tive plant nexus. He would appreciate some input from members who have knowledge of the statute or conservation issue affected. If you would be able to support CNPS in this important effort by reviewing the bills please contact Delia at deliataylor@mac.com who will forward the summaries of the bills. If you have only limited experience in following legislation, please let us know so appropriate guidance can be provided. CHAPTER JOBS BULLETIN Poster distributer Want to get marketing experience? We have beautiful post- ers to sell, but no one to market them. This will look good on your resume! FIND THE BUCKWHEAT DAY Saturday, May 9, 9 am, 3rd Annual Find the Buckwheat Day Mount Diablo buckwheat ( Eriogonum truncatum) had not been observed since 1936, and was presumed extinct until 2005, when a single population was found in Mount Diablo State Park. The Annual Find the Buckwheat Day is a coordinated survey for other populations, both in historic locations and in suitable habitat in eastern Contra Costa County. Botanists of all backgrounds are needed to ensure thorough searches and documentation. Find the Buckwheat Day is an excellent These are the areas of interest identified so far this year: 1. forestry 2. coastal resources 3. CEQA 4. Williamson Act (agriculture) 5. water-efficient landscaping 6. climate change 7. wilderness 8. renewable energy 9. safe harbor 10. fire safety 11. conservation easements. T-shirts Would you like to design a beautiful t-shirt for our chapter? Our logo is the Bay Leaf, as in the heading of our newsletter. Contact Delia if interested, deliataylor@mac.com, 510-527-3912 opportunity to botanize in hard to access natural areas in the East Bay. This year we hope to survey a new East Bay Regional Park District acquisition and remote portions of Mount Dia- blo State Park. The survey requires strenuous off-trail hiking in steep terrain. This event is sponsored by the Buckwheat Working Group. RSVP to Susan Bainbridge (sjbainbridge@ berkeley.edu) for directions. Sue Bainbridge THE BAY LEAF May 2009 3 FIELD TRIPS Sunday, May 10, 10 am, Briones Park - Blue Oak Trail, Spengler Trail There should be quite a few Calochortus pulchellus. We will see some unusual plants such as Myrica califomica and Pickeringia montana. The loop has a 700 ft elevation change and quite a few ups and downs. Round trip is about 5 miles. Meet at the Reliez Valley staging area (no parking or other fees) in Briones Park at 10 am. Gregg Weber will be leading this trip. If there are any questions, call him at 510-223-3310. Directions: Take 24 east and exit at Pleasant Hill Road north in Lafayette. Go about one mile north on Pleasant Hill Road and make a left on Reliez Valley Road. Stay on Reliez Valley Road about 3.5 miles. The parking lot is on the left, shortly after Withers Avenue. Saturday, May 16, 9:30 am, field trip to Hamilton Range area near Arroyo Mocho Join Gregg Weber for a special field trip to private land in the Mount Hamilton vegetation area near Livermore. From past visits to this land, Gregg anticipates that Shelton's violet, wild onions, Senecio brewerii, Apocynum species including Indian hemp will likely be in flower, and perhaps Amelanchier and Hoita. There will be some vertical elevation change on single track trails. Permission to enter this area is limited to 10 cars, so we will meet in a Livermore parking lot to organize a carpool. You will need to dress for heat and bring adequate water and food for the day. Call Gregg at 510-223-3310 to confirm your attendance and be sure to state the number of people who will come, as the limit on field trip participants is 15 people, but only 10 cars. Our special thanks to Maggie Cutler for allowing access to our chapter for this field trip. Directions to carpool: Take 580 east, exit at North Livermore Avenue, and turn right to proceed on North Livermore Av- enue. Meet in the shopping center parking lot at the corner of North Livermore Avenue and Pacific Avenue. If you see the library on the left, you have gone too far. Park near Pacific Avenue at the edge of the lot, not near the stores. We will carpool to the destination. Sunday, May 17, 9:30 am. Corral Hollow at Carnegie SVRA Please join us for an all-day adventure to Corral Hollow. Corral Hollow is a botanical hot spot southeast of Livermore and southwest of Tracy along Corral Hollow Road in the area acquired with Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. The meeting place and hike location will be determined based on a scouting trip the previous week to see what is in bloom. We will bring vegetation sampling equipment and may collect vegetation data if we feel inspired, or we might just explore up canyons! RSVP to Erin McDermott at 510-701-2890 or at