We're all about love in this issue: love for our heart-themed plants, love for your photo submissions, and love for newts! See this and more in our Valentine's-themed edition of Plug Into Nature.
Nature in February: Valentine's-Themed Flora
Love is in the air, and growing in the ground! We have many lovely native plant species here in the Bay Area, but these five plants are particularly love-y. Perhaps this spring, you can celebrate by taking your loved ones out into nature for an ecologically sensitive treasure hunt for these Cupid-approved plants.
And remember, the best way to go hunting for wildflowers is with your camera. 📷 If you are able to find any of these Valentine’s-themed plants, please take only pictures and leave only footprints.
Western heart’s ease (Viola ocellata), also featured in the newsletter header, is a species of native violet that can be found throughout the Bay Area. In Victorian England, violets were a symbol of everlasting love. These adorable plants sport flowers with five white and purple petals, as well as heart-shaped leaves. You can find this flower growing throughout California in the coastal foothills and mountain ranges. Fun fact, western heart’s ease is tolerant of high levels of heavy metals, and can be found growing in harsh serpentine soils. It has even been found growing at the edges of mercury mines! These flowers bloom in late spring. Keep an eye out for western heart’s ease in Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve and Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve.
Bouquets of roses are a Valentine’s Day staple, but did you know that the Bay Area is home to multiple species of wild roses? The California wild rose (Rosa californica) and the dwarf rose (Rosa gymnocarpa) can both be found throughout Midpen preserves and the greater Bay Area. Both species grow pink, five-petaled flowers that can range in color from deep magenta to nearly white. Like our familiar garden roses, these two native roses sport prickly spines along their stems. You can find these attractive blooms in the understory of woodlands and at the edges of grasslands from late spring through late summer. Look for wild roses near Thornewood Open Space Preserve, Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve and Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve.
Suncup by Lewis Reed
Suncup
The sunny yellow suncups (Taraxia ovata) may not be classic Valentine’s flowers, but they are early bloomers that begin showing their bright yellow flowers right around Valentine’s Day! They are also members of the evening primrose family, so think of them as a timely native alternative to classic roses. You can identify suncups by their bright yellow flowers with four spoon-shaped petals, and by their circular rosette of feather-shaped or oval-shaped leaves. Suncups thrive in coastal prairie and grassland environments, so keep an eye out for them at La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.
The Pacific, or western, bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) is a flowering plant in the poppy family. Its attractive heart-shaped flowers come in all Valentine’s day shades: pink, red, purple and white. You can find bleeding hearts growing in moist soils on redwood forest floors, or in other moist, shady places. Keep an eye out for Pacific bleeding hearts during mid-summer in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve, Los Trancos Open Space Preserve and La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve.
Lovegrasses (genus Eragrostis) are a widespread genus of grasses that can be found on every continent except Antarctica! The scientific name for the genus comes, rather literally, from the Greek eros, meaning love, and agrostis, meaning grass. We are lucky enough to have three species of lovegrass that can be found in and near Midpen preserves. The most common is tufted lovegrass (Eragrostis pectinacean var. pectinacea), which can be found in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties! Look out for lovegrasses near Thornewood Open Space Preserve and Windy Hill Open Space Preserve.
PROJECT UPDATES
Preserve Closures
To maintain public safety in the wake of extensive storm damage, Bear Creek Open Space Preserve remains closed to the public until access conditions improve. Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve will reopen to the public with several trail closures and access restrictions still in effect.
Newt Passage Project Proceeds
The Santa Cruz Mountains have been drenched with 40 inches of rain in some locations since the beginning of the year. One species that depends on precipitation is the California newt (Taricha torosa), which migrates from sheltered upland areas to ponds and lakes to mate and lay eggs in bodies of water. Within our region, thousands of newts migrate from the upland areas of Sierra Azul and St. Joseph’s Hill open space preserves to Lexington Reservoir and Los Gatos Creek.
Midpen has been working with Santa Clara County, which owns Alma Bridge Road that parallels Lexington reservoir on the north and east sides, and several other neighboring entities to provide wildlife passage for newts across the paved roadway. The first phase of the Alma Bridge Road Newt Passage Project is currently underway. The project team compiled a group of stakeholders that includes agency representatives, neighbors, environmental advocates and recreational users associated with the area. The first of four stakeholder working group meetings was held in late 2022; the next is scheduled for early 2023. The project team has finalized a technical review document that discusses project history, natural history of the California newt, and existing site conditions.
