By Linda Skeff

It is exciting to see the Restoration Project expand as new groups and individuals join in the effort to remove invasive nonnative plants and encourage native plants to return to the degraded areas. The VWC, supporters of Garrahan Park,4-H, SLV Muesum supporters and Boulder Creek’s Community Church have all provided volunteers for various projects, and we are reaching out to involve more and more people. There are two basic goals,

1. To bring the whole SLV community that is sandwiched between Big Basin and Henry Cowell together in a native revival to improve the health of the watershed and its wildlife, both flora and fauna. (In the Midwest, studies demonstrated a huge increase in native fauna when each property in the area had a minimum 4X4 foot patch of native prairie grasses and plants. It is a huge community endeavor across many states and it is working there, so it will work here.)

2. To bring the communities together that form the SLV to form a living corridor for our native flora and fauna. Linking Highlands Park to Garrahan Park with this bridge will greatly increase the survival of the local flora and fauna. We now you have 3 huge tracts of public land thoughtfully connected by a community to form a native corridor one back or front yard at a time.

Recent efforts to remove an invasive plum tree at Junction Park were helped enormously by the crew of Richard’s Tree Service, enabling the native oak and maple trees to survive and thrive.

To join in the effort, whether on your own property or at one of the parks, contact Linda Skeff at redwoodduff@gmail.com. You can join the Highlands Park effort and be trained in specific techniques for removing especially tenacious invasive species, and help the Park too!