emcdermott@nomadecology.com to receive meeting location/ carpool information. Saturday, May 23, 10 am. Mount Diablo State Park, North peak trail from Devil's Elbow to Prospectors Gap Meet at Devil's Elbow parking lot at 10 am. This trail is packed with native plants, and relatively few alien species. There may be Calochortus venustus, C. pulchellus , Chorizanthe membrana- cea, Hydrophyllum occidentale, Arnica discoidea, a few areas of Collinsia tinctoria, Lupinus spp., Cirsium sp., Clarkia concinna, Lomatium spp., and many more common species. There are large areas of Quercus chrysolepsis. Bring lunch and water. We should arrive back at the parking lot around 2 pm. Gray sky or light rain will not cancel. Trip leader is Gregg Weber. Call 510-223-3310 if there are questions. Directions: take 680 to Diablo Road. Go east on Diablo Road. At Green Valley Road, only one lane goes straight ahead. Af- ter Green Valley Road, go past and do not turn at the Diablo Country Club sign. In about a mile, turn left at the Mount Diablo State Park sign. Continue to end of Mount Diablo Scenic Boulevard. It becomes South Gate Road as it enters the park. Pay the fee of $5 at the entrance station. Continue to Junction Ranger Station, and make a right. About 3/4 mile past Juniper Camp's large parking area is a small parking area at Devil's Elbow. That is where we will meet at 10 am. June 13-June 14, overnight field trip to Donner Pass area Join Larry Abers and Britt Thorsnes for two days of moderate to lightly strenuous hikes exploring early blooming wildflow- ers highlighted in Larry's "Wayne Roderick Lecture" this past winter. See the June Bay Leaf for more details and/ or call Larry Abers at 510-799-6234. Please note that Larry will have only limited call-back availability for the last three weeks of May. FREE POSTER FOR NEW MEMBERS For a limited time, CNPS is offering a special incentive to new posters: Wildflowers of the Desert, Wildflowers of the Coast, members! Join online at the $45.00 member or higher levels or Wildflowers of the Redwood Forest, and we'll send you one of three of our beautiful wildf lower Offer valid until June 1. 4 THE BAY LEAF May 2009 MEMBERSHIP NOTES Christina McWhorter Photo by Britta Bullard Meet Christina McWhorter, Oakland Resident I am a plant head! From a young age, I was raised with an appreciation for plants as living, breathing creatures. Since then I have focused all of my education and training around plants, and particularly the connections between plants and people. Topics that interest me include: plant adaptations, sustainable design, horticultural therapy, community/ urban gardening and restoration ecology. I have been a CNPS member for several years and specifically with the EBCNPS for the last 3 years or so. I enjoy shopping at the CNPS plant sales with the opportunity to select plants from specific localities. Whenever a CNPS conference or symposium is held, I am there! I feel the call to volunteer for CNPS and do so when I can fit it into my schedule. Currently, I am the manager of the Mills College Botanic Garden, established in the early 1900's by Howard McMinn, a botany lecturer at Mills and a contributor to the California native plant movement. I enjoy developing the garden, propa- gating native plants, teaching in the outdoors, coordinating the Mills Community Garden, and contributing towards the restoration of Leona Creek on campus. Although the garden is small and still very much a work in progress, I welcome you to visit anytime. Our plant sale is held at the end of September. I also own and operate Plantminded Landscapes, a local gardening business focusing on garden care, consulting and design. In this dry time, my clients are benefiting from the ability to enjoy vibrant gardens with little or no water usage. I received my BS in Plant Biology at UC Davis and thoroughly enjoyed working at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory and the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. I then moved to Australia to complete my master's degree in Public Horticul- ture. While there had the learned a whole new set of native plants and climates. I have lived in Oakland for the last four years and am now looking to add a canine companion to my life. Some of my favorite plants include Amorphophallus titanum, Lithops spp., Arctostaphylos spp., artichokes, staghorn ferns— the list goes on. Christina McWhorter If you would like to be featured in this column please send me a write up of yourself, and your CNPS experiences. A photo would really capture your moment. We are open to all ideas. elainejx@att.net & carollbcastro@hotmail.com. Note from membership columnist: our East Bay Chapter is in urgent need of a dedicated