For the Love of Grass VII

Introduction

Power Botanizing the Sacramento Valley Foothills

The seventh botanizing trek for the “Love of Grass” rendezvoused March 16, 2014 in Sacramento, CA. Due to the severe drought in California, this trek was almost postponed and moved elsewhere. After considerable thought, the participants agreed to stick with a California location but confine the sites visited to annual grasslands, oak savannas, and shrublands around the Sacramento Valley, and leave the more southern San Joaquin Valley for another year. 

Three of the seven members had work experience with the Soil Conservation Service Plant Materials Program in California. Bob MacLaughlan moved from Maine to the Pleasanton Plant Materials Center in 1951, even though his dad questioned if it could be much of a job if they had to come all the way to Maine to find someone. He departed for Lincoln, NB in 1970 and was replaced by Curtis Sharp. Sharp departed for Pennsylvania in 1974, but not before hiring native-born Jack Carlson in 1972. By 1975, Jack was in Big Flats, NY.

As usual Carlson laid out our route and site locations. Our inventory mission at each site was the same as previous treks; at each site we identify every plant within a reasonable area, consisting of one to several acres, and leave only when satisfied that this had been accomplished. Time is our only enemy. Species and common names are taken from PLANTS (http://plants.usda.gov).

During the seven days of inventorying the team traveled 825 miles, inventoried 12 sites and identified ???? plants of ??? species. 

Scientific Name

Frequency

Day 1 – Monday, March 17, 2014

Inventory Site 1 – Lockeford PMC

The seed for what is now the Lockeford Plant Materials Center was planted in 1935 when the Soil Conservation Service opened a production nursery and initiated plant observational studies in Santa Paula, CA. The first observational scientist at the site was Oswald K. Hoglund, who became an illustrious leader in the quest for conservation plants in California. Dirk J. Vanderwal joined him in 1936. In 1939, a sixty-acre nursery site was purchased by SCS near downtown Pleasanton, California. The Santa Paula nursery continued under Vanderwal, with Hoglund moving to Pleasanton working under Paul Dickey. In 1954 all nurseries closed and Pleasanton became a Plant Materials Center. 

Prior to the 1960s Pleasanton was a sleepy little cow town, but soon became a desirable bedroom community for the Bay area. As the population grew, the real estate value of the land was too great for growing plants. It was sold in 1972 and a 106 acre farm was purchased in the San Joaquin Valley near Lockeford. The relocation was completed in 1973. 

We received a warm welcome from PMC Manager Margaret Smither-Kopperi. She is grossly under staffed, with only herself and one other person to maintain the 106 acres plus buildings, and carry out a vigorous program of evaluating plants for conservation use. While this is not possible with the current budget, Margaret is providing maximum effort. Some ongoing PMC work include:

• Cover crops designed to provide pollen and nectar resources for pollinators in orchards and supply nitrogen to the producing crop. 

(insert sharp 0 – Pollinating cover crop)

• A native seed mixes specially designed to provide foraging resources for a diversity of pollinators.
• Improve water quality and quantity by investigating the selection of plant materials for efficacy with treatment of wastewater, such as vegetated ditches.
• Restore and improve native plant communities through establishing and maintaining pollinator habitat, including pollinator hedgerows and meadow,
• Promoting native plants use with Native American groups.

Plant species inventoried at the PMC were:

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Inventory Site 2 – Pardee Reservoir 

The Pardee Dam is a 345-foot high structure across the Mokelumne River which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties. It is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada approximately 30 miles northeast of Stockton. Both the dam and its reservoir are named for George Pardee, a prominent politician who also served as Governor of California. 

Mark Twain set his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, in the county. Each year, the county hosts a fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog-jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Twain’s story. The California red-legged frog, feared extinct in the county by 1969, was rediscovered in 2003. 

Vegetative growth on this site brought home the impacts of a growing season with limited water. Not only was the amount of growth diminished from normal but the seasonal plant development was also behind. 

We almost left one Fred Gaffney at Pardee. He became glued to an attached ponderosa pine cone by the rosin excreted from it. Someone with a sharp knife finally released the cone and Fred from the tree.

(Insert sharp 1 – Pardee landscape. – see separate file)

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Day 2 – Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Inventory Site 3 – Pine Hill Reserve – El Dorado County

Pine Hill Reserve was established in 2001 to protect and manage habitat for the rare plants which occur there on the unique Gabbro soils. These soils are derived from intrusive igneous parent materials that are greenish to black in color with a coarse crystalline structure. They also weather to a reddish or orange color. 

The Preserve system consists of non-contiguous parcels in El Dorado County, and includes land under different ownerships. Preserve partners direct provide support and management of the preserve. Specific goals include:

• Protecting and managing habitat for the gabbro rare plants; 
• Promoting and conducting research, and 
• Managing vegetation for functional rare plant habitat and reduce wildfire risks.

Located in the central Sierra Nevada foothills, this reserve combines unusual soils (Gabbro complex) and Mediterranean climate to support three distinct biotic communities: chemise chaparral, foothill woodland, and ponderosa pine forest. The unique soil type also supports a number of rare plant species such as the Pine Hill flannel bush (Fremontodendron californicum ssp. decumbens), Pine Hill ceanothus (Ceanothus roderickii), Layne’s butterweed (Packera layneae), El Dorado mule ears (Wyethia reticulata), and El Dorado bedstraw (Galium californicum ssp. sierrae).

Our time at this site was wonderful for several reasons. One was the delightful person who met and guided us; Gracieia Henshaw, who is the Preserve manager. She is an excellent botanist and a friendly, energetic guide.

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Inventory Site 4 – Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center 

Located 60 miles northeast of Sacramento in Browns Valley, the Sierra Foothill Research & Extension Center (SFREC) is one of nine centers under the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This center provides land, labor and infrastructure to support research on critical rangeland issues and provides key site resource to support education and outreach efforts that explore these themes. Local and regional programs have included Chinook salmon biology, watershed ecology, natural history, climate change, and seeking ways of controlling rangeland weeds common to the foothill ranges.

Upon arriving at the Center we were met by (name), (position), who provide an excellent overview and led us to our inventory site. It was adjacent to the Yuba River, and at the spot where gold mining era dredging of the river stopped, thus becoming the most distant point up stream where boat transport was possible.

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Upon arriving at our Super 8 motel in Oroville for our night’s lodging we had a most pleasant experience, although not unexpected. Awaiting our arrival was Mark Testerman, his wife, daughter and grandson. Mark had spent a few years with the Plant Materials Program at Lockeford, Beltsville, MD and Big Flats, NY. During those years, he had worked with all of our LOG team except Hassell and Holzsworth. After an enjoyable evening, Mark spent the next morning with us as we inventoried the Table Mountain site.

Day 3 – Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Inventory Site 5 – North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve – Butte County

As you drive east out of California’s Central Valley into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the landscape gradually changes from flat, irrigated fields and orchards to rolling pastures, which in turn give way to oak woodlands and eventually to dark green conifer forests. Just north of Oroville, however, the landscape changes abruptly, with one of northern California’s premier wildflower gardens rising dramatically out of a sea of blue oaks, interior live oaks, and foothill pines. This wildflower garden flourishes on a plateau of ancient volcanic rock. About 30 or 40 million years ago, a sheet of thin, runny lava flowed southwestward from somewhere in northeastern California, past Oroville and on as far as the Vacaville area. Several more such flows occurred, one on top of the other, until a layer of dark volcanic rock several hundred feet thick accumulated. Then other geologic processes took over, and the Central Valley was formed, obliterating much of the hardened lava. Along the edges of the Central Valley, though, and in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains and southern Cascades, there are still remnants of this ancient lava flow, including the plateau just north Oroville, called Table Mountain.

Created by ancient lava (basalt) flows, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve is an elevated basalt mesa with beautiful vistas of spring wildflowers, waterfalls, lava outcrops, and a rare type of vernal pool, called Northern Basalt Flow Vernal Pools. Typically fissures in the basalt soak up winter rains, forming seasonal streams and waterfalls. In a few places, however, the underlying basalt is impermeable to water forming a temporary pool. Soon to dry up after rains end, only specialized plants and animals adapted to this habitat can survive over time.

The land was acquired by the State of California in 1993 to preserve and protect this habitat, and despite the impacts of non-native invasive plant species, range management practices, such as cattle grazing, have contributed to maintaining spectacular wildflower blooms that draw many visitors from near and far to the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve. The dominate 

Unfortunately, such a report as this is inadequate to display the beauty of this place. However, enjoy the pictures, mostly the work of Wendall Oaks. Table Mountain must rate in at least the top ten of all the 80 plus inventory sites visited by the LOG team, yet the tallest flower rarely exceeded six inches. 

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Following lunch, we crossed the Sacramento Valley approaching the foothill on the west side.

Inventory Site 6 – Gray Lodge Wildlife Area – Butte County

The skies are alive! More than a million waterfowl winter here, including 100,000 geese. In the fall sandhill cranes arrive at Gray Lodge where they roost and feed. Listen for the calls of gulls and white pelicans in the spring, which give the area a seaside sound. Day-hunting hawks, eagles and kites give way to barn, screech and long and short-eared owls at night, while great horned owls and burrowing owls hunt either day or night. Burrowing owls live in the burrows left behind by ground squirrels or other animals.

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Gray Lodge’s 600 acres of riparian woodlands consist of stands of cottonwood and willow towering over an understory of lower shrubs and herbs. Here, blackberries grow, their rich fruits turning from bitter green to sour red to juicy purple-black. Here also, California wild grape grow, their seedy fruits a favorite with birds and wildlife. In the Sacramento Valley, as in many other areas of the state, much of the original riparian habitat was converted to farmland. The woodlands that remain at places like Gray Lodge provide food, shelter and shade for aquatic and terrestrial species like the garter snake, great blue heron, ringtail and river otter.

The Pleasanton PMC conducted cooperative waterfoul food evaluations at Gray Lodge during the 1960s and 1970s. Recent seedings were observed that resembled a likely outcome of such evaluations.

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Day 4 – Thursday, March 20, 2014

Inventory Site 7 – Black Butte Reservoir 

Black Butte Lake is an artificial lake located in Tehama and Glenn counties. The lake was formed from Stony Creek in 1963 upon the completion of Black Butte Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The frequency and magnitude of flooding in Lower Stony Creek have been reduced significantly as a result of reservoir operations. Prior to Black Butte Dam, the 50-year flood was 80,000 cubic feet per second. Current reservoir operations limit peak dam outflows to 15,000 cfs.

Historically, Native Americans in Upper Stony Creek intentionally burned the watershed’s rangelands on a regular basis. This prevented establishment of climax plant communities and maintained an abundant and diverse community of native grasses. European introduction of domestic livestock and a change in fire management eventually led to native perennial bunch grasses being replaced by exotic annual grasses. Today, a diverse mosaic of vegetation exists in the Upper Stony Creek Watershed. In the lower elevations, this includes a patchwork of grasslands, blue oak and valley oak, foothill pine, and chaparral. Prior to Black Butte Dam, riparian vegetation along Stony Creek occurred in a relatively continuous corridor from the Sacramento River upstream to the Coast Range. 

In 1973 the Lockeford PMC established a large field evaluation planting on the Black Butte Reservoir property. The site, on which we conducted our inventory, was typical of the foothills in the Upper Stony Creek Watershed. Two objectives of the plantings were to determine if perennial grasses and annual legumes could be introduced as a component of the annual grass rangeland, and whether shrub species could be reestablished in riparian areas. 

