Trees: How to Select, Place and Care for Trees for our Hot and Drought Prone Northern Central Valley region (Turtle Bay)
2023-10-14 17:00 - 19:00 UTC
“Trees are a long-term investment and can be an asset rather than a liability around our homes, our parks, and streets and around our communities when several factors are considered when selecting trees. We will look at and discuss the factors that should be considered when selecting trees for a given site and what cultural factors would be necessary to ensure long term success as your tree matures. Join Consulting Certified Arborist, Horticulturist and Licensed Pest Control Advisor Rico Montenegro, and Formally Chief Arborist for the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation as he shares his expertise about tree selection for hot and drought plagued Shasta County and surrounding areas.
Members & Turtle Bay Volunteers $6, nonmembers $8
Meet at Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office – 1135 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery)”

Gold Rush History Walk (Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve)
2023-10-14 17:00 - 19:30
October 14, 2023 (Sat.) 10 a.m. – “GOLD RUSH HISTORY WALK”
The community of Horsetown was established near the second major gold discovery in California at Reading’s Bar on Clear Creek during the gold rush of 1849. Enjoy a pleasant fall walk with a view of that site with Cathy Scott, Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve Board member. Learn about our local gold rush history and Horsetown. Bring some friends and walking shoes.
Contact Horsetownhccp@gmail.com or 241-2026 for more information

Film: 2040 (presented by North State Climate Action)
2023-10-19 00:15 - 01:30
Presented by North State Climate Action
2040

Return of the Salmon Festival
2023-10-21 16:00 - 23:00
October 21 (Sat.) 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. “RETURN OF THE SALMON FESTIVAL”
Join us at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery for a fun filled and educational day. For more information and directions visit www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/coleman or their Facebook page https://fb.me/e/2LxQyx1Bh
This is a family friendly event where you can view the fall run Chinook salmon and visit many vendors such as Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve.
This is at the Coleman Fish Hatchery, 24411 Coleman Fish Hatchery Rd., Anderson
Contact Horsetownhccp@gmail.com or 241-2026 for more information

Manzanita Lake Birding (Wintu Audubon event)
2023-10-28 16:00 - 19:00
Manzanita Lake – October 28th @ 9:00 am
We will be hiking around Manzanita Lake looking for migratory and fall forest species before the cold sets in. Manzanita Lake is located adjacent to the north entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park, approximately 48 miles east of Redding off of Highway 44. For those traveling from Redding, you can meet at the Kutras Lake gravel parking lot at 7:00 am to pool or caravan, otherwise meet at the Lassen Park Loomis Museum Parking Lot at 8:00 am.
Wear sturdy shoes and layers in anticipation of changeable weather, and bring a lunch/snack. Entrance fees for Lassen Volcanic National Park are $30 per vehicle or free with Annual/Whiskeytown/Golden Access etc. passes. Restrooms are located at the Loomis Museum complex. Rain/Snow cancels.

Search for the Spawning Salmon (Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve)
2023-10-28 17:00 - 19:00
October 28 (Sat.) 10 a.m. – “SEARCH FOR THE SPAWNING SALMON”
Join Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist Matt Johnson for a walk along Clear Creek to observe spawning salmon – up close! Get up-to-date information about restoration projects on Clear Creek designed to help the salmon and the status of salmon runs in Clear Creek. Don’t miss this chance for a personal guided tour. This moderate walk should have it all – exercise, natural beauty, salmon, and intriguing information. Bring polarized sunglasses for better visibility into the water and wear walking shoes.
Meet at Gold Dredge Trailhead on Clear Creek Road about 2 miles west of Highway 273, just west of Sunrise Excavating.

Inside the Rotary Screw Trap and Nature Walk (Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve)
2023-11-04 16:00 - 19:00
November 4, (Sat.) 9am – INSIDE THE ROTARY SCREW TRAP & NATURE WALK
Join us at Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve alongside Fish Biologists from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to learn more about their juvenile salmon conservation and monitoring projects in our area. This is a family-friendly event where you can view USFWS rotary screw trap operations on Clear Creek, a project that tracks populations of our local Chinook Salmon. Walk with us as we learn more about conservation and monitoring of Chinook Salmon and steelhead trout, as well as restoration and management efforts happening within the watershed.

Contact Horsetownhccp@gmail.com or 241-2026 for more information

Acorns: A Native American Staple (Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve)
2023-11-05 21:00 - 23:00
November 5 (Sun.) 1 p.m. – “ACORNS: A NATIVE AMERICAN STAPLE”
Native Wintu herbalist Ted Dawson will discuss the acorn, from harvest to food items. You’ll be invited to join in grinding acorns with mortar and pestle and be rewarded with the best acorn dishes in Shasta County. You’re probably aware that acorns were a staple food of the Native Americans of California, but there’s more — Bring the family. Today’s presentation includes making a natural poison oak remedy. Bring a jar – take some home.
Contact Horsetownhccp@gmail.com or 241-2026 for more information

Jenny Creek Field Trip
2023-11-08 17:30 - 19:30
Jenny Creek Field Trip
Wednesday, November 8, 9:30 am
This will be a short, off-trail hike in the City of Redding Open Space through a blue oak woodland near Jenny Creek where a proposed trail may be built.
We will examine the advantages and disadvantages of a trail in this area. This will be a two-mile out-and-back hike between the TR Woods Park on Royal Oaks Drive and the Sacramento River Trail on very uneven ground. Only those with good balance should go on this hike as it will be up and down small ravines on sloping ground.
We will examine the possible route of the proposed trail and each person can determine whether the loss of habitat outweighs the advantages of a 12-foot wide paved and lighted trail to eventually reach the Sacramento River Trail. We will also look at a trail connecting Overhill Road with the river trail and another foot trail that leads to the neighborhood.
Please sign up on our Meetup.org page for more information and starting location: CLICK HERE
Please sign a liability waiver: CLICK HERE
You must sign the waiver to participate. Limited to 14 participants.

Geography and More (Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve)
2023-11-11 18:00 - 20:00
November 11 (Sat.) 10 a.m. – “GEOGRAPHY AND MORE”
Join Dan Scollon, Shasta College instructor of Geography, GIS and Mapping for a walk and talk that puts Horsetown in the wider context of space and time. He will discuss physical geography, including geology, hydrology and vegetation, in the terms of how HCCP fits into the larger Klamath Mountains region. The human geography of the area will touch on significant periods, from the pre-European history to the present.
Contact Horsetownhccp@gmail.com or 241-2026 for more information

Clear Creek Greenway Field Trip
2023-11-12 21:00 - 23:00
Clear Creek Greenway Field Trip
Sunday, November 12, 1 pm
Join SEA and the Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society on an educational field trip on the Clear Creek Greenway Trail! While walking through riparian, wetland, and oak habitats, learn about native plants as we hike around four miles out and back, identifying plants on the trail and observing the effects of historical and recent mining and how plant communities are recovering from that. We may also see returning spawning salmon in the creek!
Meet at the Gorge Overlook parking lot at 1 pm. Bring water and closed-toe shoes.
SEA has adopted this trail and did a cleanup of about half of it last month.
To sign up for this field trip, first sign the waiver: CLICK HERE
And let us know you’re coming! CLICK HERE
For more information, email david@ecoshasta.org

