As part of our Flexible Volunteer Program, the Marin Audubon Society asked us to recruit volunteers to help restore the Bahia Wetland area. The representative from Marin Audubon, Jude Stalker, started by giving some history on the area. Developers and environmentalists alike have been fighting for this stretch of land since the 1960s. It was resolved in the 1990s when Marin Audubon raised enough funds to buy, protect, and begin restoring the land.
We started off with a quick hike to the project site which overlooked a lagoon filled with a variety of birds. As for the restoration itself, volunteers were clearing non-native species in order to plant a native wetland species known as wild creeping rye. The rye was planted in groups of three because they like to grow close together and then the planting was covered by a layer of hay to help hold in moisture. By the end of the day, volunteers planted nearly 100 of these groupings in addition to the hundreds planted by previous volunteers!
For those of our volunteers that tired of planting, Jude set them to the task of pulling wild radishes that have become a bit invasive in the past couple of years. She also encouraged volunteers to stop working for a couple of minutes and walk around the lagoon to take in the beautiful area they were helping to restore.
In time, the wild creeping rye will return, and we hope the volunteers will as well. Mary, a volunteer from the day, said, "I know my group was a little unprepared but it definitely opened our eyes to what we need to do to get more involved. It turned out to be a great day." Thank you Mary and we look forward to seeing you and others at future volunteer opportunities.
For more information about future volunteer opportunities with Marin Audubon, visit the volunteer opportunities page for Marin Audubon.
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