Sonoma Mountain’s West Side

Volunteerism is Alive and Well on the Mountain

by Mickey Cooke

This is second of a two-part series on volunteer opportunities on Sonoma Mountain. Volunteer activities on the mountain’s east side were described in the July 2000 SMPG newsletter.

Fairfield Osborne Preserve

The Fairfield Osborne Preserve (FOP) is a 210-acre property on the west side of the mountain. Originally donated by the Roth family to the Nature Conservancy, it is now owned and managed by Sonoma State University. The Conservancy retains a conservation easement on the property, and FOP is home to a non-profit conservation organization run primarily by volunteers and dedicated to protecting and restoring natural communities, as well as to fostering ecological understanding through education and research.

The preserve offers docent training, guided hikes for the public, birding walks, field workshops, student field trips, and classroom outreach. Volunteers maintain more than six miles of hiking trails on the preserve. Many public activities are planned for the summer. The Fairfield Osborne Preserve contact is Julia Clothier, 795-5069.

Vallejo Adobe

At the Vallejo Adobe near Petaluma, volunteer efforts include work by local scout troops. Scouts have worked on the cactus wall and rebuilt the fire house boxes. Docents lead school tours, and the Adobe staff plans to do a creek restabilization project soon. Volunteers are welcome.

Adobe Creek

The United Anglers of Casa Grande High School have made a huge difference in the Adobe Creek watershed. The high school students adopted this "dead" creek in l983, and have planted more than l,200 trees annually to reestablish wildlife habitat. They have raised more than $500,000 and have built an on-campus fish hatchery where more than 30,000 Chinook salmon have been hatched. They run one of three hatcheries with federal permission to raise winter-run Chinook salmon, an endangered species.

Students lead public tours and enjoy showing visitors around. The program relies totally on donations and needs volunteers in many project areas. Call the ranger at the Adobe State Park at 762-4871 for more information.

This is not a complete list of volunteer activities on the west side of Sonoma Mountain, and we hope that readers will let us know of other individuals and groups who are working to provide good stewardship for the area.