Friday, February 22, 2013

SEBASTOPOL NATURE WALK - SATURDAY


I just received this email from Richard Nichols.  Pardon the late notice.  But if you don't have anything to do tomorrow morning, you should join this walk.  It's a great way to get a little deeper into the place you live.

Weather-wise, this should prove to be a picture perfect day to do this.

Sebastopol Walks

Sebastopol Grand Walkabout 7.5 miles, Brisk Pace
Saturday February 23, 9:00 a.m.

Join Sebastopol Walks for a walk around town.  We’ll meet in the plaza at 9:00 a.m., visit Laguna Park, West County Trail, Ragle Ranch Park, and Burbank Farm before returning to the Plaza by noon.  Walkers may leave at any time to shorten their walk.  Bring snacks, water, good walking shoes, and rain gear for light rain.

These walks are led by Sarah Gurney, Sebastopol City Council, & Richard Nichols

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

THIS JUST IN... Railroad Forest Invasive Plants Cleanup

I attended the City Council meeting last night.  One of the item that was discussed and green-lighted is the beautification project for the Railroad Forest along the bike path behind Frizelle-Enos.

This project would see vast improvements in the area that is now home to invasive plant species, overgrown areas and illegal human activities.


VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED!!!
Call: 823-3309


It would change the area from this:



To this...



Lynn Deedler has spearheaded this effort and sent me the following email:


Thanks Bill, I need help.  Sarah (Gurney) has left me with 18 days to work from her many requests which required three council meetings. Attached is a summary and a couple of pictures.

There are two parts to the work. The first is opening up the place, mostly with a tractor mower and chainsaw work to clear out the many broken down trees.  The second is hand work clearing out blackberries among trees and cleaning up the creek. I need help on part one assisting paid crew, perhaps as early as Feb 25, during regular work hours. I have only three thousand dollars to work with to take care of power equipment labor and insurance. I want to do as much as I can with that.  I have to pay power tool users prevaling wages and labor burden. I want to stretch this money.  It will go much farther if I have a volunteer or two to work with the person with the chain saw or tractor. (ie, after limbs are cut they need to be stacked where they will later be chipped. Pulling the limbs allows the person doing the sawing to work with less stopping and things in the way.)

The hand work can continue into April and be organized according to times groups can assemble. Ages 12 to 70.

Lynn


Did I mention...


VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED!!!

Call: 823-3309


So here's the proposal and information if you'd like to volunteer:



Summary

The City owned Railroad Forest area is ten acres of which approximately eight acres is covered with dense blackberries. Acacia and Scotch Broom are also prevalent. In among these plants are old railroad tracks, some shapely native trees and Calder Creek.

Initial work would be done using a tractor with a loading bucket and rotary mulching mower behind. The bucket is used to push down the berries and compress the masses that reach ten feet in many areas. The mower would grind the berries into a rough mulch. The tractor would be assisted by a man on the ground. He is there to cut and remove the broken down tree branches mixed in among the blackberries and to provide another set of eyes for the work.

The tractor work would remove the majority of the berries but not all. It would provide avenues into and around the thickets, but because of existing trees, rough terrain, low branches etc. areas are inaccessible. Clearing these areas and pulling vines out of trees is hand work. This is where the volunteer hand labor takes over the removal.

Seeding

As areas are cleared the ground will be seeded with native plant seed. The seed among other things will be provided by a local environmental contractor, Prunuske Chatham Inc, together with oversight from their staff of environmental consultants.

Regrowth

The regrowth from the berry root balls will be eliminated by spot spraying in mid May, using Garlon 4, a broad leaf herbicide labeled for this application. This herbicide will not effect grasses. This work will be supervised by Dante DelPrete, who is a State Certified Applicator, and familiar with this product. (his concern was public works is short staffed.) My estimate is that this will cost the City $1,000 for treating four acres.

This will complete phase one of the project.  Once the grass is up, once you can walk through the property, see the trees and shrubs that are there, then you can thoughtfully assess what should happen next. Once the land is cleaned and planted with grass, that may be enough. Perhaps only a bench by the creek should be added.

Timing

The optimum time for doing this work is in dry periods of the winter months, because:
*Most of the leaves are off and you can see into the thickets and see what you are doing.
*The grass seed needs spring rain to develop.
*State Fish and Game have restricted machine work to this time.

Organizers

This project is organized by Lynn Deedler, with field work supervised by Lynn and Chuck Sackett. We both have extensive experience in doing this kind of work, and we see eye to eye on how to accomplish it. Chuck is recognized as the best landscape designer and builder in Sonoma County.
Clare Najarian is the volunteer coordinator.  Roger Wilson is the Analy High School volunteer coordinator.  Many environmental professionals have offered to help.