Remnants of the evaluation plantings remain. Regarding the introduction of perennial grasses, by far the most successful species were ‘Perla’ kolagrass (Phalaris aquatica) and a cultivar of tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum). Although an entrance to a recreational area has been built on part of the planting site, significant stands of both species remain after 40 years. This suggest the first objective was met. 

On a more upland site ‘Lana’ wollypod vetch (Vicia villosa, formally Vicia dasycarpa) is doing well with the annual grasses. However, of the many shrubs planted for the second objective, wolfberry (Lycium andersonii) is the only shrub surviving.

Occasionally, power botanizing is dangerous. One team member, while observing a minute plant buried in the dense stand of forbs and grasses experienced a moderate laceration on the bridge of his nose. On site medical treatment was adequate. 

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Departing Black Butte we headed for BearValley Road in anticipation of viewing and inventorying wildflowers. Unfortunately, the drought and overgrazing left Bear Valley void of nearly all vegetation. 

Inventory Site 8 – Bear Creek Botanical Management Area (BCBMA)

This inventory site is at the intersection of CA Routes 16 and 20 in Colusa County. The history of this site seems to be as follows: After some highway construction at the intersection, a few acres within the highway right-of-way became severely infested with star thistle and other undesirable non-native species. In about 1998, according to the final report of the BCBMA the site represented “– a significant natural area and scenic resource that has statewide, regional, and local value. The core area is a species-rich serpentine grassland that harbors over 100 native plant species and supports spectacular assemblages of spring wildflowers, native grasses, and associated perennial forbs.” The report continues “Five years ago, yellow starthistle and barb goatgrass dominated two-thirds of the BCBMA in the core area, presenting a major threat to the native plants on the site. Adaptive-Integrated Vegetation Management practices were implemented to control these and five other non-native invasive species with the goal of enhancing native vegetation.

The final report shows the following pictures:

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In April 2003 the site contained 25 flowering forbs. Eleven grasses are identified which the core area supports, although the report does not say all 11 are on the BCBMA site. 

The following picture is the site we experienced: (note final editor: maybe you have better picture)

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By 2014 the star thistle has returned. The only native grasses of any significance were ??????? (needs to be added and expanced).

Plants identified by the LOG team:

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Without a doubt, the most exciting part of this site was the herd of elk on the adjacent land. (note: final editor may want to add good picture.)

From here we drove to Lakeport, an attractive town adjacent to Clear Lake. Motel check-in was normal until a credit card bounced. A good Samaritan among us covered the room cost and the indebted dashed to his room (309) to call the bank. The problem with his card was quickly resolved and he returned to the front desk, without his room key, to cover his debt. Given a ‘one opportunity’ card key to get back into his room, he returned not to 309 but to 209 and of course his ‘one opportunity’ was lost. Following happy hour and supper, he returned to the desk and was given an ‘unlimited opportunity’ key for 209. It worked fine, much to the unhappiness of the 209 resident. Returning to the desk again, he inquired of his room number, got a key and slept well. 

Day 5 – Friday, March 21, 2014

At breakfast we were advised by leader Jack Carlson that lunch was problematic, so two members were dispatched to the local IGA for a picnic lunch.

Inventory Site 9 – MacLaughlin Natural Reserve

At 7,050 acres, the McLaughlin Natural Reserve, located in Yolo County, is one of the California Natural Reserve System’s largest sites, and it is one of only a few sites in California that protects unusual serpentine habitats for research and teaching. It encompasses several geologic formations, two watersheds (Putah and Cache Creeks), and a variety of vegetation that includes oak woodlands, non-serpentine chaparral, serpentine chaparral, and grasslands. Overlain on this natural diversity is a mosaic of human land-use, yielding grazed and ungrazed grasslands, relatively pristine habitats, and reclaimed mining areas. Surrounding the reserve are 75,000 acres of accessible public land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. 

