Mather Field Vernal Pool Flower Walks
Mather Field Vernal Pool
Wildflowers www.sacsplash.org/mather/plants
:
A fifth-grade curriculum about vernal pool plants by Sacramento
Splash.
Mather Field Vernal Pool
Critters www.sacsplash.org/mather/animals
:
A fifth-grade curriculum about vernal pool animals by Sacramento
Splash.
The Magic of Vernal Pools
Eva Butler, the Sacramento Valley Chapter CNPS Mather Field Preservation
Campaign Chair explains what attracts people to the vernal pools at Mather Field
and why CNPS docents volunteer their precious time to bring the public to
explore them.
“In April the vernal pools at Mather Field will start to slip into something
more alluring. While many have been dressing in their multi-colored, seasonal
fashions for well over 100,000 years, we will welcome them as if it were their
first time in costume. For the many visitors that we will introduce to the pools
this year, this will be their first encounter with these rare beauties, which
otherwise masquerade in the drab gold and browns of summer. The pleasure of
making those new introductions is what keeps docents coming back each spring -
to lead tours, to share this place and to witness its impact on both new and
returning visitors. Guiding others gives us a recurring chance to renew our own
personal connection to this landscape, ticking off the hours it takes to protect
its future, against the millions of years that led to its creation.”
Invitation
to Join the CNPS Mather Field Vernal Pools Docents.
Over the past 11 years the CNPS Mather Field vernal pool docents have had the
pleasure of hearing the ohhhs and ahhhs of thousands of visitors as they
discover Sacramento’s vernal pools for the first time. After exploring
Sacramento’s best kept secret, many return year after year to see nature renew
its colorful kaleidoscope of annual wildflowers in the vernal pool prairie.
If you’d like to join this fun and friendly bunch of volunteers docents, CNPS
will provide everything you need to start down the trail. As you follow in the
footsteps of other inspired and inspiring docents, you’ll have all the help you
need to build your competence and confidence. With our self-paced docent
training CD and a complimentary copy of Carol Witham’s phenomenal Field Guide to
the Mather Field Vernal Pools, you’ll soon join the ranks of best dang docents
on the prairie!
Training sessions for new docents is generally conducted in late March or early
April. If you might be interested in becoming a Mather Field Vernal Pool Docent,
please contact Eva Butler at
mathervernalpools@att.net and provide your name, email address, home phone
number (and cell number, if possible).
2009 Vernal Pool Tour Schedule
CNPS volunteer docents will conduct
public tours of the Mather Field vernal pools
Status Update
on the Mather Field Vernal Pool Conservation Campaign
In an effort to speed conveyance of Mather Field from the Department of Defense
(DOD) to the County of Sacramento (the County), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
has been asked to process a programmatic Section 7 permit, even though the
management plan for Mather Field is not complete. For many years the management
plan has been a required precursor to the transfer. CNPS foresees a number of
potential problems with this course of action and is working with other
conservation advocates and regulatory agencies to proactively avoid as many
problems as possible.
CNPS advocates for a return to a multi-interest stakeholder process to refine land use plans for Mather Field. Despite having consistently raised the issue throughout the initial stakeholder process and since, CNPS has not seen the County respond to requests for a mitigation plan to compensate for the loss of many acres of vernal pools projected by its proposed land use plan. Without a mitigation plan in place, it is not possible to assess the full cost of mitigating for the proposed loses, nor is it possible to know how much vernal pool restoration can/should be done within Mather Field. This renders the current draft land use plan for Mather Field insufficient as a foundation for future planning.
| NEW CRITICAL HABITAT DESIGNATION On August 11, 2005, the USFWS published a new Critical Habitat final rule [05-15569.pdf; 1.5 meg PDF] for 11 plants and 4 crustaceans endemic to vernal pools. Some areas previously excluded for economic reasons are now designated as Critical Habitat. Other areas are newly excluded. A total of 858,846 acres are now designated as Critical Habitat. |
More about Vernal Pools | Vernal Pools Geology