Seventy students and parents from Westborough Middle School in South San Francisco came to Pacifica Saturday, February 18 to help our beaches and marine life. Under the direction of Pacifica Beach Coalition, they cleaned the entire Linda Mar State Beach and four parking lots from Pedro Point Shopping Center to Linda Mar north parking lot. Altogether, they collected 200 pounds of trash and 20 pounds of recycling. Most of this was lightweight plastic wrappers, straws, bottle tops, and cigarette butts, so you can imagine how much trash they removed from the environment!
They split into two groups, and while one group cleaned the beach and parking areas, the others removed invasive weeds from a patch north of the Community Center near the cypress tree by the bike path and planted more than 200 native plants donated by Go Native, Inc. Most of the invasives they removed were oxalis, mustard, and wild radish. The former weedy patch just north of the cypress tree is now home to 200 native coyote bush, coastal sage, and lizard tail, which we hope will grow into a rich resource for the snowy plovers and other native insects, birds, and mammals that rely on a healthy beach habitat.
If you travel in this area, please stay on the bike path and help us give them time to root and mature into the beautiful coastal habitat we see along the bike trail closer to the parking area.
A special thanks to teacher Danny Yanow who has brought his students to Pacifica for beach cleanups for the past five years, and to Kathy Kellerman (and Go Native, Inc.), who has dedicated so much of her time to growing the native plants and assisting at many of the native plantings on the beach and at Pedro Point Headlands. Also a big thanks to the Linda Mar site captains Jim, Ana, and Michael, who lead the cleanups and habitat restoration events each month, and to PBC members who joined the cleanup to help teach these students all about litter and our special coastal beach habitat.
If you have a group and would like to help us clean up a beach or restore habitat, Pacifica Beach Coalition hosts three cleanups and a Habitat Restoration day each month, and your group could be just the one to make a huge difference. Please see www.pacificabeachcoalition.org or call 650-355-1668.
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