Sacramento River Bend Field Trip
2023-12-09 17:30 - 20:00
Sacramento River Bend Field Trip
Saturday, December 9th, 9:30 am
This joint SEA/CNPS field trip will be to the BLM’s Sacramento River Bend in Tehama County. It will be two short, easy walks totaling about 4 miles on a generally flat trail along Paynes Creek where in one section we will see a riparian area of California sycamores (Platanus racemosa) with an understory of many California buckeye (Aesculus californica). This will be a good way to learn how to identify shrubs and trees in the fall, most without their leaves which walk leader David Ledger will identify.
The second short walk will be in the riparian forest next to the Sacramento River. If excessively muddy, we will walk a different trail.
Bring water, lunch, boots, and layered clothes. If there’s a drizzle or light rain, bring an umbrella, but rain cancels (It rains way less in Tehama County).
For more information, contact walk leader David Ledger at david@ecoshasta.org. SIGN UP at our MeetUp webpage https://www.meetup.com/shasta-environmental-alliance-sea/ and make sure to sign the waiver!!! Meet at the CVS parking lot at Buena Ventura and Placer at 9:30 am.

Shasta Land Trust hosts: Conservation Easement Workshop
2023-12-15 01:30 - 03:30
Conservation Easement Workshop
Thursday, December 14th | 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Shasta Land Trust (SLT) is hosting a Conservation Easement Workshop on Thursday, December 14thfrom 5:30p – 7:30p. This will be a FREE workshop designed for landowners within Shasta County and the surrounding areas who are interested in learning more about how a conservation easement can benefit them and their property. Learn about the purpose of conservation easements, the difference between donated and funded projects, as well as the benefits and requirements that come with them.

The goal is to help landowners make informed decisions and understand our selection process. SLT also invites you to participate in a “Question & Answer” session afterward with a panel of Shasta Land Trust staff and landowners who have used a conservation easement as a tool to forever protect the land they love.

For more information or to register, click here.

This workshop is free and appetizers/drinks will be provided, but space is limited so please register to attend. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tessa at Shasta Land Trust via email at csousa@shastalandtrust.org or via phone at (530) 241-7886.

New Year's Day Hike
2024-01-01 17:30 - 19:30
New Year’s Day Hike
Monday, January 1, 2024 at 9:30am
Westside Trail
Start the New Year off right on our 12th annual joint CNPS/SEA hike up the Westside Trail, a four-mile roundtrip, easy-to-moderate hike to the “Top of the World” with views of Mt. Shasta, Trinity Alps, Mt. Lassen, and the northern Sierras.

Field trip leader David Ledger has led this hike for the Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society for 12 years and is continuing on as a joint CNPS/SEA field trip.

This is a fun hike, and we will identify some of the native plants as we hike up the hill and observe the regrowth and recent brush removal by BLM for fire safety following the Carr Fire. We will also identify the invasive stinkwort plant now infesting wildlands of California. Meet at the west end of Kilkee Drive near Mary Lake at 9:30 am. We usually have 15 to 20 friendly people on this fun field trip with a toast of wine at the top.

Please RSVP on our Meetup website and sign a waiver which is good for all field trips in 2024 at https://ecoshasta.org/events/trip-event-waiver/ . Limit 20 people.

Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation by Rico Montenegro
2024-01-12 02:00 - 04:00
Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation by Rico Montenegro
Located upstairs in the conference room at Orchard Nutrition Center
-Thursday, January 11thth
-6 to 8 pm

Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation by Rico Montenegro
2024-01-13 18:00 - 20:00
Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation
Meet at the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office
1135 Arboretum Drive, Redding (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery)
-Saturday, January 13, 2024
-10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
https://www.turtlebaynursery.org/events/plant-talk-fruit-tree-selection-and-cultivation

Chamise Peak Native Plant Field Trip
2024-01-14 17:00 - 21:00
Chamise Peak Native Plant Field Trip
DATE CHANGE: Now on Sunday, January 14 from 9am to 1 pm
The Chamise Peak Trail is an easy to moderate-difficulty trail of 4 ½ miles with a 700 elevation climb. On this hike we will teach participants how to identify native shrubs and trees in winter and a little about their natural history. Walk leader David Ledger will give the most logical reason why there is no chamise along the trail, but the plant is found in the surrounding area. This trail follows an oak woodland and chaparral habitat with scattered conifers.
We will meet at the Holiday Market parking lot near the CVS store on Placer and Buena Ventura at 9 am to carpool to the trail or at the trailhead at 9:30 am. We try to reduce our greenhouse gases by carpooling, but it is not required. To sign up, please go to the SEA Meetup.com website and be sure to sign the waiver for all of 2024. For more information, contact david@ecoshasta.org
Drizzle or sprinkles, bring umbrella, rain cancels.
Email david@ecoshasta.org for any questions

Tree Selection, Placement and Cultivation for Hot Climates with Rico Montenegro
2024-01-19 02:00 - 04:00
Shasta Lake Garden Club
Tree Selection, Placement and Cultivation for Hot Climates
Clair Engle Park Community Center
1525 Median Av., Shasta Lake
 Thursday, January 18th
 6 PM to 8 PM

Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation by Rico Montenegro
2024-01-20 18:00 - 20:00
Plant Talk: Fruit Tree Selection and Cultivation
11555 Old Oregon Trail, Redding
Rm 4000 at the Shasta College farm
-Saturday, January 20
-10 AM to 12 PM

Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop & Orchard Hands-on Work Day with Rico Montenegro
2024-01-27 16:30 - 19:00
Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop & Orchard Hands-on Work Day
Lassen View Elementary School – 705 Loma Vista Dr., Redding
 Saturday, January 27
 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM
This is a community event, so bring family and friends. Dress casually and bring bypass pruners, loppers, pruning
saw, gloves as well as wheelbarrows, bow rakes and bailing forks to spread mulch.

Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop & Orchard Hands-on Work Day with Rico Montenegro
2024-01-27 21:00 - 23:00
Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop & Orchard Hands-on Work Day
Shasta Meadows Elementary School – 2825 Yana Av., Redding
 Saturday, January 27
 1 PM to 3:30 PM
This is a community event, so bring family and friends. Dress casually and bring bypass pruners, loppers, pruning saw, gloves as well as wheelbarrows, bow rakes, and bailing forks to spread mulch.

Redding Seed Swap at the NEW Shasta Seed Library (hosted by Farmily Project)
2024-02-04 21:30 - 2024-02-05 00:00
Redding Seed Swap at the NEW Shasta Seed Library (Farmily Project)
Sunday, February 4th, 1:30 pm – 4 pm
Redding Library Community Room

“Brought to you by the Farmily Project in cooperation with the coming son Shasta Public Library Seed Library

Join us for Redding’s first city-wide seeds, plants, bulbs, cuttings, rhizomes, and scions swap!

Bring any of the above, even if you don’t have any to swap, there will be ways to share.

Local food, plant, and agriculture businesses and groups will have information available.

Come and participate in the growth of our community around plants and food!

Contact: Text or leave a message for Laurie at 530-440-2924”

Cloverdale Trail Ecology and Restoration Field Trip
2024-02-10 17:00 - 20:00
Cloverdale Trail Ecology and Restoration Field Trip
Saturday, February 10 at 9 am
Meet at CVS parking lot on Placer Street in Redding
Bureau of Land Management Ecologist Brooke Thompson will lead this field trip and give an explanation of the restoration work BLM has been doing in this area and the effects man has had on the area as we walk several of the trails. This will be an easy walk of about three miles lasting up to three hours.
Meet at the Holiday Market Parking lot at 9 am to carpool to the trailhead and save GHG or meet at the trailhead at 9:20 am.
Brooke is really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about restoring and protecting BLM lands.
Look for more details on our website at ecoshsata.org or here in mid-January for more details. Limited to 20 participants. You must signup on our Meetup website and sign the online waiver that covers all events for 2024 (must sign again if you signed in 2023!). Dogs on leash at all times are okay, but please ensure you bring poop bags.

Bark Beetles: An Interesting Part of Our Local Forest Ecology
2024-02-14 02:00 - 03:30
Join us for this free, public talk on Tuesday, February 13th from 6 pm – 7:30 pm for a presentation by Dr. Donald R. Owen at the Redding Public Library Community Room
Don will start his talk with an overview of native bark beetles and their impacts, including their response to climate change. He also will explore the concept of “pest” using bark beetles and some lesser-known forest insects as examples. Finally, he will talk about some local insects with fascinating life histories – insects that can be observed simply by stepping outside and being observant.

Don is a retired Forest Entomologist with degrees from Penn State and UC Berkeley. At the start of his career, he worked for the USDA Forest Service in New Mexico, Alaska, and California. In 1991 he switched permanently to the CA Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection, where he served as Forest Heath Specialist and the Department’s lead on forest insects. He has a broad background in forest insects and diseases, both native and invasive, and their impact on forest ecosystems.

He enjoys exploring the lives of insects through photography. His photographs appear on the FORESTRY IMAGES website and have been featured in publications of the Entomological Society of America.

**Related to this talk, SEA will be organizing a field trip in late April to the Phillips Brothers Mill, established in 1897 and the only steam powered lumber mill in the United States still operating. The 1000-acre forest surrounding it is under a conservation easement and supplies much of the lumber for the mill, bark beetles or not. The last tour SEA led in 2019 was sold out at $25 a ticket. If you come to this Bark Beetle talk you will have the first chance to sign up for this over 120-year-old mill tour. Please sign up at the Bark Beetle meeting!

Audubon Conservation Ranching Program event (hosted by Shasta Birding Society)
2024-02-15 03:00 - 04:30
Audubon Conservation Ranching Program
February 14 at 7:00 pm
Shasta Birding Society invites members of the Shasta Environmental Alliance and the Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society to join us in a Zoom meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87589708925 on Wednesday evening, February 14, at 7:00 pm.
Matt Allshouse of Audubon California will present a program on the Conservation Ranching Program, the goal of which is to halt the conversion of grassland ecosystems and improve the ecological functions of rangelands by partnering with ranchers.
Program Description:
California has roughly 40 million acres of rangelands that provide food production, carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and habitat for a wide range of species. However, this historic land use is under threat with an average of 20,000 acres a year being lost to development or crop conversion. Climate change, invasive species, aquifer depletion, and outdated grazing practices also degrade large portions of grasslands, increasing economic and ecological vulnerability. This in turn has contributed to steep declines in grassland bird species across California and the United States.
Audubon launched its Conservation Ranching program (ACR) here in California in 2019. This program is designed to stem the conversion of grassland ecosystems and improve the ecological functions of rangelands by partnering with ranchers to transition to more regenerative grazing approaches via a ranch certification program. This presentation will highlight the ACR program components which includes the development of ranch-specific Habitat Management Plans and a third-party certified set of regenerative grazing practices to increase climate-driven drought resiliency, rebuild soil organic matter, enhance plant diversity
and cover, increase water infiltration and carbon sequestration, and increase overall biodiversity. This ecological resilience can translate to economic resilience, as participating producers are able to use the Audubon certification logo on their product – providing a market incentive to landowners to enroll in this program through increased sales or revenue. This presentation will highlight program practices, early results and opportunities for enrollment.
Matt Allshouse came to Audubon California from Wyoming and has been the Conservation Ranching Program Manager for the state since September 2019. As a rangeland ecologist, he has 15 years of experience associated with land policy, management, and science. Previously, Matt served as Ranch Manager for Antelope Springs Land and Cattle in Wyoming, as a Biologist for the Peregrine Fund in Belize and Guatemala directing conservation field research, and as Ecologist with the consulting firm Trihydro Corporation focusing on restoration ecology. Matt holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Environment and Natural Resources, and Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management from University of Wyoming.