Outreach person. This person would be in charge of getting volunteers to cover all of our requested tabling events throughout the year and possibly finding other venues we could share in. All materials, tables, chairs, canopies, flyers etc. are readily available at our Native Here Nursery. A current membership list would be supplied as a resource for seeking volunteers. Does this sound like something you would be interested in? If so, please contact me, Elaine Jackson elainejx@att.net or 925-372-0687. It was with much regret that this year we were unable to cover all the Earth Day Events in April that we were invited to. Think Globally, Volunteer Locally June Event— Help table at the Heritage Day at Borges Ranch in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 13th, from 11 am to 4 pm or any part of that time. Contact Elaine Jackson at 925-372-0687 or email elainejx@att.net. Martinez— Native Plant Garden and Strentzel Meadow lo- cated at the John Muir Historical Site in Martinez, ongoing weeding, planting, & learning about our local environment. Contact Elaine Jackson at 925-372-0687 or email elainejx@ att.net. Mt. Diablo State Park — Looking for volunteers to help restore Mitchell Canyon's upper Mitchell Creek. It is mostly weeding blackberry and periwinkle, some planting in wet season and irrigation when dry. Work is physically demanding, ongoing every Wednesday 8 am-2 pm and the 3rd Saturday of each month 9 am-3 pm. Contact Dave Caniglia at cani@mindspring. com or 925-287-9733. Continued on page 6 THE BAY LEAF May 2009 5 Continued from page 5 MEMBERSHIP NOTES Pleasant Hill— Volunteers are always welcome at the Pleasant Hill Adult Education Center Garden. Contact Monika Olsen at 925-937-1530 or email phecgarden@prodigy.net or go online to http:/ / phig.webs.com. Walnut Creek— Native demonstration garden on The Iron Horse Trail in Walnut Creek near the Walnut Creek Interme- diate. Contact Judy Adler, jadlermtnmama@sbcglobal.net. Do you have or know of a local event coming up in your neighborhood that would be a good location for CNPS to have a display table? You can host it. Come on up to our Native Here Nursery (during business hours) and pick up supplies to pass out. Call us with any questions. NATIVE HERE Support our chapter's activities by shopping at Native Here Nature observations at the nursery The top of a tall coyote bush on the other side of the nursery fence is the regular post for a male song sparrow, who sings as we pot up plants. Pacific Chorus frogs occasionally call from hidden locations in the nursery. Some sounds appear to come from the drain pans of our fifteen-gallon pots. As you approach the sound to locate the critter, the calling stops. A small garter snake slithers quickly from under one plant holding cage to another in the Delta section of the nursery, which has several marsh plants that sit in tubs of water. They probably prey on the Chorus frogs and brush rabbits. The rabbits love to nibble our herbaceous plants, so we have to cage and cover the plants. Wild turkeys have been gobbling from up the hill. Occasion- ally they fly into the nursery. Flocks of turkeys have been seen roving residential neighborhoods, including Kensington and parts of El Cerrito near the hillside. They aren't very fazed by humans since they aren't hunted around here. Featured Plant for May 2009 Our featured plant this month is again buttercups. Ranunculus califomicus. It's been blooming for the last few months and makes a nice addition to your meadow or wildflower garden. It goes dormant later in the summer, but returns the follow- ing spring. Ranunculus califomicus Photo © Janice Bray New Members Please join us in welcoming those who joined in February and March: Carlos I. Agurto, Sara Carroll, Amber Kaike, Tim Drew, Daren Harris, Jane McDonald, Dinah Russell, Jessica Shade, & Stacey Sullivan. Please let me know if I am missing your name. Many thanks to all of you that have renewed your member- ship throughout the year. May you enjoy many more years with EB-CNPS. All of the previously featured plants: Comus sericea, Oemle- ria cerasiformis (October, 2008); Quercus agrifolia (November, 2008) ; Physocarpus capitatus, Ceanothus gloriosus exaltatus, Arctostaphylos bakeri 'Louis Edmonds' (December, 2008); Aes- culus califomica and Cupressus sargentii (January, 2009), Ribes divaricatum (February 2009), Ranunculus califomicus (March 2009) , and Lonicera involucrata (April 2009) remain available. Irises will be put in storage after May 3. They'll become available again around the time of the Plant Fair. They do not transplant very successfully in the summer. Volunteer opportunities for Plant Fair 2009 and Native Here year-round • The next Plant Fair 2009 