Archive | Uncategorized RSS feed for this section

Welcome to the California Chaparral Institute, the Newest Member of the Knowland Park Coalition

By on April 23, 2012 in Campaign Updates, Uncategorized

The California Chaparral Institute has joined the Knowland Park Coalition. Located in Escondido, California, CCI is a non-profit organization of naturalists, scientists, wildland firefighters, and educators who value the chaparral as both a valuable resource and a place to enjoy the wilderness. Providing “a voice for the chaparral,” CCI joins the Knowland Park Coalition to help educate the public on the value of the maritime chaparral found in Knowland Park and to speak up for its protection.

CCI recognizes the threat that the Oakland Zoo expansion project poses to our rare maritime chaparral stand. It has fought similar poorly planned development that results in the accompanying fuels management that decimates this resource.

Rick Halsey, Director and Founder of CCI, acknowledged the work of our coalition: “Your group is a model of citizen activism.” CCI joins a list of prestigious environmental organizations dedicated to protecting the native communities found in Knowland Park. We welcome their support. Visit their website at www.californiachaparral.com.

Laura Baker is an environmental activist and former Conservation Chair of the California Native Plant Society. Growing up in Missouri, she learned that the cure for most ills rests in spending time out in nature. She wishes for every child to have the experience of wholeness that nature provides. Laura holds an M.A. in Ecology and Systematic Biology.

Laura’s Knowlander blog is dedicated to building an online library of the natural history of Knowland Park so that the public may enjoy the park for the natural heritage treasure that it is. Knowing the land is a never ending process of inquiry open to all. We welcome your comments, contributions, and photos

Comments { 2 }

An Evening Talk with Jim Hale, Wildlife Biologist, on the Wildlife of the East Bay Hills

By on April 18, 2012 in Nature & Wildlife, Uncategorized

Jim Hale

by Laura Baker and Donna Reynolds

Guests at the talk by wildlife biologist Jim (Doc) Hale on Friday night were treated to fascinating accounts of his encounters with East Bay wildlife.  Jim grew up in the area and has been a wildlife biologist for over 40 years, tramping the hills, valleys, woodlands and creeks of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.  During the course of his career, he has studied nearly every local critter you can imagine from badgers to bobcats and skinks to skunks.

Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

The “Galapagos Islands” of the East Bay Hills
What you won’t learn at the Oakland Zoo’s Earth Day, #1

By on April 12, 2012 in Nature & Wildlife, Uncategorized

After the California Native Plant Society was told that it would not be welcome to bring materials about Knowland Park’s plants and animals to the Zoo’s Earth Day (see http://www.saveknowland.org/2012/03/27/earth-day-at-the-oakland-zoo/) , we decided to share here some of what we might have presented. This is the first in a series on what you WON’T learn about Knowland Park at the Oakland Zoo’s Earth Day. As the designated steward of the park and as an organization that claims the “conservation” mantle, the Zoo should be focusing its conservation message on its own back yard.

Continue Reading →

Comments { 1 }

The Native Grasslands of Knowland Park

By on March 29, 2012 in Nature & Wildlife, Uncategorized

A Brief History of California’s Grasslands

Purple needlegrass at Knowland Park. photo: Mack Casterman

Grasslands are part of California’s heritage.  Approximately 25% of the state is covered by them, and they are even featured on the state flag (look at what the bear is standing on).  However, California’s grasslands look very different today than they did 200 years ago.  The arrival of Spanish settlers in the mid 1500s to what is now California marked the beginning of a dramatic change in the State’s grassland ecosystems.

Prior to European colonization, Native Americans actively managed grassland habitats to ensure their food sources (seeds, native vegetables, and game animals) had areas to flourish.  This management even included burning areas of grassland annually to ensure that forest and scrublands did not overrun the grassy areas.  At that time, the grasslands of California were made up primarily of perennial (living more than a single year) bunch grasses such as purple needlegrass (Nassella pulchra) and California oatgrass (Danthonia californica) with forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) filling in the spaces between the grasses.

Continue Reading →

Comments { 1 }

When the Swallows Come Back to Knowland Park

By on March 19, 2012 in Nature & Wildlife, Uncategorized

Every March the California town of San Juan Capistrano celebrates the return of cliff swallows to the mission where they flock to build their nests. This annual migration is such a predictable event that the town has built an entire tourist industry out of it.

Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }