OUR MESA NEIGHBORHOOD

Dear Friends of the DFP,

Mark your calendars for the New Year, please!

Join us on Saturday, January 30 for a community site prep and planting day ( rain date, February 6th),

A second community planting day will be held February 27th (rain date, March 13th).

Invite your friends, relatives, co-workers, church groups, scout troops, community service volunteers and neighbors for a morning in the fresh air on the bluff. It's really fun!

In addition to an opportunity to learn more about native plants, volunteers will receive restoration planting technique training. Participants do not need specific knowledge of restoration or gardening techniques, just an interest in being part of a long-term program to restore the park’s natural environment.

Volunteers are encouraged to wear sturdy shoes. Garden gloves and tools are not necessary but welcome. Please join us at the Medcliff entrance or proceed to the dedication stone area.

For more information, or in case of rain, contact Kathy Frye, Parks Natural Areas Planner, at 897-1976 or Susan Belloni, Friends of the Douglas Family Preserve, at 962-1492.

Friends of the DFP thanks the Santa Barbara City Parks & Recreation Department, http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/Departments/Parks_and_Recreation/

the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County www.sblandtrust.org and the PARC Foundation http://www.parcsb.org/ for their help and funding for Community Planting & Site Preparation Days.

At DFP: Oak Grove Trail and Native Planting Project

Visitors of the Douglas Family Preserve (DFP), a 70-acre conservancy on the Mesa formerly known as the Wilcox Property, will see two on-going improvements projects from September 2009 to March 2010.

September - October 2009. The Oak Grove Trail (a largely degraded asphalt from the former nursery road) connects from the Arroyo Burro County Park public parking on the north hillside to the mesa of DFP. A S. B. County Trails Council crew completes the trail work.

February-March 2010. More native plant restoration on DFP’s mesa habitat with over 700 native plants from local seeds by Growing Solutions. Need volunteers to plant, mulch, weed this winter. Contact Friends of DFP: DFPrestoration@yahoo.com.

Land Trust for S. B. County and the city of S. B.’s Parks & Recreation Dept sponsor the project. Contact: Michael Feeney, Land Trust 966-4520, info@sblandtrust.org or Santos Escobar, Parks&Rec, 564-5464.

Dear Friends of the DFP,

Just wanted to thank those of you, Doug, Tom, Dennis, Cathy, David, Kathleen & Susi, who came out to remove ripgut brome, foxtails, cheese weed and wild radish from the restoration areas. With your help it sure looks a lot better for the natives without the serious competition from invasives.

Thank you to City Staff, also, for bringing bags and hauling the weeds away.

Have you seen the native giant rye grass in the 2008 area? It's so tall and very impressive. I was reading recently that native grasses in California were as high as a man on horseback, back in the day. You might see ladybugs on our plants when you visit next, and Kathleen and I wonder if there are more birds there now, needing the DFP after the fire.

I want to thank The Mesa Paper for putting a webpage for Friends of the DFP on the new "Our Mesa Neighborhood" website for us! That is fantastic. Here is the link.... http://ourmesaneighborhood.com/friendsOfDP.html

Again, many thanks to all of you who have planted, watered and weeded at the Preserve. You are really making a difference and are very much appreciated.

Lastly, here is the good news about native plant restoration because it:

• Provides food and shelter for birds, butterflies and other native wildlife.
  
  
• Allows propagation of native species through natural processes such as seed dispersal and pollination. Native plants and animals have co-evolved for millenia and habitat restoration allows this process to continue.
  
  
• Bridges gaps between protected conservation areas with newly created restoration sites. Larger, more connected native plant populations helps their ability to migrate in response to changes in climate and sea-level.
  
  
• Reduces water use and maintenance for public spaces as an alternative to landscaping with non-native plants.
  
  
• Builds community, caring and stewardship among restoration participants and provides colorful flowers and fragrant shrubs for visitors to enjoy in public nature preserves and open spaces.

Spread the word and..."Grow Native"

Susan Belloni
DFPRestoration@yahoo.com