Park ENews: March Into Spring with Friends!

MARCH PARK ENEWS

Hi Friends,

Volunteer Opportunities!

Volunteering in our beautiful State Parks and Beaches is fun, rewarding and educational! Learn valuable skills while you enjoy everything our State Parks and Beaches have to offer. Check out the opportunities below, or click here to read our volunteer page!

Have fun and do good: Volunteer for Friends!
Do you want to help support our local state parks and beaches, make new friends, try something new and have a ton of fun in the process? Then we need you!

Volunteering for Friends events and activities is fun and rewarding. In just a few hours per month, you will help protect and preserve our beautiful Santa Cruz County State Parks and Beaches for now and future generations to enjoy and cherish.

There are various events and activities that we need your help with. If you are over the age of 18 and interested in becoming a Friends volunteer, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Rancho del Oso Needs YOU to Volunteer in the park!
Training Classes begins in April 2014
Have you ever dreamt of afternoons spent in the company of a Grizzly Bear? Wondered what it would have been like to be a logger in the Waddell Valley? Planned to ride your bike to see a nearly 70 foot tall waterfall? Join our family of naturalists and enjoy the many benefits of being a volunteer at Rancho del Oso ! As a volunteer at Rancho del Oso, participants attend a multiple-week training session to become docent naturalists skilled in interpreting the natural and cultural history of the area. Rancho del Oso docents lead guided walks, provide roving naturalist duty and host the Nature and History Center and Ranger Station. Training will be held for four Saturdays, starting April 19.

To participate, please contact Morgan at the Rancho del Oso Nature and History Center at (831) 427-2288 or email her at parksrdopis@parks.ca.gov.

Trailblazers and Park Stewards Sought
Volunteer Training Begins Saturday, March 15
California State Parks is looking for 20 new volunteers with a love of nature, enthusiasm, and an interest in developing their knowledge of the outdoors to join the Portola-Castle Rock volunteer team. If you would enjoy interacting with park visitors and have a minimum of 6 hours per month to give, become a volunteer!

Training takes place Saturdays, March 15, 22, 29 and April 5. Attendance at all four sessions is necessary. There will be an additional optional two days on April 12 and 19 to hike the parks with staff to get to know the trails and infrastructure.

Castle Rock State Park is a rock climbing, hiking, and backpacking open space park. Portola Redwoods State Park is traditional camping and hiking park.

Those that apply will be asked to include a one or two paragraph short biography to introduce yourself and why you are interested in becoming a volunteer in either Portola Redwoods or Castle Rock State Park (or both). Accepted registrants will receive confirmation that they are registered, and before the training itself, will be interviewed. Interviews are ideally done in person, but may also be done over the phone.

For registration information, please send a short email to: volunteer@portolaandcastlerockfound.org.

Big Basin Needs You! Become a Volunteer!
Big Basin Redwoods State Park is looking for curious, caring individuals to become docent volunteers. You can be part of a team dedicated to helping the environment through education. Learn about the magnificent old-growth redwoods and Big Basin’s wonderful cultural history, then share your knowledge with the public. Training begins in March. Please contact the park at (831) 338-8883 for information and applications.

Migration Festival

A big thank you to everyone who braved the rains for a very special Migration Festival at Natural Bridges State Beach on February 8th. On hand to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the new trail and interpretive were members of the California Conservation Corps (CCC) who installed the new water-wise landscaping, milkweed demonstration garden and a series of wayside exhibits that orient visitors along the monarch butterfly boardwalk, Moore Creek Trail and Tidepool areas. Native, drought-resistant plants replaced the grass lawn in front of the visitor center, which was given a fresh lick of exterior paint. The new panels interpret the tidepools, wetlands, monarch butterflies and the park in general, telling the story of the unique plants and animals that inhabit the park.

The CCC employs young men and women and trains them in essential work skills to help protect and restore our environment and respond to natural disasters. We’ve worked with the CCCs before, at the Castro Adobe and during our previous Earth Day project at Nisene Marks and always appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Funded by the Proposition 84 Park Bond Act, Google and private donors including Pauline Seales and Friends members, this project provides a beautiful update to the Visitor Center area at Natural Bridges. The new interpretive panels created by Wildways Illustrated feature educational information on the flora and fauna of the area, and are adorned with illustrations by 7-year-old Evan Hyland of Live Oak Elementary (pictured cutting the ribbon below). Evan was a key part of the process and was even consulted on the content of the panels. Her drawings reflect a child’s learning experience at Natural Bridges and can be seen on every panel.

Illustrator Evan Hyland and CCC Corp Members
cut the ribbon to the improved boardwalk.

Thanks to the hard-working State Park staff who made this project a reality and to all the docents, interpreters and rangers who helped get everyone inside the Visitor Center and out of the rain!