Anacapa Seabird Habitat Restoration Underway

Channel Islands Restoration, in a continuation of our restoration efforts on East Anacapa Island, is in the process of growing 2,500 plants to be installed in the coming fall. While we are growing many of the same plants grown in the past, this project differs in that we are now working in cooperation with multiple agencies. CIR has joined up with the National Park Service and the California Institute of Environmental Studies (CIES) to create and expand seabird habitat. With these joint forces, new plants will be on a drip system (which improves survival rates by over 50% or more). This new partnership is very exciting, and it will create a lasting impact that visitors will notice in the years to come.

The plants are being grown in our NPS/CIR constructed and maintained shade house and plant nursery stationed on the island which was made possible by a grant from Patagonia and NOAA B-WET and was built in collaboration with the National Park Service. The plants will be installed by CIES and volunteers, who are using funds from the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program to improve seabird habitat. CIR will be funding educational work trips for high school students to assist in habitat restoration as well.

Join Us At Our Annual CIR Membership Event!

Become a CIR Member today and join us for a BBQ lunch and guided tours 

of the Goleta Beach and Goleta Slough Ecological Reserve!

Sunday, April 10th, 2016 from 11:00 am-3:00 pm

Goleta Beach Park Picnic Area

Don't miss out on these two fascinating walking tours!

Geology of the Monterey Formation 

Geologist and CIR Board Member Tanya Atwater will describe and demonstrate the Monterey Formation, whose rocks form most of our local beach-cliffs, including those around Goleta Beach. Besides being the source of most of our oil, these unusual rocks hold the keys to understanding many aspects of our geological history and are responsible for many quirky local phenomena.

Ecology of the Goleta Slough Ecological Reserve

CIR's Senior Ecologist, Eliyahu Gevirtz, will take CIR members on an educational tour of the Goleta Slough, with an emphasis on examining the various parts of the slough, including a variety of types of wetlands, willow forest, coastal sage scrub and oak woodland, endangered plants and animals, and bird nesting areas. Members will also take a close-up look at a habitat restoration site in the western portion of the estuary that Eliyahu has been overseeing for nearly six years. Eliyahu will also speak about the cultural history of the slough.

All CIR Members are invited to our 2016 Spring Membership Event

and YOU can become a CIR Member for a minimum donation of $35!

All contributions are tax-deductible! Click

here

to donate now!

Volunteer with CIR at Earth Day Festivals in Santa Barbara and Ventura!

CIR Ambassadors pose at our Earth Day Festival booth.

Earth Day is just around the corner, and we're excited about celebrating at the upcoming festivals in Santa Barbara and Ventura! We are eager to share the importance of native habitat restoration and to engage the community in our work, and Earth Day presents the perfect opportunity. Once again, we are honored to sponsor the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, and we'll be setting up a booth for both days, Saturday, April 16th to Sunday, April 17th. We will also be at the Ventura Earth Day Ecofest on Saturday, April 23rd.

Many of you might not know this, but Earth

 Day has special roots in the Santa Barbara area. In

1969, our community and precious coastline suffered a devastating blow when Union Oil's Platform A blew-up and spilled over 80,000 barrels of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel. The spill was a wake-up call for many, including Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. To help avoid such an atrocity from occurring again, Senator Nelson wanted to create a "national teach-in on the environment" and, on April 22, 1970, about 20 million Americans banded together and demanded a healthy, sustainable environment for all. The tradition continues today, and CIR is proud to take up the cause.

CIR booth at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival.

CIR has participated at the Santa Barbara Earth Day for almost ten years. One of our main goals is to educate the public on the amazing landscapes, plants, and wildlife right in their backyard, and we prominently display maps, photos, and informational materials to give people a glimpse into this world. We talk to hundreds of people at these events, and many learn about the Channel Islands for the first time. Indeed, a handful of our dedicated volunteers were once curious passersby that decided to pop into the CIR booth.

Earth Day events are incredibly important to us, but they are a lot of work! We increasing rely on volunteer "ambassadors" to help us staff the booths. Being a CIR ambassador at Earth Day is a wonderful opportunity to share your island stories and encourage the public to get involved and experience the magic of the Channel Islands themselves. For those who have only begun volunteering with CIR, fear not! We always make sure to pair less experienced volunteers with long-term volunteers, or CIR Board members, so no one will feel overwhelmed.

Become a CIR Earth Day Ambassador! 

