CNPS Conservation Conference 2009 - Chapter Poster Abstracts Alta Peak Chapter: Joan Stewart INFLUENCING LAND USE DECISIONS IN TULARE COUNTY A very visible presence for CNPS in Tulare County is our participation in several collaborative, ongoing, efforts involving land use decisions. CNPS has a place at the table (a designated 'charter member' of the group) as U.S. Forest Service works toward drafting a management plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument. We are also actively participating with other organizations and individuals interested in shaping a revised County General Plan that directs new growth more to existing urban centers than into undisturbed foothill lands. A proposal to develop a huge “new city” in a valley that is historically a ranch, with slopes rising, as corridors, into higher country that harbors wildlife and plants of special concern is being reviewed and is generating widespread controversy. CNPS speaks for vegetation, individual plant species, and the importance of intact habitats/ecosystems, although issues of water, air quality, infrastructure, county finances, attract more media attention. Channel Islands Chapter: David Magney FLORA OF VENTURA COUNTY The vascular plant flora of Ventura County, California, is rich and diverse, consisting of approximately 2,324 specific and infraspecific taxa. Ventura County is 4,806.1 square kilometers (1,855.6 square miles) and ranges in elevation from sea level to 2,692 meters (8,831 feet). The flora is represented by 614 genera in 132 families. Approximately 79% of the flora consists of native taxa. The annotated catalogue of vascular plants is the results of original field and herbarium research conducted over the last 30 years. A county flora is vital for conserving the flora at a county level. As part of the paper manuscript, a GIS database of all vascular plant occurrences within Ventura County is under development, which can be an important tool for conservation purposes. Channel Islands Chapter: David Magney NAVARRETIA OJAIENSIS – A NEW RARE SPECIES Navarretia ojaiensis, an annual in the Navarretia pubescens complex of the Polemoniaceae, was described as a new species in 2007 by Leigh Johnson in Novon, based on collections made by Henry M. Pollard in 1970 from the Ojai area of Ventura County, California. Pollard had identified his collections from the Ojai Valley as N. jaredii, which has been subsumed in part under N. ojaiensis and N. mitricarpha. Others have found it on the Newhall Ranch within Ventura County. The author rediscovered the Type Locality for N. ojaiensis one other Pollard collection site and extant, and found additional populations in the Ojai Valley and in the Santa Monica Mountains. N. ojaiensis has been nominated for listing on CNPS’ List 1B as a rare and endangered species in California and elsewhere. Dorothy King Young Chapter: Julie Larke COASTAL MENDOCINO COMMUNITY BATTLES GORSE: GLIMMERS OF PROGRESS The highly flammable shrub, gorse (Ulex europaeus), has an unrelenting grip on the lands in and around the coastal town of Caspar, in Mendocino County. Gorse is one of the top worst invasive species according to the World Conservation Union (ICUN) and land managers throughout the world have battled ‘Gorse the Invader’ for over 100 years with limited success. In the Caspar area, government agencies, environmental groups, and local citizens are working together to establish sustainable invasive plant strategies for gorse eradication. Removal techniques include: uprooting gorse with Takeuchi machines (similar to Bobcats), burning gorse debris using an air curtain burner (a hot-burning incinerator that completely combusts materials with minimal smoke), use of a biological control agent (spider mite), herbicide use, and tarping. Land management strategies must be coordinated and ongoing in scope in order to be successful because of the longevity of gorse seeds (30 years or more). Poster will include information about the history of gorse in the Caspar area, ongoing eradication efforts of local citizens, community organizations and government agencies, before and after photos of gorse removal, and photos of eradication methods. East Bay Chapter: Lech Naumovich, Laura Baker CONSERVATION PROJECTS OF THE EAST BAY CHAPTER Approximately 24 federally threatened and endangered plants are known from our chapter area, in addition to rare and sensitive plant communities including alkali sink, dunes, salt marsh, coastal prairie, and vernal pools. We present an annotated map highlighting a few of our keystone projects, which exemplify the variety of challenges we face and some of the mechanisms we employ. Our conservation committee has helped initiate rare plant surveys at the CA 5,000-acre Concord Naval Weapons Station; increased local awareness of the fragility of the Springtown Alkali Preserve through tours and work days; lobbied the East Bay Regional Parks District to create a resource management plan to protect rare and sensitive plant populations at the Serpentine Prairie in the East Bay Hills; and secured seats on the East Contra Costa Habitat Conservation Plan Public Advisory Board and the Eastern Alameda County Conservation Strategy Advisory. In addition, we have developed an informational clearinghouse on our webpage, and together with the Rare Plant committee, we are preparing a publication about our priority plant protection areas. El Dorado Chapter: Susan Durham, Joanne Geggatt, Cindy Podsiadlo CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN PINE HILL AREA OF EL DORADO COUNTY Threats to the plants and habitat of gabbroic soils in the Pine Hill area on the west slope of El Dorado County include residential and commercial development, road construction, and fire suppression. Development has led to the greatest loss and degradation of habitat, even of habitat identified as the highest priority in the recovery plan for gabbro soil plants of this area. The local chapter of CNPS has begun a series of conservation efforts that range from education to participation in a lawsuit against a development project. Kern County Chapter: Laura Stockton MEMBERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN KERN COUNTY HABITAT CONSERVATION Founders of the Kern County Chapter, like Jack Zaninovich, set the conservation foundation for our chapter. Sand Ridge Preserve and Panorama Vista Preserve are successful because individual members have made long-term commitments to developing and maintaining the natural integrity and diversity of plant species in these unique areas. The Preserves are home to several special-status species. The Preserve leaders call on other dedicated Kern Chapter members to assist them with the on-site conservation and maintenance of the Preserves. In addition, there is a botanical component of CALM (California Living Museum) and since its inception in 1982, it has been a focal point for Kern CNPS members. This is one of the primary ways we educate the public about native plants and their conservation. Los Angeles/Santa Monica: Steve Hartman SOD FARMS TO RIPARIAN FOREST: A WORLD-CLASS URBAN WILDLIFE REFUGE CREATED IN 20 YEARS; Sepulveda Basin of the Los Angeles River, Los Angeles, CaliforniaOur chapter of CNPS has been involved since 1979, in the creation of a 225-acre Wildlife Reserve from small pond in the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin. Our chapter has contributed by making planting and maintenance recommendations, actively volunteering with weed eradication and planting projects, and financially contributing to weed control efforts. CNPS has also been a financial supporter and “teacher of docents” for the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society’s long-term education program to bring inner-city children to the Wildlife Reserve which is, for many of them, their first natural history experience. In 1999, due to urgings by CNPS and other local environmentalists, the Wildlife Reserve was doubled in size so that Haskell Creek would not be at the edge of the Reserve, but in the middle. Reclaimed water charges both the creek and the lake. Recently CNPS and other environmental groups fought off an attempt by CalTrans to build freeway on- and off-ramps in the Wildlife Reserve. Marin Chapter: Bob Soost TWENTY TWO YEARS OF RARE PLANT MONITORING IN POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE In 1986 the CNPS and UC Davis published the results of 1983-84 historical record searches and field studies on 143 populations of 27 rare and endangered taxa in Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS). Because of lack of further funding, Marin chapter member, Bob Wing, initiated a volunteer group to continue field searches and monitoring. Marin chapter provided all Volunteer Coordinators and workers for field searches and records through 2006. Monitoring occurred most Fridays, from late February through late August. Field reports are filed with CNDDB for all populations monitored. Park personnel have entered all mapped populations, now over 600, in to the PRNS GIS system. The list of monitored taxa has increased to 43 including 4 federally listed. Through 2006 at least 145 different volunteers provided 2845 person days and over 10,500 hours in the field. Although not rare, three species that are new for Marin County have been discovered. Two species, one rare, previously thought extirpated from Marin were rediscovered. In 2007, PRNS personnel assumed coordinating and record keeping, with CNPS volunteers doing field monitoring. Monterey Bay: Brian LeNeve PROTECTING HABITAT IN AREAS OF HIGH OHV USE The Monterey Bay Chapter has been struggling to protect habitats in the Clear Creek Management Area from high OHV use. In a 70,000