The Coastside Land Trust will hold a Francis Beach restoration event on Saturday, April 25, 12:30–3 pm.

The best time to remove spring non-native annual plants is before their roots are well-established and before they start to produce seeds. This Saturday, after a discussion of native and invasive plant strategies for surviving drought, we will identify non-native and native plants and selectively remove non-natives to help our natives thrive.

Please join us; children and families are always welcome. Check in at the Francis State Beach kiosk at Kelly and the Pacific Ocean, and proceed north on the maintenance road to the maintenance sheds. Our properties are on the east side of the maintenance road. Refreshments, California Poppy seeds, good humor and appreciation are provided for all ages and abilities.

Jo Chamberlain
Executive Director

The 37th Annual Wildflower Show, the premier botanical and horticultural event of the South Bay and Peninsula, will take place at Mission College in Santa Clara over the weekend of April 25-26, 2009, 10am to 4pm.

The Wildflower Show is a two-day expo showcasing the plant biodiversity of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. In April many native plants are in full bloom, providing a breathtaking display of natural beauty. At the show, over 400 species of wildflowers and native plants are displayed, each accurately labeled, many suitable for the home garden.

Many special activities take place in conjunction with the wildflower show. Free classes are offered on native plant identification and gardening with native plants. Knowledgeable botanists and gardeners are on hand to answer questions. Native plants, books, posters, seeds, note cards, and other wildflower-related items are available for purchase. There is a children’s activities table.

The Wildflower Show is a well-known and loved tradition in the South Bay and the Peninsula. Organized by the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society, this educational event is free and open to the public, and suitable for the entire family. Here one can learn about the breathtaking diversity of California’s native flora, and pick up ideas for the home garden.

The venue is the Mission College Hospitality Management Building, conveniently accessible from the Great America Parkway exit off Highway 101 in Santa Clara. Free parking is available in Lot C only. The Wildflower Show is sponsored by the Mission College Biological Sciences Department. For more information, visit www.cnps-scv.org,email [email protected],or call 650-941-1068

April 18, 10 am: Tour of Railroad Right-of-Way in Half Moon Bay — free

The Ocean Shore Railroad operated for the first two decades of the 20th Century, bringing people to the then sparsely populated San Mateo coast and giving birth to the towns we know today as Pacifica, Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada and Half Moon Bay. 

Although the Railroad is gone today, there is an area in Half Moon Bay called the Railroad Right-of-Way (RRoW) which is still vital to the town of Half Moon Bay. The RRoW runs from Kelly Avenue south to Seymour Street between the western edge of the Arleta Park and Alsace Loraine neighborhoods, and a pristine open space bluff top overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Coastside Land Trust (formerly HOST, or Half Moon Bay Open Space Trust) worked with a group of coastside residents to raise the funds for the City of Half Moon Bay to purchase the RRoW from private owners in 2004. The Coastside Land Trust is the holder of the conservation easement over the RRoW and is sponsoring the April tour, which is designed to familiarize the local community with the history of the railroad, wildlife and native plants that are abundant in the area. 

The tour will start at 10 a.m. across from the original Arleta Depot (which has been a private home for many years) at the corner of Poplar St. and Railroad Ave. in Half Moon Bay. Members of the board of directors of the Coastside Land Trust and Executive Director Jo Chamberlain will welcome participants and discuss the environmental significance of the RRoW easement for the coast. Native plant specialists Avis Boutell and Nancy Frost will speak about the California native plants found in the area. Gary Deghi, a professional biologist, will describe the wildlife that inhabit the area and highlight bird species of interest. Local historian Liz Allison will talk about the railroad’s history.

Participants will walk along the Railroad Right-of-Way with our native plant, wildlife and history guides who will tell us more about the richness of the area at each of the successive three "stops": Central Avenue and Railroad Avenues at 10:45 a.m; Miramontes Avenue and Railroad Avenue at 11:15 a.m.; and the bluff edge at 11:45 where we will view two endangered plant species, view ocean-dwelling birds and hear more about the Ocean Shore Railroad history. The event will conclude at 12:30.

April 19, 1 pm: Tour of Railroad Depots — $25 per person, under 18 free

Join us as we retrace the path of the famed Ocean Shore Railroad. Participants will meet at the Vallemar Restaurant (a former depot), 2125 Coast Highway in Pacifica, where we will view two models of the famed railroad and enjoy numerous photographs showing the Railroad and period coastal views. Following an overview of the railroad’s history by tour conductors, participants will drive to see one of the remaining railroad cars, which is housed in Pacifica, and several of the remaining depots in Pacifica, El Granada and Half Moon Bay.

Space is limited and pre-registration is suggested by visiting CoastsideLandTrust.org and making a $25 donation.

The Montara Beach Coalition is hosting a beach clean up for Montara State Beach and Grey Whale Cove in honor of Earth Day 2009. Earth Day falls on April 22nd this year but as that is mid week so we will hold the clean up on the weekend before on Sunday April 19th. Trash bags and gloves will be supplied we will meet at 9.30am in the Outrigger parking lot and plan to work through till midday.

There are several other coastside clean ups happening to celebrate Earth Day hosted by The Pacifica Beach Coalition and Surfrider to name a few. I encourage anyone who cares about our planet and our beautiful beaches to join us on this day to pick up trash and clean up the environment in some way, even if you can’t make one of the scheduled events you can help by picking up trash on your own street or neighborhood. For more information visit www.montarabeach.com or www.earthday.net. You can also join The Montara Beach Coalition group on Facebook to keep current with local events.