Shifts are available! Please sign up to volunteer with

volunteer@cirweb.org

:

Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival

Saturday, April 16 from 11:00am to 7:00pm

Sunday, April 17 from 11:00am to 6:00pm

Alameda Park, Santa Barbara 

Ventura Earth Day Ecofest

Saturday, April 23 from 10:00am to 5:00pm

Promenade Park, Ventura 

CIR Stewardship of the San Marcos Foothills

Volunteers pose at the San Marcos Foothills Preserve

following a day of invasive plant removal near

a natural freshwater spring.

In addition to maintaining our current restoration projects and planning new ones for the years ahead, CIR adopted a more active stewardship role for the San Marcos Foothills Preserve. In 2015, we now provide educational programs and have produced materials that educate visitors about protecting wildlife while we all enjoy the 210-acre Preserve, located between Santa Barbara and Goleta.

This year CIR organized three educational walks at the Preserve, including two bird watching events with biologist Mark Holmgren and a plant walk with Ken Owen.

All of these events were popular and were attended by nearly 60 people.

CIR also created a web guide to the Preserve that highlights the plant and animal life, geology and history and more.

We continue to develop a docent program for the Preserve, which will train volunteers to lead educational walks.

Biologist Mark Holmgren leads a CIR bird

watching walk at the Preserve.

As CIR takes on new responsibilities at the Preserve, we’re mindful of our previous successes there.

Since 2010, CIR has partnered with several non-profit organizations, businesses and County government to restore portions of the Preserve.

Our restoration sites along Cieneguitas and Atascadero Creeks have been spectacular successes.

Even during this dry year, in the middle of the worst drought in history, many of our plants continue to bloom well into autumn.

The sites attract butterflies that feed on nectar from the flowers, and they attract birds that collect seeds and insects from the plants.

In a generally dry and brown landscape, our restoration sites are some of the only green spots in the Foothills.

The success of the restoration sites is due to our dedicated staff and the help of more than 1,000 people who have volunteered with CIR at the San Marcos Foothills since we began our work.

Common buckeye butterfly collecting nectar on California

buckwheat plants installed by Channel Islands

Restoration at the San Marcos Foothills

Preserve.

Thanks to a grant from outdoor retailer REI this year, CIR also removed invasive plants along trails and at a freshwater spring, where several species of wetland plants grow.

The REI grant paid for the cost of a staff person to lead the 16 volunteer days and for the cost of recruiting the 278 volunteers who participated.

Thanks to REI and to the Volunteers!

Upcoming Volunteer Trips to San Nicolas Island

CIR volunteers maintaining the native plantings

that were installed early this year.

CIR, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, has two upcoming multi-day planting trips to San Nicolas Island in January 2016.

CIR will be recruiting a select number of volunteers for the chance to visit the most remote of the Channel Islands, and the hardest for civilians to visit!

The goals for the two restoration trips will be to install 1,000 native plants (which includes two dune species) and replenish the island with native and island-endemic vegetation.

CIR collected seeds on-island and grew the plants in the island nursery that was rebuilt by CIR staff and volunteers in 2012.

CIR nursery manager Kelle Green and volunteers has been tending the native plants in the nursery, and they are almost ready to be planted.

One of the dune species is Beach spectaclepod (

Dithyrea maritima

) a California rare and threatened species. 

Plants growing at the San Nicolas Island nursery including

needle grass, box thorn, and cactus.

Volunteers fly out of Point Mugu Naval Air Station to the island where they will stay in motel housing while working on this important restoration project.

Each volunteer will pay for their own single-occupancy room ($68 per night). Because of holiday flight schedules, the trips are

five and six days in length.

This allows more time for volunteers to enjoy an extraordinary experience and beautiful island views.

CIR staff and volunteers will be kept very busy planting and caring for these precious island plants in the coming months.

Watch for the upcoming volunteer announcements!

Upcoming Volunteer Planting Trips:

Thursday, January 14 – Tuesday, January 19

&

Friday, January 22 – Tuesday, January 26

Wrap-Up at Mission Canyon: Achievements

Volunteer removes a mature Euphorbia plant.

Since January, CIR has been involved in a mainland restoration project at Mission Canyon in Santa Barbara to help eradicate a growing population of an extremely invasive plant, Carnation Spurge (Euphorbia terracina).

This plant was recently discovered spreading through this residential area, down the road from the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, and its proliferation has exploded with the late winter rains.

With grant funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the County of Santa Barbara partnered with CIR to stop Carnation Spurge in its tracks and to keep it from spreading even further.