Committee Meeting is Sunday, May 24, 1 pm at the nursery. Come by Tuesday afternoons, Friday mornings, and Saturdays to grow plants for the Plant Fair that we are planning for October. Be part of the committee on an ongoing basis or just come in when you can and lend a hand. • Join us on our seed collecting trips on Thursdays. Meet at the bottom gate of the nursery at 9 am. For further information check the calendar of the chapter website www.ebcnps.org, e-mail nativehere@ebcnps.org, or call Charli at 510- 525-9076 before 8:30 am weekdays. • Sign up to help on the two days that the nursery will be participating in the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. (May 2 & 3) by e-mailing nativehere@ebcnps.org, or signing up while you are at the nursery. • We need watering help through the summer. If you have a regular two-hour window during your week, or would like to adopt a section of the nursery, come in during our open hours to learn the routine and get a watering assignment. Be a part of one of the most diverse native plant nurseries in California. 6 THE BAY LEAF May 2009 Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 from 10 am to 5 pm beautiful gardens are on display at various locations throughout Alameda and Contra Costa County. Just go to the web site and register for free and find out how and where these gardens are. www. BringingBackTheNatives.net. RESTORATION Saturday, May 9, 9:30 am. Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve in north Oakland, off of Skyline Boulevard We will continue removing French broom ( Genista monspes- sulana) and new sprouts of poison hemlock that are trying to colonize areas where broom was pulled late last year. The sur- rounding area of the park has a relatively undisturbed flora, and we have already noticed some native species struggling back into place, including Solarium umbelliferum (blue witch), plus regrowth of coast live oak and California bay saplings. You can get a better description of plant species at the preserve if you go to www.calflora.org and click on the "What Grows Here" feature and follow the prompts. The work site starts only a couple of meters from the Bay Crest trail, but we recommend volunteers wear work gloves and shoes or boots appropriate for work on a fairly steep slope. Some tools can be provided by East Bay Regional Park ACTIVITIES OF OTHERS Walks with Save Mount Diablo at the Concord Naval Weapons Station Sunday, May 10 at 7:15 am. Northern Foothills, and Sat- urday, May 30 at 7:15 am, BART station Foothills Because these lands are still under restricted access, you must make a reservation with Save Mount Diablo by the Tuesday before each hike, and be prepared to sign a waiver form in advance and bring a photo ID. To reserve a place or to get more infor- mation contact Save Mount Diablo at 925-947-3535 or e-mail to smdinfo@savemountdiablo.org. The US Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting its 2009 plant surveys of the Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose in May at the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge in Antioch. It's a great opportunity to volunteer for an enjoy- able activity and to visit a special place that is not open to the public. The Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose surveys will be on Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14, from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Wear long pants (there can be scratchy plants and stickers), layered clothing, sturdy walking shoes, lunch and water, sun- hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and gaitors if you like to use them to keep plant parts out of your socks Raingear is optional (you never know). We walk all day (with several breaks) on mixed, sometimes hilly terrain which means good exercise, fresh outdoors, wildlife and wildflowers to see and enjoy. Native Here Nursery will be open for extended hours during the tour weekend: Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3 from 10 to 5. Margot Cunningham and Charli Danielsen District; it is best to reply to janetgawthrop47@gmail.com and let us know if volunteers are interested in attending and how many, so we can provide tools. Also be sure to say if you will need a loaner pair of work gloves. Or, if you have your own tools, gloves, and work shoes, just show up at the Bay Crest trailhead at the intersection of Pinehurst and Skyline in north Oakland. Directions: From Highway 13, take the Moraga/ Thornhill exit, and follow Moraga from the traffic light at the end of the exit. Go straight on south-bound Moraga as it parallels Highway 13. Turn left at the intersection of Moraga and Snake, and follow Snake east (uphill). After only about 1 block, turn