By Rhay Flores
Over the long weekend, our ERA members spent their extra free time volunteering at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.
A history of catastrophes at this site such as floods, earthquakes, and even cracked dams* over the past two centuries has caused local citizens to stand together with the goal of turning the Sepulveda basin into the wildlife reserve it is today. Volunteers and government agencies alike have worked tirelessly to successfully reveal the rewards that informed and dedicated environmental stewardship can bestow on a community.
In more recent times, catastrophe made itself at home in the basin once more when a bushfire enveloped approximately 60 acres of land in just five hours last October*. However, the local community was once again eager to restore this beautiful reserve.
This past weekend, California Native Plant Society hosted a tree planting event in one of the formerly burnt regions. The goal was to assist native plants in reestablishing before a huge influx of invasives work towards taking over the burned areas.
Pictured: A partially burnt field within the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve
Getting Lost
Despite our members’ best efforts at arriving to the volunteer site early, we ended up getting very lost once we arrived at the reserve. Lost and astray in the basin, we were single-mindedly determined to achieve one goal: navigate our way to the GPS pin the volunteer coordinator had texted us.
However, regardless of the utter simplicity of that task, our group was apparently incapable of locating the correct path. At every fork in the road, we chose the wrong trail. Every time we agreed to choose the road less traveled--- which for some reason was always the one we thought would be correct---, we were unknowingly roaming further and further away from the volunteer site.
Pictured: ERA members blissfully unaware of the fact that they were about to get very lost.
Nevertheless, our ERA members saw the silver lining in getting terrifically lost (for a FULL HOUR). We decided that we should at least enjoy ourselves while we struggled to find our way. While strolling along a beautiful creek, we observed several egrets. We walked at a leisurely pace and practiced our plant identification skills. At one point, we even found our way to a viewing spot entitled Ike’s Point where we met a naturalist named Santiago. He was kind enough to show us all of the birds he observed including a Belted Kingfisher and a Black-crowned night heron among others.
Pictured: (Left) Pelicans seen from Ike’s Point. (Bottom) A close-up image of an egret. (Right) A close up image of a juvenile Black-crowned night heron.
Go Mulch Team!
After enjoying a variety of the sights the reserve had to offer, we eventually stumbled across someone filling a small bucket with fallen oak leaves. Reminded by the fact that we were actually there to volunteer and not just aimlessly continue to get distracted by every beautiful new bird or plant we saw, we asked her for directions to the volunteer site.
When we finally found our way to the group of volunteers, we were tasked with collecting mulch. To do so, we located an adult tree of the same species we were planting and filled buckets with its fallen leaves. These leaves acted as the mulch which would be used to help the soil surrounding the seedling to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
Pictured: Collecting mulch!
Once we finished collecting enough mulch for every planted tree, we removed seedlings of invasive species from the areas surrounding the trees. In doing so, we depleted the invasive species’ seed bank by removing the young plants before they’re capable of producing new seeds.
Overall, our group had a really rewarding experience at our first event at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. We were reminded of the simple beauty of the world around us and we learned the lesson that maybe getting lost isn’t always so bad.
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