The Pacifica Land Trust has started a major erosion control - revegetation project on the Pedro Point Headlands and can use help with planting native plants on several slopes on the Middle Ridge on Feb 10th and Feb 24th.
Experienced volunteers will work in teams to plant specific native species in designated plots while other volunteers transport supplies and water to the needed locations and help in other ways. If you have an interest in Habitat Restoration, experience planting, and/or wish to help the Pedro Point Headlands, please meet us at the Pedro Point Firehouse on Danmann Road at 9.45. We expect to return to the Firehouse by 1.30.
San Francisco State ecologist Dr. Tom Parker and master's student, Brian Peterson, have designed the revegetation experiment for the middle ridge to see what kinds of plants (coastal scrub species, coastal prairie species, or a mixture of the two) provide the best option for revegetating the eroded slope areas. The unplanted sites will be used as controls. "With this "adaptive management project" we hope to see what combination works best to revegetate eroded slope areas", said Mike Vasey, SFSU Botanist/Biologist and Pacifica Land Trust Member. "Then, with this information we will incorporate these measures in future erosion control activities on the Headlands and hope others will employ the best methods elsewhere up and down the coast. If successful, these slope areas that have eroded mostly down to bedrock will soon host islands of native plants which will begin to cover the area and heal the scars."
Go Native, a habitat restoration company, has already installed water bars, erosion control fabric, and rice straw on the targeted old motorcycle trails and widened two alternate trails around several of the cuts to aid in the restoration. Soil and "duff" from the surrounding area was collected at January's work day and will be incorporated into the planting plan.
Kathy Kellerman, volunteer steward explains, "most of these plants were grown from Headlands seeds. We collected them over the course of the year and I germinated them in the Go Native greenhouse. Periodically other volunteers would join in to help transplant them into bigger containers."
These planting days are a project of the Pacifica Land Trust, funded by the CA Coastal Conservancy, supported by Pedro Point Community Association with guidance from the San Francisco State University team. Come on out, lend a hand, and enjoy the amazing views and rewarding work! Some day this revegetated area may be the model for restoration projects everywhere and they certainly will be the pride of volunteers and environmentalists who know this special place!