Moving forward, the project team will continue to work on the following tasks:
Identification of corrective actions and feasibility analysis
Evaluation of alternatives and basis of design
Ongoing stakeholder collaboration and stakeholder meetings
Identification and application for grant funds to support future phases
Updates to the Project website to keep interested parties informed
Over the past several decades, several landslides, erosion events and culvert failures had severely affected parts of Alpine Road Trail in Coal Creek Open Space Preserve. Not only were sections no longer traversable by emergency vehicles (hiking, biking and equestrian access has been available but difficult), but the degraded roadbed led to significant siltation and chronic sedimentation for Corte Madera Creek, a tributary to the San Francisquito Creek watershed.
San Francisquito Creek and its main tributaries are designated as critical steelhead trout habitat. Sediment in the streambed can smother their spawning sites and impair their ability to migrate upstream. Additionally, Choris’ popcorn flower and Western Leatherwood (which was featured in our January newsletter), are listed as rare species and are endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area. They are dependent on certain riparian habitats, like streambeds, but threatened by these same erosion events.
Back in the summer of 2022, a few retaining walls and nearly 900 feet of new culvert piping were installed along Alpine Road Trail as part of phase 1 of the Alpine Road Regional Trail Improvement Project. Despite over 40inches of rain between December and January, the culvert pipingand retaining walls stayed put.
Phase 2 of the project, which is set to begin this summer, which will include the installation of two additional retaining wall systems, two culverts, restoration of a trail bed and cleaning out a drainage ditch. Midpen's substantial work in protecting the water quality and improving the visitor experience at Coal Creek Open Space Preserve has been accomplished thanks to Measure AA funds, well as a generous $272,211 grant from the County of Santa Clara in recognition of the importance of connecting people to trail systems located within the Skyline area to the rest of the peninsula.
Midpen Purchases 100-Acre Inholding
in Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve
Embedded in the DNA of Midpen is the preservation and protection of open spaces to create a greenbelt of connected habitats and natural ecosystems. Midpen regularly purchases parcels of privately owned land surrounded by our open space preserves, known as inholdings. In late 2022, Midpen purchased two inholdings from San Jose Water Company within Sierra Azul, adding an additional 102.3 acres to the preserve.
This purchase was aided by Senate Bill 492, authored by former State Senator Jim Beall, which exempted Midpen purchases of San Jose Water Company lands from California Public Utilities Commission review. Additionally, the San Jose Water Company is required to invest all net proceeds from the transaction into water system infrastructure that serves the public.
The two parcels west of Mount Umunhum will allow for the permanent protection of forested lands and wildlife habitat within the Upper Los Gatos Creek watershed, and further the connection of wildlife corridors. This purchase also advances Measure AA Portfolio #22, Sierra Azul: Cathedral Oaks Public Access and Conservation Projects, as it secures additional property that could provide future opportunities for public access to the Cathedral Oaks portion of Sierra Azul.
SPECIAL FEATURES
#Spotted at Midpen: People's Choice Winner
Throughout the past year, you showed us photos of the awesome things that you spotted at Midpen! There were many great entries to the #SpottedAtMidpen photo contest, and the people have chosen one fan favorite. Congratulations toScott Howard for his eagle eye and quick camera to catch this photo of an adorable-looking bobcat (Lynx rufus) spotted at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve!
A big thank you to everyone who participated in #SpottedAtMidpen, we loved seeing how you experience and love the preserves every day. Keep an eye out for this year’s Midpen photo contest coming in spring, which you can also enjoy on our social channels, or check out our February challenge below!
Hearts in Nature: Submit Your Photo!
If you look for it, we've got a sneaky feeling that love actually is all around. As you're out and about Midpen preserves this February, are you finding yourself feeling the love?
If you're finding hearts everywhere you turn, we want to see! Take a snapshot of heart-shaped flowers or plants found in Midpen preserves and click here to submit your photo online. Open until February 27th.
BOARD MEETINGS
Upcoming Public Meetings
Meetings may be viewed online. Links to the meetings are posted with each agenda. There is also a dial-in number to listen by phone. Links are included in the meeting agendas posted online 72 hours before the meeting.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we're thinking about the dozen-plus couples who are long-term volunteers with Midpen and wonder if there’s a connection. In addition to the individual benefits of volunteering, sharing meaningful experiences can strengthen relationship bonds, and the release of the feel-good hormone oxytocin might provide an additional boost to the connection that keeps these volunteer couples going strong.
Whether you’ve just met someone new and want to see this person’s selfless side (or how well they respond to minor inconveniences like wet shoes and a little dirt in their water bottle), or you and your long-term partner need something new to share, we recommend participating in one of Midpen's volunteer projects for your next date.
If getting your hands dirty isn’t your thing, another option is attending one of our Volunteer Docent Naturalist Guided Activities listed below and on our website.
“Love does not consist of gazing at each other,
but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
Free guided activities lead by volunteer docent naturalists offer a great way to explore a new preserve, learn about the natural environment or join others for outdoor recreation.
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