CIR held four volunteer events at Mission Canyon with CIR staff, 64 volunteers, and 4 CIR Board Members who helped to remove this non-native plant species before the next season of rainfall.

Much of the work was accomplished by basic hand removal and solarization (placing black plastic over the plants depriving them of light).

This project could not have been completed without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers!

We thank the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for their support on this project by providing free admission at the end of the volunteer event to those who participated to help control this invasive plant population.

We also thank the Mission Canyon Association for all their support throughout this restoration project.

The California Invasive Plant Council is exploring possible future funding options to continue the efforts being made to purge this Spurge.

Planting Completed on San Nicolas Island! 8,000 Plants

Channel Islands Restoration and volunteers, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, have been kept busy with the restoration project on San Nicolas Island this year! Since February, CIR has successfully installed 8,000 island native plants with the help of 58 volunteers over the course of 5 multi-day volunteer trips. This completed the planting phase that began in December of last year when our first volunteer planting crew started by putting in native plants, including California box thorn and two species of native cacti, to help with erosion control on the island and to help enhance habitat for the Island Night Lizard.

The Island Night Lizard is endemic to only three of the eight Channel Islands. The lizard was recently removed from the endangered species list because of conservation efforts led by the Navy on San Nicolas and San Clemente Islands, and by the Park Service on Santa Barbara Island. Navy staff on San Nicolas have designed a project to enhance lizard habitat by planting species the lizard is known to favor.

In the wild, these thorny plants grow in impenetrable thickets that protect lizards from predators. CIR propagated these native plants from seed in the island nursery that was rebuilt by CIR in 2012. Even the seeds these plants grew from were collected on the island by CIR nursery staff and volunteers.

Through rain or shine, the valuable volunteer crews were able to finish plant installation and created an irrigation system for the native plants. All this could not have been accomplished without the hard work put in by CIR staff, Kevin Thompson and Nick Hernandez, and the dedicated volunteers who assisted on this restoration project. In upcoming months, CIR staff and volunteers will continue to care for these newly installed plants with watering and maintenance trips. Watch for upcoming volunteer opportunities!

Announcing CIR’s New Office Relocation

Last year, CIR began searching for an office space comparable to the one we had in the city of Carpinteria, and the search is finally over! With the help of friends and CIR Board Members, CIR has moved to a new space for its administrative office in the city of Santa Barbara.  We are now located off of Milpas Street in the Rabobank Plaza near Trader Joe's.  Guests and volunteers are welcome to visit our administrative office Monday through Friday from 9AM-5PM where we can better assist you!  Our phone numbers remain the same, and any mailing items can be sent or delivered to our new address stated below.

Our new address:

928 Carpinteria Street, Suite #3

Santa Barbara, CA 93103

Watch for an Open House Celebration announcement in the upcoming month of June, and stop by to take a look at our new office!

Success at Earth Day Festivals: Over 400 Sign Up to Volunteer for CIR!

In the month of April, CIR participated in three Earth Day events over three  weekends and is excited to announce all had great turnouts, in addition to many new CIR volunteer sign-ups.  We had over 400 new volunteers join CIR this year just at the Earth Day Festivals!  This year, CIR hosted booths at the Earth Day events in the cities of Oxnard, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

CIR was among hundreds of other non-profit and environmentally-friendly organizations at the Earth Day Festivals, and these  celebrations are CIR’s best opportunity to reach out to members of the public who want to become involved with environmental conservation.  In fact, many of our volunteers first heard about CIR at an Earth Day event.

CIR first participated at the Santa Barbara Earth Day event in 2007, and our booth has evolved from a couple of simple displays into a showcase of habitat restoration work on the Channel Islands and mainland.  CIR has also participated in the Thousand Oaks and Ojai Earth Day events and even some in the Los Angeles area in the previous years.

CIR Board member Cindy Kimmick brings her fascinating display of vertebrates for young people and adults alike, and she provides the visitors with a fun interactive learning opportunity.  CIR merchandise, such as our 100% organic cotton t-shirts, CIR caps, and educational field guides, is also made available for purchase at these events. 

We thank all those that took the time to visit our booth and the volunteers that helped make our booth successful!

CIR will be a first-time contributing "sponsor" at this year's Summer Solstice Celebration on June 19-21.  In the upcoming weeks, we will be looking for volunteers to assist us at this event as  CIR Ambassadors!

Volunteer with CIR at Earth Day Festivals

Join CIR and hundreds of other environmentally-friendly organizations at any of the many Earth Day celebrations happening in April in Santa Barbara and Ventura County. The Earth Day celebrations are CIR’s best opportunity to reach out to members of the public who want to become involved with environmental conservation. In fact, many of our volunteers first heard about CIR at an Earth Day event. Earth Day began when Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson witnessed the ravages of the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara. The first event took place in 1970 when 20 million Americans all over the country demonstrated for the environment. It has since become a global event, held on weekends and centering on April 22nd, the anniversary of the first Earth Day. CIR has participated at the Santa Barbara Earth Day event since 2007, and our booth has evolved from a couple of simple displays into a showcase of habitat restoration work on the Channel Islands and mainland. We prominently display maps and photos of the Channel Islands and talk to hundreds of visitors throughout the two-day event. CIR Board member Cindy Kimmick provides a fascinating display of vertebrates for young people and adults alike, and many people learn about the Channel Islands for the first time at these events. The Santa Barbara event features two full days of live music, speakers, family activities and interesting exhibitors, including many environmental non-profits. CIR has become a contributing “sponsor” of this very worthy event. Since these events keep us very busy, we increasing rely on volunteer“ambassadors” to help us staff the booths. We pair less experienced volunteers with experienced ones or CIR Board members, so no one will feel overwhelmed. Being a CIR ambassador at Earth Day is a lot of fun, and it’s a great opportunity to share your experiences of the islands and environmental volunteerism with the public. We even provide soft drinks and snacks to those who help out. 

Become a CIR Earth Day Ambassador! 

Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer at these events:

April 4: Oxnard

April 18-19: Santa Barbara

April 25: Ventura 

CIR to Offer Fall Trips to Santa Rosa Island

Channel Islands Restoration will offer volunteer-funded restoration trips to Santa Rosa Island this

fall, in partnership with Channel Islands National Park.  There is no grant funding available to support all the many costs associated with this project, so CIR turns to our volunteers to cover some of the cost of these trips.  In return, volunteers enjoy an extraordinary experience!  The trips are designed to accomplish important environmental restoration projects, while enabling volunteers to enjoy some of the most beautiful and remote sections of that vast island.

CIR’s Santa Rosa trips are structured to provide plenty of satisfying volunteer work, yet also include time to enjoy hikes and swimming and spectacular views.  Volunteers work an average of 6 hours per day, excluding travel days.  Additional time needed for travel to and from work sites will make a full day.

Volunteers learn about island conservation, history, geology and ecology while helping to restore Santa Rosa’s unique island habitat.  The volunteer work adds to the enjoyment and understanding of the challenges involved with managing such a large island.

Volunteers will be involved with a wide variety of projects which may include stabilizing eroding slopes and gullies, planting natives, working in the island nursery, chaparral restoration and fence removal.  Volunteers need to be energetic and in good physical condition.

Volunteers usually camp at the Water Canyon campground, and CIR provides camp stoves, pots and pans and some ice (or ice blocks) for your coolers.  Solar-heated showers are also available at the campground.  In some cases volunteers may stay at the new Santa Rosa Island Field Station.  Watch for email announcements regarding trips in September or October, and feel free to visit the trip web site for more information: http://www.cirweb.org/sri

International Delegation Visits CIR

A delegation from seven countries from East Asia and the Pacific Region visited the CIR offices in

Delegation from East Asia and the Pacific on Santa Cruz Island.

Carpinteria in July as part of their U.S. tour of community-based environmental protection organizations.  The delegation consisted of government officials, educators, and members of not-for profit organizations from Brunei, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, China, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.  Hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program of professional and cultural exchanges and the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, the delegation also visited many sites in Southern California, including Channel Island National Park.

The delegation was treated to refreshments at the CIR offices, and Executive Director, Ken Owen,

The delegation visits Carpinteria State Beach with Ken Owen

showed a PowerPoint presentation highlighting CIRs habitat restoration and environmental education projects.  After the presentation Ken led the group on a short walk to Carpinteria State Beach to see the creek restoration project there.  The occasion provided a unique opportunity for the international visitors to learn about local conservation efforts and for CIR staff to learn about the wide variety of projects happening in East Asia and the Pacific.

March CIR Membership Party and Natural History Walking Tours Fun and Educational!

In March, CIR members were treated to a gorgeous day for our annual membership appreciation party at Rincon Beach Park in Carpinteria.

CIR Membership Party at Rincon Beach Park.

Each available picnic table was filled to the brim with the smiling faces of CIR members snacking on chips, salsa, and Duke McPherson’s delicious homemade guacamole, not to mention whole fruit and granola bar baskets to tease the appetite, in anticipation of the feast to come.

The Glendessary Jam making great music!

As festivities got underway, everyone enjoyed the delightful sounds of musician, Lawrence Wallin and the Glendessary Jam, who generously donated their tunes, talents, and time in exchange for helping themselves to the pot-luck buffet and barbecued fare.

With a sighting of coastal bottlenose dolphins from the pavilion, outstanding ocean views and sunny skies, one couldn’t have asked for a better setting.

CIR Board President Duke McPherson and Gretchen Ingmanson prepare BBQ chicken.

One entire twelve-foot picnic table was absolutely overflowing with pot-luck goodies from salads, sides, and snacks to delectable desserts—it truly was an impressive turnout of culinary contributions that satisfied everyone.

After the feast, which featured marinated chicken and veggie burgers provided by CIR and barbecued to perfection by Mr. President himself, Duke McPherson, we all enjoyed a presentation given by Executive Director, Ken Owen, during which he crowned Ron Nichols the first-ever CIR volunteer of the year!

Ron Nichols received an award as CIR’s first member of the year at the CIR Membership Party.
Ron has participated in dozens of CIR volunteer events on the Channel Island and on the mainland.

Ron was applauded and awarded a commemorative wooden plaque, as well as a brand new Anacapa Island t-shirt and CIR cap.

Following the picnic, CIR members took a short drive to the Carpinteria Bluffs Preserve where

Wayne Ferren was the first to speak about the ecology and the plant communities of the area.

Members were then treated to a talk with Tanya Atwater on the beach about local geology, as well as a docent-led program at the Carpinteria Harbor Seal Sanctuary.

The final tour was a visit to the Carpinteria Tar Pits Park.

Here, members were addressed by Wayne Ferren, Tanya Atwater, and John Johnson of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History about the history of the tar pits and the ancient flora and fauna that had been preserved there.

Ron Nichols received an award as CIR’s first member of the year at the CIR Membership Party.

Ron has participated in dozens of CIR volunteer events on the Channel Island and on the mainland.

CIR Busy on San Nicolas Island

CIR is working in partnership with several organizations on four distinct restoration projects on San Nicolas Island.  Starting in February, CIR started growing up to 7,000 native plants in the island nursery.  The nursery was constructed by CIR staff and volunteers in 2012 to grow plants

for an erosion control project.  The latest batch of plants will be used to enhance habitat for the island night lizard and also to mitigate the impacts from a wind generation construction project.  The nursery is now filled to capacity with thousands of plants covering all three of the huge nursery tables.  An expansion of the nursery space is in the planning stages. 

The island night lizard (restricted to just three of the Channel Islands) was recently removed from the endangered species list, because lizard numbers have increased markedly with conservation efforts led by the Navy and the Park Service.  To help insure that the species continues to thrive, Navy staff on San Nicolas have designed a project to enhance the habitat of the lizard.  CIR is growing several plant species that the lizard is known to favor for habitat including, box thorn and three species of cactus.  In the wild, these plants grow in impenetrable thickets that protect the lizards from predators.   The plants will be installed with the help of CIR in the fall.

CIR recently welcomed Sheri Mayta to our staff to oversee the nursery on San Nicolas.  Sheri has over

nine years of experience in native plant nursery management and native plant propagation. She owns and operates Estero Natives, a native plant nursery in Carpinteria.  She worked for Coastal Restoration Consultants (CRC) as a senior restoration ecologist and nursery manager. With CRC she managed the production of up to 50,000 plants per year at on-site nurseries.  Sheri was raised in Ventura, Ca. where she currently resides with her two children.

In addition to growing plants, CIR is helping to eradicate invasive plants that are a priority for the Navy, who owns the island.  Several CIR staff and volunteers have also been helping to eradicate two invasive plants that are particularly troublesome, ecologically.  Sahara mustard (brassica tournefortii) was introduced to the island several years ago and is a highly invasive species that has devastated the ecology of many areas in our mainland deserts.  Carnation spurge (euphorbia terracina) has recently spread to many new areas throughout California, and several populations have been found on San Nicolas.  The Navy is working with CIR and other contractors to eradicate both of these highly invasive plants before they spread any further on the island.