Insurance

To satisfy the REIC requirements for both liability and workman’s compensation insurance for those working with power tools, employees of Chuck Scakett’s landscape business, Apple Blossom Nursery, will do the work and will be paid their regular wages.  Hand work volunteers will sign a liability release, and are cover by REIC.

Cost

The cost to the City of Sebastopol will be for only these employees, permits, some equipment rental, and other direct expensive.  Most equipment will be provided by Lynn Deedler.  First year estimate $3,000 to $5,000.

What will be accomplished

Four acres cleaned and planted this year is the estimate. There are many unknowns; what is in there, weather, and particularly what the volunteers accomplish. Along with a list of prior workers, ten responded following a newspaper story. It is anticipated that once work starts, they will come. Once the City makes a commitment to support this project the scheduling and volunteer recruitment can begin.  Time is short.


SHARED VISION FOR SEBASTOPOL!


A note from Kenyon Webster...


Hope you can attend the 'General Plan Update Report' Community Workshop on Saturday, February 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Community Church, 1000 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol.

The workshop, 'Common Ground:  Building a Shared Vision for Sebastopol' is intended to identify priority policy initiatives and flesh out implementation concepts for consideration in the upcoming Sonoma State student report. 

We are hoping that this workshop will take the results of the recent 'subcommittee' meetings for this project to the next level of policy formulation and priority-setting.  Results may be considered for City policy implementation in a future General Plan update, or in other policy initiatives.

A plethora of ideas ('voting results') from the subcommittee meetings is posted on the City web site at:  http://ci.sebastopol.ca.us/page/commission-and-board-reports

Hope to see you there!

-Kenyon Webster

Kenyon Webster, Planning Director
City of Sebastopol
(707) 823-6167
kwebster@cityofsebastopol.org
http://ci.sebastopol.ca.us/

DO YOU TEND BEES? DO YOU WANT TO?

logo _2013_art 3   
BEEKIND HONEY & BEEKEEPING SUPPLIES
921 Gravenstein Hwy South, Sebastopol, CA


Dear Friends,

We would like to remind you of a few important dates and items.  We hope this is a very good year for you and your bees.  Thank you for your continued support of this small and dedicated business.  We appreciate you and all you do for the bees.

Doug and Katia Vincent and the Beekind Crew.


1. Bees (Packages and Nucs) are on sale now at beekind.com or by calling during our open hours: 707-824-2905

2. Remember 10% off on supply set-ups and add ons thru March 31st at our Sebastopol store.

3. Our 2013 supply list and class schedule can be downloaded at http://beekind.com/classes.html

4. We have added a SF Intro class at Ferry Building March 17th, Noon to 3pm. This is held in a lovely room overlooking the bay.

5. The 7th Annual Bee Symposium (FORAGE for POLLINATORS) will be held March 9th in Sebastopol at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (formerly Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building).

Tickets are $35 pre-sale/ $45.00 at the door. PFSP and BFF/BFG members receive a $5 discount. 
You can also buy tickets at http://pfspbees.org/store (scroll down) or thru beekind by calling the store 707-824-2905, or coming in.
Proceeds to benefit Partners for Sustainable Pollination.
More details can be found at http://pfspbees.org/news



Symposium Speakers and Topics

Mr. Peter L. Borst
, Cornell University, Biomedical Sciences, Research Scientist & Lab Manager and regular contributor to the American Bee Journal - "A Short History of Pollination" 
Ms Cheryl Veretto, Master Gardener, Sonoma County - "Plant 4 Bees: Help The Bees By Planting All 4 Seasons" 
Dr. Gordon Frankie, UC Berkeley, Professor, Dept of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management - "Bees and Flowers: A Selective Love Affair" 
Ms Frederique Lavoipierre, Sonoma State University, Field Stations & Nature Preserves Founder and coordinator of the Entomology Education and Outreach Program and Garden Classroom programs in Rohnert Park - "Pollinator Panorama” 
Dr. Neal Williams, UC Davis, Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology - "Development of Wildflower Mixes to Promote Native
Pollinators in Agriculture" 
Paul Kaiser, Farmer, Singing Frogs Farm, Sebastopol - "Farming FOR Pollinators: How can we Humans produce nutrient dense food while improving the health, vitality and resiliency of Mother Nature?”

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Gee whiz!

I think I've got too much on my plate, people.

Excuse me for being delinquent in my postings, but I promise...

...you'll be sick of me by the end on the month, though well-informed.

Lots to do.

There are amazing changes happening in Sebastopol.  All of which we need to pay attention to.

Thanks to all of you who have been reminding me of the obvious.  And thanks to all who've asked to be added to the mailing list.

Stay tuned.

PS: We need volunteers!