Category: Friends of Five Creeks

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Sat., May 30: Remove invasives at Schoolhouse Creek mouth

Join Friends of Five Creeks volunteers in Eastshore State Park from 10 am – 12:30 pm Saturday, May 30, as improve both habitat and human enjoyment by whacking a welter of invasives weeds. Light and heavy tasks for all — from big clumps of fire-prone Pampas grass to little feathery tumbleweeds. We supply gloves, tools, and snacks. Dress for sun or wind.

Follow signs from the small parking area off West Frontage Road between University and Gilman (Internet maps W. Frontage Rd. and Virginia, Berkeley, though there is no Virginia there). By car, best to park at Sea Breeze Deli, 598 University, and walk 5 minutes north on the Bay Trail. AC Transit 9 also stops at Sea Breeze. The site is a lovely stroll or bike ride via the Bay Bridge and/or Pedestrian/Bicycle trail from Aquatic Park.

Information at www.fivecreeks.org, f5creeks@aol.com, 510 848 9358.

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Sat., Mar. 21: Help Restore the Berkeley “Meadow”

From 10 AM – 1 PM Saturday, March 21, join Friends of Five Creeks volunteers removing invasives and improving wildlife habitat in the Berkeley “Meadow” area of Eastshore State Park. Find out how this former garbage dump is being transformed. With luck, we can take a short walk to see rare burrowing owls near the work site! Meet on the north side of University Avenue just west of I-880/580, opposite Sea Breeze Market (Internet maps 598 University Ave., Berkeley; AC Transit 9; great walk or bike ride on the Bay Trail or pedestrian/bicycle trail from Aquatic Park). Tools, gloves, and snacks provided. Dress for all weather, in clothes that can get dirty. Information at www.fivecreeks.org, f5creeks@aol.com, 510 848 9358.

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F5C volunteers at Schoolhouse Ck. mouth Dec. 6

From 10 am to 12:30 pm Sat., Dec. 6, join Friends of Five Creeks removing invasives and making an attractive park from former garbage dump at the mouth of Schoolhouse Creek. Eastshore State Park. Dress in layers with clothes that can get dirty. We supply gloves, tools, and snacks. From the small turnout from West Frontage Road between University and Gilman, go through the gate on the right (north) and then walk west (toward the Bay) until you see the group. Parking is limited; it’s best to park at the lot at Seabreeze Market & Deli, University Avenue just west of the freeway, and walk 5 minutes north on the Bay Trail. AC Transit 9, or a great walk or bike ride on the Bay Trail! Information at www.fivecreeks.org; f5creeks@aol.com.

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F5C busy on Berkeley waterfront

Friends of Five Creeks had a busy Saturday, Nov. 8, volunteering in Eastshore State Park. In the morning, a dozen King Middle School 6th graders levered out broom bushes, pulled invasive ice plant, picked up trash, and planted native grasses, all in the course of an interpretive walk from Shorebird Park to the mouth of Strawberry Creek.

In the afternoon, more than 25 volunteers from UC Berkeley (Circle K and Roots and Shoots service clubs) and the community cleared a big broom thicket and masses of invasive weeds from the ecologically important Berkeley Meadow, north of University Avenue.

We’ll be planting natives at Cerrito Creek on November 22, and working on the waterfront again Dec. 6. See the calendar, or www.fivecreeks.org, and join us!

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UC Berkeley funding for BPFP “Greening Berkeley” partners

For the third year in a row, BPFP’s “Greening Berkeley Hands On” partnership has been awarded a Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund grant by UC Berkeley. This year’s award of $24,000 will help BPFP affiliates carry out a wide variety of hands-on environmental projects. The grant pays for both materials and a UC student intern, who organized student volunteering through CalCorps, UC’s public-service arm.

Projects in the 2008 grant range from path construction and a solar light for the Santa Fe Right of Way, projects of Berkeley Path Wanderers, to tools and gloves for the city’s 14 public-school gardens, through Friends of School Gardens. The community-built Schoolhouse Creek Common will install chess tables and a bench. Nearby, Friends of Westbrae Commons will continue transforming the Ohlone Greenway south of Gilman with native coastal-prairie plants. Friends of Shorebird Park Nature Center will spread fresh sand and build new racks at Adventure Playground, while Aquatic Park EGRET will get upgraded nataive plants and upgraded wheelbarrows. Friends of Five Creeks will be able to install signs on local natural history and plant drought-tolerant natives in a variety of sites, from the Santa Fe Right of Way to Mortar Rock Park.

Aquatic Park EGRET also will partner with Earth Team Environmental Network, Berkeley Community Media, College of Natural Resources, and Berkeley Community Garden to involve local teens in habitat restoration days that teens also will film for showing on local cable TV. This project received a $5000 Chancellors Community Partnership grant.

Join us to carry out these projects! Contact BPFP or the affiliate group you are interested in — click on “Affiliated Groups” at right.