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Our picnic lunch was enjoyed on the banks of Lake Berryassa. It was here that Hassell undertook the selling of a many-pocketed jacket to Sharp. Sensing that he had found a ‘sucker born every second’ Hassell proceeded to trap Sharp in a lavish March Madness betting scheme (or is that scam?).

Inventory Site 10 – Stebbins Cold Canyon Preserve 

The UC Davis Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, located in Solano County, is set in a steep canyon of the northern California Coast Range, showcases the impressive landscapes, human history, and plant and animal communities of the region. It is named for botanist and evolutionary biologist G. Ledyard Stebbins (1906-2000). The reserve has a mix of undisturbed habitats; including grasslands, blue oak woodland, chaparral shrublands, riparian woodland, and a seasonal stream. 

Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve provides an excellent opportunity to experience vegetation characteristic of the Inner Coast Ranges of North-Central California. Here, the variable California climate produces dramatic changes in vegetation, both in time and space. Over the course of the year, rain and temperature cycles force many plants to grow and reproduce during specific seasons. In addition, the relatively small area of Cold Canyon harbors a wide variety of plant communities, including grassland, savanna, chaparral, live oak woodland, and riverside vegetation. 

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Completing our inventory we returned to Sacramento for lodging, and the departure of Jack Carlson who needed to return home for a special family occasion. 

Day 6 – Saturday, March 22, 2014

Inventory Site 11– Jepson Prairie Reserve – Solano County

Located in the Sacramento Valley, the Jepson Prairie Reserve is an island of remnant natural prairie in a wide alluvial floodplain used primarily for agriculture. The reserve protects one of the best few remaining vernal-pool habitats, which are found only in the western United States and few other places in the world, as well as precious remnants of native bunchgrass prairie that once covered one-fourth of California. The site provides the only known home for the federally threatened delta green ground beetle and federally and state endangered Solano grass. Over 400 species of 64 families of plants, including 15 rare and endangered plants, are found on site. The reserve land is owned by the Solano Land Trust. UC Davis provides a supporting role in reserve management. 

Saturday was another gorgeous day in the Sacramento Valley. While the site lacked the natural beauty of the foothills, there were plants to be identified, and we got with it.

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Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Inventory Site 12 – Consumnes River Preserve

Within the 50,000+ acres of this preserve, there are over 11 miles of pristine trail to hike. Four team members believe they walked them all. 

Cosumnes River country holds a very special place among California landscapes. The Cosumnes is a small river, a mere 80 miles long. Its headwaters in the El Dorado National Forest rise at only 8,000′ above sea level.  From mostly rain, but also snow melt, the river’s water meanders from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Central Valley, just south of Sacramento.

Yet the Cosumnes River is far more important than its size would indicate. It is the only remaining unregulated river on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. In its lower reaches, it flows through one of the biologically richest regions in California’s Central Valley, before merging with the Mokelumne River to flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and eventually the Pacific Ocean. The Cosumnes River Preserve was created to safeguard much of this unique landscape.

The free-flowing nature of the river allows frequent and regular winter and spring overbank flooding that fosters the growth of native vegetation and the wildlife dependent on those habitats. More than 250 bird species, more than 40 fish species, and some 230 plant species have been identified on the Preserve. 

Scientific Name

Common Name

Type

Origin

Our departure from Cosumnes River Preserve was delayed because of poor communications. The four trekkers mentioned above misinterpreted hand signals of one team members to mean ‘expand the search’ for a lost trekker, as in Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The signals were intended to mean ‘We are ready to leave’, but the four continued the search until they decided it would be easier to get a new member than find the missing one. 

Summary

With all members safely accounted for, Larry directed us into Old Town Sacramento for our final LOG VII Mexican dinner. Our seventh trek was over, and just like the past six; a great experience. Plans for 2015 were firmed up: The Palouse and Pleistocene Lake Missoula area, and the Snake River Plains, set for about June 17-24, and rendezvousing in Spokane. Yet to resolve was the exact starting date and number of days.