hard left at the intersection of Snake and Shepherd Canyon. (If you miss the turn and see Shepherd Canyon Park on your right, turn around and go back to Snake.) Follow Snake uphill to its end at the intersection with Skyline, roughly 2.6 miles. Turn left onto Skyline and follow it a short distance past the newly-repaved section to the Huckleberry parking lot. Location: Antioch Dunes NWR (Contra Costa County) — Stamm Unit on Fulton Shipyard Road. From 680 N, take Highway 242 E to Hwy 4 E towards Pittsburg/ Antioch. At Antioch, take A Street/ Lone Tree exit and go left under free- way. Proceed about 1 mile and go R onto Wilbur Avenue. At Fulton Shipyard Road (first light) go left. Cross the railroad tracks and then see large brown refuge sign (2nd driveway on the right). For inquiries and to RSVP, please call Susan Euing at 510-521- 9624 or send e-mail to susan_euing@yahoo.com. East Bay SOD-Blitz 2009, Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17 Learn about Sudden Oak Death and how to identify its symptoms on bay laurel leaves with Matteo Garbelotto, a pre-eminent SOD researcher. Then gather samples of bay laurel leaves to help identify areas where the infestation can be proactively managed. It's easy and fun, and it can take as little or as much of your time on the weekend of May 16-17 as you want to devote. Training meeting, Saturday, May 16, 10 am-12 pm (attendance required) Regional Parks Botanic Garden: S. Park Drive and Wildcat Canyon Road, Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley For pre-registration (requested) or more information, contact Sue Rosenthal at rosacalifornica@earthlink.net or 510-496- 6016. THE BAY LEAF May 2009 7 Chapter Directory Officers President and Chapter Council Delegate Delia Barnes Taylor 510-527-3912 deliataylor@mac.com Vice President Carol Castro 510-352-2382 carollbcastro@hotmail.com Recording Secretary Barbara Leitner 925-253-8300 bleitner@pacbell.net Corresponding Secretary Janet Gawthrop janetgawthrop47@gmail. com Treasurer Holly Forbes hforbes@berkeley.edu h 510-234-2913 w 510-643-8040 Assistant Treasurer (not an officer) David Margolies 510-654-0283 dm@franz.com Committees Bayleaf Newsletter Bay Leaf Editor and Web- master Joe Willingham, Chair 510-841-4681 pepel 066@comcast.net Bay Leaf Assistant Editor David Margolies 510-654-0283 dm@franz.com Mailing Holly Forbes hforbes@berkeley.edu Conservation Laura Baker, Chair 510-849-1409 Lbake66@aol.com Conservation analyst Lech Naumovich conservation@ebcnps.org Field Trips Janet Gawthrop, Chair janetgawthrop47@gmail. com Funds Development Carol Castro, Chair Grant Management Sally de Becker 510-841-6613 sallydebecker@comcast.net Horticulture Planning Sue Rosenthal, Chair 510-496-6016 rosacalifornica@earthlink.net Information Infrastructure Peter Rauch, Chair peterar@berkeley.edu Membership Elaine Jackson, Carol Castro Co-Chairs Volunteer coordinator Delia Taylor volunteer@ebcnps.org Programs Sue Rosenthal, Chair rosacalifornica@earthlink.net Publicity Dinah Russell, Chair 510-528-0547 maphappy@sonic.net Rare Plants Heath Bartosh, Chair 925-957-0069 hbartosh@nomadecology. com Unusual Plants Dianne Lake, Chair 510-741-8066 diannelake@yahoo.com Vegetation Erin McDermott, Chair erinmcd2004@yahoo.com EBCNPS Sponsored Activities Book & Poster Sales Joanne Orengo greentheglobe@juno.com Grant Awards Sandy McCoy sandymccoy@mindspring. com Native Here Nursery 510-549-0211 Manager — Charli Danielsen nativehere@ebcnps.org Sales — Margot Cunningham bunchgrassmarg@gmail.com Seed Collection — Gregg Weber 510-223-3310 Plant Fair Gudrun Kleist 510-222-2320 gkleist@sbcglobal.net and Charli Danielsen Coordinators Restoration Projects Leaders: Huckleberry — Janet Gawthrop Point Isabel — Tom and Jane Kelly 510-704-8628 (w) 510-684-6484 (c) kyotousa@sbcglobal.net Strawberry Creek — Tom and Jane Kelly Officers and Committee Chairs serve on the Board. Committees are formed based on chapter needs and the interests of volunteers. Proposals for committees and projects are welcome and will be considered by the Board. Membership Application Name Address Zip Telephone I wish to affiliate with: East Bay Chapter (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) Other Membership category: Individual, $45 Family, Library, Group or International, $75 Plant lover, $100 Patron, $300 Benefactor, $600 E-mail Mariposa Lily, $1500 (optional) Limited Income or student, $25 Other Mail application and check to: California Native Plant Society, 2707 K Street, Suite 1, Sacramento CA 95816 California Native Plant Society East Bay Chapter P.O. Box 5597, Elmwood Station Berkeley CA 94705 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Oakland, CA Permit No. 2018 Time Value May 2009 issue