Hope to see you there.

Kevin Stokes

On Saturday April 18, The Visionary Edge will host Emmy Award-winning acoustic ecologist and author Gordon Hempton. The event will be co-hosted by and presented at the Community United Methodist Church in Half Moon Bay. 

In One Square Inch of Silence Gordon Hempton has written the next Silent Spring—and will forever change our conception of conservation and activism. A beautifully written call to arms against the agents of manmade noise, this eloquent defense of natural quiet comes packaged with the author’s astounding recordings of nature. 

"Good things come from a quiet place: study, prayer, music, transformation, worship, communion," says Gordon Hempton.  "The words peace and quiet are all but synonymous, and are often spoken of in the same breath.  A quiet place is the think tank of the soul, the spawning ground of truth and beauty." 

Part road trip, part popular science, and part polemic, One Square Inch of Silence is a celebration of nature and an ear-opening journey into Earth’s vanishing sanctuaries. Like a sound safari, One Square Inch of Silence recounts Hempton’s trek across the country to capture the sounds of American landscapes and the reflections of American people on the importance of quiet in their lives. Birdsong, melting ice, and bugling elk all achieve immortality as the author addresses questions of surprising importance, including: Why isn’t natural quiet part of the ecological agenda?  

Saturday, April 18th. Doors will open at 7:00pm, event begins at 7:30 at the Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes Street (at Johnston), HMB.  Suggested donation is $10 advance, door $15. No one turned away for lack of funds! Call 650-560-0200 for information and reservations.  

The website of the Pillar Ridge manufactured home community has set up an informational website about the proposed Big Wave office complex.  Pillar Ridge is the closest neighborhood to the Big Wave site.

From the National Weather Service:

This hazardous weather outlook is for the entire San Francisco and Monterey Bay region.

Partly cloudy skies with seasonable temperatures are expected today. By tonight a dry cold front will approach the San Francisco and Monterey Bay region and locally strong northwest winds with gusts to 40 mph will be possible along the north bay coast and in the north bay hills.

Tuesday through Sunday, northwest winds will increase through the day as the dry cold front passes over the region. Local wind gusts in excess of 45 mph will be possible…Especially Tuesday afternoon and evening near the coast and in the hills.

Behind the cold front…Cool temperatures will bring the possibility of frost to the north bay valleys tuesday night into wednesday morning. There is a chance that a frost advisory may need to be issued should this pattern develop. Persons with interests that are susceptible to frost should take precautionary actions now.

Generally quiet weather is forecast wednesday through sunday with dry conditions and seasonably mild temperatures.

This weekend, State Parks archeologist Mark Hylkema directed about a dozen participants in a dig on the bluffs of Montara.  You may have seen the work from the highway as you passed through town Friday and Saturday. By nightfall Saturday, he would be gone and the site would be returned to its previous condition.

The Chiguan sub-band of Ohlone Indians butchered sea otters at a settlement overlooking the ocean around AD 1500, leaving behind the mound that overlooks the ocean here. The workers were recovering shells and bones. These would be used to research the natives’ diet, as well as assess changes in climate in the last 500 years.

Hylkema last dug at this site 25 years ago, when he was graduate student, and when carbon dating was less sophisticated.

Hylkema also took a core sample, which will be used to look for much smaller remains, such as fish bones and otoliths—tiny earbones from fish which must be examined under a microscope, but which can provide information about the species butchered on the site.

This question for Mary will become even more pertinent if a bill proposed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, CT (R) makes it through congress. It may only be a coincidence that DeLauro’s husband, pollster Stanley Greenberg, happened to have Monsanto as his client 10 years ago, but the wording in some sections of the bill just smells like a fermenting nightmare.

The bill? H.R. 875.

Sec 3 (14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

Relative to the above section, a “small business concern”, as mentioned in Sec. 201 (c)(12), is defined according to the Small Business Act, Sec. 3(a), as having gross receipts over $750,000. Many smaller farms (particularly a farm “grossing” only $750K, would fall under the umbrella of having to conform to the restrictions and guidelines contained in this bill that only a large commercial agricultural concern could easily adopt.

Sec 101 (b)(5)(C) development of consistent and science-based standards for safe food (emphasis added)

Who decides what standards are science-based? If the benchmark is set by Monsanto’s GMO and pesticide standards, nothing short of eliminating organic and biodynamic farming will be acceptable.

Montara Water and Sanitary District has been honored for its conservation efforts by the Silicon Valley Water Conservation Awards Coalition, reports the County TImes

Montara Water & Sanitary District won the award for the small government agency/utility category for reducing the community’s already low per capita water use to just 69 gallons per day — pretty good considering the average person uses about 80 to 100 gallons per day or more, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"We were excited," said Clemens Heldmaier, general manager at Montara Water & Sanitary District. "The nice part is that it not only recognized that we’ve done something right, but the citizens who were a big part of this success."

"We are living in times where we can’t always expect water to come out when we turn on the faucet," Heldmaier added. "A lot of problems are associated with water, and a lot of work goes into conserving water, so I’m proud that we can set an example."

Other winners were Redwood City, Applied Materials, California Native Society, the City of San Jose’s Environmental Services Department, First Community Housing, former state Assemblyman John Laird, the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies, Stanford University, and ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance.