Week 7—Restoration Projects at Sabercat Historic Park

A lot of the times, the trees that I see at Sabercat Historic Park are newly planted. This is because the park is growing in their commitment to sustainability and restoration is taking place. Interestingly enough, a lot of restoration projects are not a result of my mentor’s work, rather specific projects by big companies that sometimes pollute. Some restoration projects and plants that I have mapped at Sabercat Historic are part of PG&E’s numerous restoration projects. Thanks to California legislation like CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, PG&E has been required by regulators to plant native plants specifically at Sabercat Park to aid in remediation after they used land in other parts of the Bay Area, and even state. PG&E has 3 restoration sites, and one of them was intended to compensate for remediation projects that were supposed to have happened in Santa Clara County. Additionally, BART has a restoration site at Sabercat Park too.

These projects help to show the power of California environmental policy as major utility companies and transportation companies are required to do something as simple as planting trees to account for their actions. It also highlights the power that simple actions like planting trees, has on the overall health benefits of the ecosystem; the state of California views this as a valid way of improving environmental health. It’s super exciting that local neighborhood parks where mostly residents frequent are the places that are being filled with so many plants, which once again highlights the importance of my project in improving and promoting ecological education.

This past week (Week 7) I made it to and explored large portions of Site 5. While other parts of Sabercat Historic Park have younger trees, Site 5 has some of the largest most mature trees of the restoration projects led by mentor, since this Site was installed first. There are numerous large, mature Valley Oaks, and the Blue Elders are fully grown out. I saw the impact of invasive species this week, as a whole field that should have been a valley was covered in ivy (English and Algerian). The ivy was spreading, and covering native trees like Coast Live Oaks. It was a sad site to see, as the remediation of that site would not be simple. Finally, I saw two new tree species, an Ash tree, a common tree in the US, which residents frequently plant. Site 5 is by some residents homes, so that’s why they were present. I saw an exciting new native tree species, only found at Site 5, the Fremont Cottonwood.

This is an ash tree by a resident’s home.