Greetings, Mori Point Friends:
We’re happy to report that we’ve officially concluded this summer’s large-scale restoration work at Mori! This year’s trail work has been completed and several restoration sites have been regraded back to a more natural state. The chain link fences around our staging sites have been removed; now more rustic and subtle recycled redwood fences have replaced the orange plastic fences to protect the healing land. Several volunteer groups helped install these attractive fences, including an Americorp program from Saint Louis, the GGNRA Trail Keepers, the LINC high school program, and Site Stewardship volunteers. All of the new trails are officially open for your enjoyment!
The final stages of this project included adding a drainage swale along Old Mori Road (to help keep the road drier during the winter) and completing the Pollywog Path, including replacing the bridge that connects the Park to Fairway Drive. The new bridge is flatter than the old one, making it easier for stroller-pushing parents, bikers, and other park users passing by. The bridge is also reinforced to support groups of nature enthusiasts who stop by the area to watch the California red-legged frogs in the water below the bridge. Fairway neighbors have told us they’ve really been enjoying these improvements over the past few weeks.
In addition to planting native plants near the trails and along the restored areas, the next steps at Mori Point are: (1) adding a few benches in key spots along the enhanced trails, (2) adding a trash can at 2 additional entrances of the park, and (3) installing “way-finding” signs that provide trail names and distances to key destinations. If you’re interested in contributing a memorial bench at Mori Point, please contact me for more information.
We have more exciting news to report on the San Francisco garter snake sighting front! During a routine tadpole survey, we saw a San Francisco garter snake hunting in one of the new ponds created last year! If you’re interested in reading more about the Mori’s rare species and the park enhancement project please read the article about Mori Point featured in the last issue of the Coast and Ocean, a magazine put out by the California Coastal Conservancy. You can access the article at COAST AND OCEAN
On behalf of all the temporary staff down at Mori, I want to thank you and all the other park friends we’ve met during this year’s project! It’s been a true pleasure working down at Mori and we’ll all miss it now that we’re moving on! I’ll keep you posted about next year’s plans as they are firmed up over the next few months. In the meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy this very special park—and maybe even come volunteer with the Site Stewardship Program, who will continue to take care of Mori Point for years to come!
Susie Bennett
Mori Point Project Coordinator
[And the Mori Point Planning Team: Kate Bickert, Christina Crooker, Sharon Farrell, Darren Fong, Sue Gardner, Jen Greene, Steve Griswold, and Mary Petrilli]
PHOTOS ABOVE: Biomonitor Dan assists LINC participants in proper post-setting techniques. Daniel and I help spread straw for erosion control and weed suppression. PHOTO BELOW: San Francisco garter snake.
Many projects in public open space and natural areas have to do with limiting how much worse a place will become, so as not to destroy all values.
The Mori Point work, on the other hand, has been making a badly impacted place better with the removal of unnecessary roads and other eroded areas and with the native plant and wetland restoration efforts under way. It is not always easy to pull off something like what is going on in an urban region where some "environmentalists" believe "pave it and paint it green" is just fine.
Even people stingy with their praise can, without hesitation, thank the organizers and volunteers for their progress on Mori Point. It will be a lasting asset for the people of Pacifica and for the Bay Area beyond.
Posted by: Carl May | August 26, 2008 at 03:04 PM