The Bay leaf

May 2011

The

Bay Leaf

California Native Plant Society • East Bay Chapter
Alameda & Contra Costa Counties

www.ebcnps.org

www.groups.google.com/group/ebcnps

MEMBERSHIP MEETING

In the Company of Wild Butterflies
Speakers: Sal Levinson and Andy Liu

Wednesday, May 25, 7:30 pm

Location, Conference Center, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley
(directions below)

This month's program is sure to be exciting, with some
firsts for East Bay CNPS. The focus will be on butterflies,
and we'll be showing a 45-minute film, "In the Company
of Wild Butterflies: An Intimate Study of the Secret Lives of
Wild Butterflies." Through close-up photography the film
offers insight into butterfly morphology, physiology, and
reproduction, showing details of butterflies in many life
stages including hatching from eggs, smelling with their
feet, and pushing their heads from their skulls in preparation
for molting. It also presents the environmental challenges
faced by wild butterfly populations and offers advice about
developing butterfly-friendly gardens. The film has been
shown at several environmental film festivals and received
awards. Following the film, its co-creator Sal Levinson along
with butterfly educator Andy Liu will answer questions and
provide information about native plants for butterfly gardens.
They will bring some butterfly eggs, larvae, and if possible
adults to the presentation.

Sal Levinson studied Conservation of Natural Resources at
UC Berkeley and Entomology at UC Berkeley and UC River-
side, and she has done entomological field work in California,
Connecticut, and Idaho. She started gardening for butterflies
about 20 years ago to introduce her children to the joys of
insects and now shares her passion for butterflies with the
public in elementary school presentations, teacher training,
adult school classes, and butterfly walks at the UC Botanical
Garden. She is also publishing a series of butterfly paper-crafts
in Butterfly Gardener magazine.

Andy Liu earned his BA in Architecture and MA in Land-
scape Architecture from UC Berkeley. He wrote his master's
thesis on butterfly habitat and has given presentations on
butterflies and butterfly gardening to audiences at the San
Francisco Landscape Garden Show, Strybing Arboretum, the
UC Botanical Garden, and the Master Gardener International
Conference as well as to elementary school classes in several
communities. A life-long plantsman, he currently works in

garden design and landscape architecture and his projects
include residential design, native plant community restora-
tion, creek restoration, and habitat and landscape design for
large planned residential developments.

East Bay CNPS membership meetings are free of charge and
open to everyone. This month's meeting takes place in the
Conference Center of the UC Botanical Garden at 200 Centen-
nial Drive, east of Memorial Stadium and west of the Law-
rence Hall of Science, above the main campus of the University
of California in Berkeley. The garden gate will open at 7 pm;
the meeting begins at 7:30 pm. You are welcome to stroll in
the Botanical Garden before the meeting. Please contact Sue
Rosenthal, 510-496-6016 or rosacalifornica@earthlink.net, if
you have questions.

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.
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 Programs

Membership meetings will be on summer recess during the
months of June, July, and August and will resume on Wednes-
day, September 28 when Bart O'Brien of Rancho Santa Ana
Botanic Garden will talk on "Reimagining the California
Lawn". Have a wonderful summer!

CHAPTER MEMBER WINS CONSERVATION AWARD

Holly Forbes honored for work with imperiled plants

ST. LOUIS-Holly Forbes, curator at the University of Cali-
fornia Botanical Garden, has won the 2011 Star Award from
the Center for Plant Conservation, located at the Missouri
Botanical Garden in St. Louis, for her work with rare and
imperiled plant species. The award was presented on April
8 in conjunction with the Center for Plant Conservation's
national meeting, held this year in Denver, Colo., and recog-
nizes individuals who demonstrate the concern, cooperation
and personal investment needed to conserve imperiled native
plants.

"Holly's contributions to the conservation program pervade
every aspect of the Botanical Garden," said Dr. Paul Licht,
director of the University of California Botanical Garden.

Forbes' tenacity and hard work have shown the recovery
potential for even the smallest plant populations. Working
with local partners, Forbes helped to augment plants such
as the San Mateo thornmint, which exists in a single popula-
tion close to an urban center and was once threatened by a
proposed golf course.

Her contributions in seed banking, cultivation and restoration
have clearly demonstrated the role of horticulture in saving
imperiled species. Mt. Diablo buckwheat was thought to be
extinct until the rediscovery of a tiny population in 2005 by
a University of California, Berkeley graduate student. Since
then, Forbes' team has worked with University of California
researchers, California State Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service to produce seeds that are being used in efforts to
create more populations of the plant.

"Besides having full responsibility for curating our entire
collection, she oversees the accession policy and is our main

spokesperson for conservation issues - all this when she is not
out in the field collecting seeds, cleaning seeds, following the
propagation of our 'wards' or supervising the reintroduction
programs derived from the seeds collected," Licht said.

Forbes' work has secured species facing imminent extinction,
and has advanced conservation science. An example is her
work with partners to establish new populations of the nearly-
extinct Baker's larkspur. The only known natural population
of this perennial herb is down to three flowering individuals
due to roadside disturbance.

"I've known Holly for at least 15 years. It is a joy to watch the
career of a real conservation hero," said Dr. Kathryn Kennedy,
executive director for the Center for Plant Conservation.

"She has poured years of labor and passion in equal mea-
sure into work to help California's priceless native plants
endure."

The Center for Plant Conservation is a non-profit organiza-
tion whose mission is to conserve and restore the imperiled
plants of the United States to secure them from extinction. It
has established a network of 36 leading botanical institutions
across the country. By developing standards and guidance,
conducting hands-on work and raising awareness, the Center
and its partners strive to accomplish the research and resto-
ration work needed to return these plants to their natural
habitats. The Center coordinates the National Collection of
Endangered Plants, securing seed from more than 750 of
America's most vulnerable native plants, and is working on
more than 200 restoration projects. The Center's program is
managed by their national office in St. Louis, Mo. For addi-
tional information about the Center for Plant Conservation,
visit www.centerforplantconservation.org.

Dr. Kathryn Kennedy, executive director of
the Center for Plant Conservation presents
the 201 1 Star Award to Holly Forbes, cura-
tor at the University of California Botanical
Garden, for Forbes' work in conserving
imperiled native plants.

2

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

FIELD TRIPS

Sunday May 8, 11:00 am. Butterfly field trip up Claremont
Canyon: meet at Rockridge BART Station

Meet Liam O'Brien and other members of the Yerba Buena
chapter for this trip to look for butterflies and some of the their
host plants that grow in Claremont Canyon. If you have only
driven up Claremont Canyon, you may not have had a chance to
fully appreciate the public lands in the canyon and the remnant
native flora. Because of limited parking at the stops, we will
meet at Rockridge BART to consolidate into carpools. Butterflies
only fly on sunny days, so rain or fog will reschedule this trip to
the same time on Sunday, May 15. Inclement weather on May
15 will cancel the trip. If you have any questions, please e-mail
janetgawthrop47@gmail.com

Saturday May 14, 9:30 am, field trip to Red Hills (Tuolumne
County).

Bob Case will lead an all-day field trip to the Red Hills BLM
(Bureau of Land Management) ACEC, near Chinese Camp,
plus a driving tour of parts of Highway 49, Parrot's Ferry Road,
Camp Nine Road and stops along Highway 4 up to Calaveras
Big Trees State Park (time permitting), and return via Highway
4. The focus will be on the Red Hills area, with the remainder
of the trip as frequent roadside stops for botanical exploration.
Bring a lunch, liquids, and standard excursion gear. Expect some
walking, a total of six hours of driving, and a return to the Bay
Area around 9:00 pm.

Five rare plant species occur in the Red Hills which the BLM con-
sider as sensitive; three have been listed as threatened under the
ESA. These plants are California verbena, Layne's butterweed,
and Chinese Camp Brodiaea. Another species. Rawhide Hill
onion, has been proposed for listing.

California verbena ( Verbena calif omica) is a Red Hills endemic.
Its distribution in the Red Hills is confined to the moist areas of
stream shoreline and ground water seepage.

The Rawhide Hill onion (Allium tuolumnensis) has many, mostly
small colonies in the Red Hills, but it is confined to areas with
sparse vegetation, south-facing slopes with shallow soils, and
intermittent drainages.

Layne's butterweed ( Senecio layneae) is one of the three federally
listed plant species in the Red Hillls at this time. There are only
a few, very small occurrences of this member of the sunflower
family in the Red Hills. Elsewhere, this species is often associated
with disturbances, like road cuts.

Two plants that had been designated as federal candidate cat-
egory 2 species were eliminated from the candidate list— those
are Congdon's lomatium (Lomatium congdonii) and the Red Hillls
soaproot ( Chlorogalum grandiflorum) are locally common in the
Red Hills, favoring north slopes and ridge tops, respectively. An
additional species proposed for federal listing, Chinese Camp
brodiaea ( Brodiaea pallida) grows on a low gradient drainage in
soils that remain wet late into the growing season. This species

has been located on public lands in the Red Hills, and on private
land west of Chinese Camp.

Another plant, Hoover's butterweed ( Senecio clevelandii var. het-
erophyllus ) has been included in the CNPS Watch List. It grows
with California verbena in riparian zones. It may be recognized
as a separate taxon that is endemic to the Red Hills, or it may
be included as a single taxon with plants found in the coast
ranges.

Meeting Places: Bob Case can meet a maximum of 3 riders at
the Pleasant Hill BART station at 7:30 am. Others can meet at
with Bob at 9:30 am at the Dennys located at 1555 East F Street,
Oakdale, CA. We will be at the Red Hills site around 10 am, but
it could be difficult to meet there as it is a large area. If you have
questions, please contact Bob at bobcase@astound.net.

Sunday May 15, 10:00 am. Blue Oak Trail at Briones Regional
Park

Gregg Weber will lead on this trail that includes views of some
unusual plants, such as Myrica califomica and Pickeringia montana
(think pink). Judging from rainfall so far, there should be quite a
few Calochortus pulchellus in bloom also. The Blue Oak loop has
a 700 foot elevation change and quite a few ups and downs. The
round trip is about 5 miles.

Directions: Take Highway 24 to Lafayette, and exit at Pleasant
Hill Road north. Go about one mile north on Pleasant Hill Road,
and turn left onto Reliez Valley Road. Stay on Reliez Valley Road
for about 3.5 miles. The parking lot is on the left, after Withers
Ave. Do not go into the park entrance farther north on Reliez
Valley Road or you will miss the field trip.

Sunday May 22, 10 am. Mount Diablo State Park North Peak
trail from Devil's Elbow to Prospector's Gap

Meet at the Devil's Elbow parking lot at 10 am. This trial is packed
with native plants and relatively few alien species. There may
be Calochortus venustus, C. pulchellus, Chorizanthe membranacea,
Hydrophyllum occidentals, Arnica discoidea, a few areas of Collinsia
tinctoria, Clarkia concinna, plus native Cirsium (thistles), lupines,
and Lomatium. There are also large areas of Quercus chrysolepis
(canyon live oak). This trip will be most of the day, so bring lunch
and water. We should arrive back at the parking lot around 3 pm.
The trip leader is Gregg Weber, and you can call him at 510- 223-
3310 if you have questions.

Directions: Take 680 to the Diablo Road exit, and go east on
Diablo Road At Green Valley Road, only one lane goes straight
ahead. After Green Valley Road, go on 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 the end of Mount
Diablo Scenic Boulevard, which becomes South Gate Road as
it enters the park. Pay the $10 gate fee at the entrance station
(or have your state parks pass visible). Continue to Junction
Ranger Station, and turn right. About 3/4 mile past Juniper
Camp's large parking area is a small parking area at Devil's
Elbow, where we will meet at 10 am.

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

3

NATIVE HERE

We'll be open for the Bringing Back the Natives Plant Sale
Extravaganza April 30 and participating in the Bringing Back
the Natives Garden Tour on May 1, 10 am-5 pm. We'll be sell-
ing plants, books, plant labels, and also small bags of oyster
shells to protect tender annuals from slugs and snails.

The spring list of available plants may be found on the Native
Here page of www.ebcnps.org. To get on our email news list
for information on plant availability and nursery activities,
send a message to nativehere@ebcnps.org.

Now that the rains are no longer continuous, we need to
water at the nursery. Watering assignments can be from one
to two hours. Some volunteers are continuing with their past
assignments, but we can always use more waterers, especially
when our "regulars" take vacations. Just ask Margot or Charli
when you are at the nursery, and we'll find a time and place
for your to water. We can always use volunteers in other
capacities as well

A profusion of tadpoles emerged in some of our water tubs
that hold our water-loving plants. They're growing by the
week as they feed on the algae in the tubs. Most of them
won't make it to froghood, but at least we'll have some frogs
later on.

May starts our seed collecting season, although the first few
weeks may be primarily scoping out what is at various sites.
If there are particular plants you'd like to see us growing,
seed collecting is how to get them started. Meet at the nursery
lower gate to leave at 9 am on Tuesday mornings. Destina-
tions vary, but we'll try to keep a week ahead notifying those
who are on the seed seekers list. To join, contact nativehere@
ebcnps.org specifying your interest in seed collecting.

We are located across the street from the entrance to the Tilden
Golf Course.

Margot Cunningham and Charli Danielsen

2012 BRINGING BACK THE NATIVES TOUR

Gardens Sought for Bringing Back the Natives Garden postage stamp-sized yards to large lots, beautiful California
Tour native plant gardens are possible for anyone.

Gardens are now being sought to participate in the spring
2012 Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, which show-
cases pesticide-free, drought-tolerant gardens that provide
habitat for wildlife and contain 50% or more native plants.
The gardens featured in this tour will demonstrate that, from

POINT ISABEL RESTORATION

First Saturday of each month at Pt. Isabel on the Bay Trail.
The next one will be on May 7. Our hours are 10 am to 2
pm.

We remove invasive plants and re-vegetate with native plants
grown from plants found at the site. We are located at the
end of Rydin Road just off the 1-580 next to Hoffman Marsh.

The weather at our Pt. Isabel work party on April 2nd was
about as perfect as one could ask for. The sun brought the
warmth and the Bay brought the cooling, and together they
blended to make conditions ideal for our 11 volunteer strong
work force.

After months of welcome rains, we are dealing with sig-
nificant amounts of weeds which were the main focus of
our volunteers. Several volunteers cleared a significant area
of fast growing wild radish and mustard. The cleared area
on the bank of Hoffman Marsh will now make it a bit easier
for our recent plantings of native plants ( Myrica califomica,
Aesculus califomica, Artimesia califomica) to take hold. These
plants are settling in well and are beginning to show some

Host Applications can be found at www.bringingbackthen-
atives.net under Volunteer or Host. Garden visits will start
in May, and will be completed by July. Questions? E-mail
Kathy Kramer at Kathy@KathyKramerConsulting.net or call
510-236-9558 between 9 am and 9 pm.

vigorous growth. One of the indications of the growing pres-
ence of the natives is that far more people stop by to ask what
we are doing. It becomes a perfect opportunity to engage in
a discussion that we hope helps to educate park users about
native habitats.

Other volunteers weeded the many and varied invasive
grasses that are sprouting up in areas that are not covered in
mulch. While we use mulch in areas next to the trail, we are
cautious about spreading it into areas that house the variety
of bumblebees that inhabit the area and spend most of the
daylight hours gathering and spreading their life-giving
pollens. The invasive grasses grow incredibly fast and are
in a hurry to spread their seed far and wide. We have a very
short window of opportunity to reduce their impacts and as
a result welcome all volunteers who wish to spend an hour
or two pulling these interlopers.

Contact: kyotousa@sbcglobal.net 510-684-6484.

Jane and Tom Kelly

4

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

Meet Janet Gawthrop, EBCNPS
Field Trip Chair and former
Restoration Chair (photo by Igor
Skaredoff)

I have been obsessed with the
unique public lands in the San
Francisco Bay Area ever since I
moved to the East Bay, just after
the Foma Prieta earthquake.
While I travel and enjoy biota of
other areas from time to time, I
prize the one-of-a-kind array of
East Bay flora available for all to see.

Since the year 2000, 1 have been coordinating field trips for
the East Bay chapter of CNPS, usually after Thanksgiving,
when winter rains start the year's greening and loosening
of clay cement soil, to better appreciate this annual spec-
tacle. For the past several years, I have also been weeding
to protect indigenous flora in the Oakland-Berkeley hills. At
least twice a month, I don my patched jeans and reacquaint
myself with the crews that "garden without walls", as Jake
Sigg aptly puts it.

On weekends, friends no longer invite me to cafes or shopping
trips, but to their prized restoration projects.

Growing up in Indiana, gardening always conjured up im-
ages of fighting with the lawn mower pull cord on muggy
afternoons, or digging up luxuriant dandelions to uncover
pencil-thin carrots. In my memory, I am always sweating like
a pig and the air is filled with grit from the steel mill a few
miles away. Not the place to be when I could be in the park,
or at Lake Michigan shores.

Now, I live in an apartment with a balcony, and lawn mowers
are relegated to suburban weekends of the past. I can't be out-
doors unless I'm in a park, and I weed in parks to save public
lands from the landscaping industry discards and escapees.
A morning spent weeding is a morning in East Bay Regional
Parks (or Garber Park in Oakland, or Point Isabel, also cool
places). Back east, the saying was the worst morning fishing
is better than the best day at the office. Plants do it for me.

Whether on a field trip or a restoration crew, I can meet
friends, enjoy the open sky, pat a curious dog— and if I'm
lucky, find an unusual or new plant.

Land around San Francisco Bay is known for its quality open
spaces next to urban dwellings. It goes without saying that
we find both unusual indigenous flora and invasive plants
hailing from across the globe, often growing cheek by jowl.
So, free time permitting, my idea is to go out on field trips
to enthuse over western leather wood flowers one day, but
also to give back to public lands by ripping out cape ivy and
French broom.

It is important to know where and when to go to the parks,
both for field trips and restoration crews. For that reason
and many others, I find it best to recruit field trip leaders for
our chapter and to coordinate weeding efforts with regional
park staff. That same trail with clay soil may yield a wealth of
suncup flowers in March, only to solidify in May to a cement
floor, too rigid to uproot French broom.

Cheers,

Janet

New Members

Please join us in welcoming our new members for the Febru-
ary/March time frame, Elizabeth August-Schmidt, Raphaela
Floreani Buzbee, Susan Hampton, Alma Johnson, Ann Mor-
rison, and Michael Strandberg.

As always, a huge thank you to our renewing members
Upcoming Events ~ Opportunity to meet and greet the public
for CNPS

June 11th, Heritage Day at Borges Ranch (Walnut Creek) ~

Lead volunteer Christine Pyers

Reminders

• Still looking for join dates prior to 1986

• Outreach Coordinator position still vacant

• Restoration Chair, vacant

• Be sure and visit our updated membership page at
http:/ / ebcnps.org/ index.php/ membership/

Elaine Jackson, elainejx@att.net 925-.372-0687

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not
forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a
conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect
the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

Henry David Thoreau

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

5

East Bay CNPS Volunteers at the
CNPS membership table at the
Sunol Wildflower Day, which took
place on Saturday, April 2. Photo
by Dianne Lake.

NEW CONSERVATION ANALYST MACK CASTERMAN

Mack Casterman, our new Conservation Analyst , was selected
from a field of outstanding candidates by the Hiring Committee
composed of Heath Bartosh, David Bigham, Charli Danielsen, Lech
Naumovich, Tina Wistrom, and me. Mack introduces himself in
this article. Laura Baker, Conservation Chair.

My name is Mack Casterman, and I am the new Conservation
Analyst of the East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant
Society. I am looking forward to meeting and working with you.

A little bit about me: I was born and raised on the Peninsula
in Redwood City. I attended high school at Bellarmine College
Prep and went on to earn my Bachelor of Science Degree at
UC Davis, majoring in Environmental Biology and Natural
Resources Management. During college, I spent my summers
working for the San Mateo County Department of Parks as a
seasonal park aid at Huddard, Wunderlich, and Edgewood
County Parks. After I graduated, I was fortunate enough to
get an internship at the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District where I assisted the operations department in manag-
ing the district's 60,000 acres of public open space preserves.

Since then, I have been working with the open space district
as a special project volunteer, surveying district preserves
for the invasive weed slender false brome ( Brachypodium
sylvaticum), which was recently found in the Woodside and
Portola Valley area. This appears to be the only occurrence
of the weed in California, and the Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District has received federal funding to manage
removal of the weed before it grows beyond the district's
control. My surveys and report will assist the district with
understanding the extent of the infestation and allow them
to draw up a management plan for their preserves before the
summer growing season.

When I'm not saving the world from environmental doom
I like to go freestyle skiing with my friends, ride my bicycle,
take pictures, grow plants in my garden, and cook.

I have always been interested in the environment and finding
ways to ensure that precious natural resources remain pro-
tected, even as economic and social motivators spur develop-
ment farther into the remaining natural areas of our world. I
believe that the Conservation Analyst position will allow me
to do just that, and I am honored to be given the opportunity
to work with CNPS on this task. Please feel free to e-mail me
or call me if you need to contact me for any reason. I will get
back to you as soon as possible.

In my brief experience in this position so far the importance of
representing conservation interests to city councils and plan-
ning committees as they outline future development has been
driven home with me. Development interests have the ear of
the city planners, and it is very easy for valuable biological
resources to be overlooked in the interest of short-term job
opportunities or economic development. I view this position
as a challenging but particularly important opportunity to
speak for these natural resources. Once our precious natural
communities are gone there is no getting them back. I will do
my best to ensure that the interests of the California Native
Plant Society are heard loud and clear and provide a voice
that speaks to the value of preserving California's native
plant heritage.

6

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

Chapter Directory

Officers

President
David Bigham
david@hjuliendesigns.
com, 1 544 La Loma,
Berkeley, CA 94708,
510-843-4247

Vice President and Chap-
ter Council Delegate
Bill Hunt

wjhunt@astound.net

Recording Secretary
Tina Wisfrom
cmwistrom@yahoo.com,
510- 207-0370

Corresponding
Secretary
Christine Pyers
idoradesign@gmail.com

Treasurer
David Margolies
510-654-0283
dm@franz.com

Committees

Bayleaf Newsletter

Bay Leaf Editor and Web-
master, Chair
Joe Willingham
510-788-4177
pepel 066@comcast.net

Bay Leaf Assistant Editor
David Margolies
510-654-0283
dm@franz.com
Bayleaf Mailing
Holly Forbes
hforbes@berkeley.edu
h 510-234-2913
w 510-643-8040

Conservation

Laura Baker, Chair

510-849-1409

Lbake66@aol.com

Conservation Analyst
Mack Casterman
conservation@ebcnps.
org

510-734-0335

Funds Development

Carol Castro, Chair
Grant Management
Sally de Becker
510-841-6613
sallydebecker@comcast.
net

Field Trips

Janet Gawthrop, Chair

janetgawthrop47@gmail.

com

Hospitality

Howard Julien Arendt-
son, Chair
510-548-7400
howard@hjuliendesigns.
com

Information Infrastruc-
ture

Peter Rauch, Chair
peterar@berkeley.edu

Membership

Co-Chairs

Elaine Jackson
elainejx@att.net
Carol Castro
510-352-2382
carol bcastro@
hotmail,com
Volunteer coordinator
Delia Taylor
volunteer@ebcnps.org

Programs

Sue Rosenthal, Chair

rosacalifornica@earth-

link.net

Publicity

(vacant

Rare Plants

Heath Bartosh, Chair
925-957-0069
hbartosh@nomadecol-
ogy.com

Bryophytes

John Game, Chair

510-527-7855

jcgame@stanford.edu

Unusual Plants

Dianne Lake, Chair

510-741-8066

diannelake@yahoo.com

EBCNPS Sponsored
Activities

Book & Poster Sales

Joanne Orengo

greentheglobe@juno.

com

Native Here Nursery

510-549-0211
Manager — Charli Dan-
ielsen

nativehere@ebcnps.org

Sales — Margot Cunning-
ham

bunchgrassmarg@gmail.

com

Plant Fair

Charli Danielsen, Chair

510-549-0211

nativehere@ebcnps.org

Lesley Hunt, Native Here/
Plant Fair-East Bay
Chapter Board liaison
925-937-6791
ldhunt@astound.net

Restoration Projects

Leaders:

Huckleberry — Janet
Gawthrop

Point Isabel — Torn and
Jane Kelly
510-704-8628 (w)
510-684-6484 c)
kyotousa@sbcglobal.net
Strawberry Creek — Tom
and Jane Kelly

Officers and Commit-
tee Chairs serve on the
Board.

RICHMOND DROPS POINT MOLATE CASINO PLAN

April 5th saw history in the making as the City Council of
Richmond voted 5-2 to discontinue consideration of a casino
at Point Molate. The casino was first proposed 7 years ago
and initially enjoyed the support of a pro-casino majority on
the council, but a growing disaffection with the project and
a strong coalition of community activists ultimately defeated
the project.

The East Bay Chapter of CNPS joined forces with grassroots
groups like the Citizens for a Sustainable Point Molate and the
Richmond Progressive Alliance to shine a light on the impor-
tance of Point Molate as a unique treasure along the Richmond
shoreline. The San Pablo Peninsula is a key component of
our Richmond Shoreline Botanical Priority Protection Area.
Along with CNPS and the Committee to Save the Refuge, the
California Native Grasslands Association emphasized the
importance of the remnant coastal prairie and the eelgrass
beds that make Point Molate a rich natural resource.

Anti-gambling interests and gambling establishments alike
also advocated against the casino. Last November, the pro-
casino majority was replaced with an anti-casino majority,
and in the same election voters turned out to defeat Measure
U, a citizens' advisory vote on whether to approve a casino
at Point Molate. In the months since the election, momentum
to dump the casino project increased. The City Council had

voted to certify the final EIR in March, but pointedly reserved
the option to drop the casino.

The developer has 120 days in which to propose an alternative
project. The only non-casino option that is covered by the EIR
is a housing development that could cause massive adverse
impacts to Point Molate. EBCNPS is on record as opposing this
alternative as well. We agree with many Richmond citizens
that it's possible to have sustainable development in keep-
ing with the San Pablo Peninsula Open Space Plan. We have
come a long way down this winding road, and the struggle
to protect Point Molate is not over yet, but the alliances that
we forged are powerful.

In a letter to EBCNPS, Mayor McLaughlin noted, "I want to
personally thank all involved with the California Native Plant
Society for standing strong and consistently in opposition to a
casino at Point Molate. I look forward to continuing to work
with you as we move forward into a better future in Richmond
for our residents and for our environment!"

We share that eagerness and are committed to finding a wise
solution to the challenge of protecting Point Molate.

Laura Baker, Conservation Committee Chair

THE BAY LEAF May 2011

7

California Native Plant Society
East Bay Chapter
P.O. Box 5597, Elmwood Station
Berkeley CA 94705

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
Paid

Oakland, CA
Permit No. 2018

Time Value
May 201 1 issue

Lech Naumovich recently left the staff position of East Bay Chapter Conservation Analyst after five years of distinguished
service. Lech and his wife, Drea Beale, have a beautiful daughter, Kaya Evelyn, born March 23. Go to lecn.wordpress.
com see some amazing photos of her. Congratulations, Lech and Drea, and welcome, Kaya Evelyn! Laura Baker

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Bringing Back the Natives

Sunday May 1, 10 am-5 pm. Bringing Back the Natives Garden
Tour

Members Meeting (see page 1)

Wednesday, May 25, 7:30 pm, at the Conference Center, UC
Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Sal Levinson and Andy Liu: "In the
Company of Wild Butterflies".

Native Here (see page 4)

Tuesday mornings— seed collectors leave Native Here at 9 am (starts
May 3)

Tuesday afternoons— nursery open noon to 3 pm

Friday mornings— nursery open 9 am to noon

Saturdays— nursery open 10 am to 2 pm

Native Plant Sale Extravaganza — Saturday Apr 30, 10am-5pm

Field Trips (see page 3)

Sunday May 8, 1:00 pm Butterfly field trip up Claremont Canyon:
meet at Rockridge BART Station.

Saturday May 14, 9:30 am, field trip to Red Hills (Tuolumne County).
Meet in Denny's parking lot in Oakdale.

Sunday May 15, 10:00 am. Blue Oak Trail at Briones Regional
Park.

Sunday May 22, 10 am. Mount Diablo State Park North Peak trail
from Devil's Elbow to Prospector's Gap.

Restoration (see page 4)

Saturday, May 7 10 am to 2 pm, at Point Isabel.

May Board Meeting

May 18, 6:30, House of David Margolies, 288 Mather St. Oakland
CA 94611 (510-654-0283).

Membership Application and Renewal Form

Name

Address

Zip Telephone

Email

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

Mariposa Lily, $1500

Limited Income or student, $25.00

Other

Mail application and check to: California Native Plant Society, 2707 K Street, Suite 1, Sacramento CA 95816