SEA Clear Creek Trail Cleanup
2024-02-17 17:30 - 19:30
SEA Clear Creek Trail Cleanup
Saturday, Feb. 17, 9:30 am
Clear Creek Greenway
SEA has adopted a 2-mile segment of the Clear Creek Trail from the Gorge Overlook Parking lot to Horsetown Preserve. This is our quarterly cleanup of the trail of scattered trash and any fallen limbs. You can work a 1-mile segment or the entire trail. We previously cleaned this trail in November, so we do not expect a lot of trash or any homeless camping sites.
If you wish to come, please sign up at our Meetup site and sign the waiver on our website. If you have previously signed the waiver this year, you do not need to again.
Do your part to keep our local trails clean and meet us at the Gorge Overlook parking lot, 5 miles west of Highway 273 on Clear Creek Road. Rain will postpone cleanup until Sunday at 1:30 pm or a later date if needed.
For more information, contact David Ledger at david@ecoshasta.org

Trail 58 Field Trip
2024-02-24 17:30 - 19:30
Trail 58 Field Trip
Iron Mt. Road, Keswick
Saturday, February 24, 9:30 am

This is a trail on BLM land just west of Redding that follows the south side of Middle Creek to Old Shasta in a former oak woodland, now recovering from the Carr Fire. This is a fairly level trail that follows an old water ditch from the gold mining era for much of the way with a footbridge across a small creek in a ravine. We will catch early-blooming wildflowers and identify many of the trees and shrubs along the trail. This is a 3 ½ mile easy hike with a steep and rocky section near the end requiring some agility and balance.

This will be a fun trail with lots to see, but unfortunately, many of the trees were burned in the fire. This opens up greater vistas of the canyon and hillsides. If you want to participate, make sure you sign up on Meetup.org here and make sure you sign the waiver once for all field trips in 2024. This is a Leave No Trace field trip, carry out what you bring in, and do not collect plants, mushrooms, etc. on our public lands. Dogs on leash okay but bring a poop bag. We will meet at the trailhead off Highway 299 on Iron Mt. Road. Limited to 20 people who have signed up on Meetup. For more information contact walk leader David Ledger at david@ecoshasta.

Clear Creek Trail Cleanup
2024-03-09 17:30 - 20:30
Clear Creek Trail Cleanup
Saturday, March 9th, 9:30 am
Clear Creek Gorge Parking Lot

Clear Creek Trail Cleanup: We were rained out last month, so we will try this again.
SEA will be conducting a quarterly cleanup and trail maintenance day on a two-mile section of trail In the Clear Creek Greenway. This will be a light cleanup, no homeless campsites. Meet at the Clear Creek Overlook Parking lot on Saturday, March 2 at 9:30 am. Bring gloves and water. This will be about a 2 ½ hour cleanup. Work as long or short as you wish. Heavy rain cancels. For more information, contact david@ecoshasta.org or go to our Meetup.com

Waiver: https://ecoshasta.org/events/trip-event-waiver/

Adopt-a-Highway Clean-Up (Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve)
2024-03-23 16:00 - 19:00
Adopt-a-Highway Clean-up (Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve)
March 23rd at 9am (if rainy, the date changes to March 30)

Meet at the Horsetown parking area on Clear Creek Road at 9 am. Bring gloves and water. We have bags, vests, and grabbers. We will spend about 3 hours cleaning up a stretch of Clear Creek Road with lunch/snacks provided afterwards. No heavy lifting is necessary.

Waters Gulch Trail Field Trip
2024-03-23 16:00 - 20:00
Waters Gulch Trail Field Trip
Saturday, March 23rd, meet at Chase Bank on Dana Drive at 9 am

This botanically-diverse trail never fails to disappoint and this year we will catch early spring blooming wildflowers. This four-mile hike is easy to moderate difficulty and is fairly level with a few steep sections. We will see a wide diversity of plants as we walk through different habitats, oak woodland, chaparral, riparian, and mixed hardwood/conifer forests.

Bring closed-toe shoes, water, and lunch or snacks. Please go to our Meetup site to reserve a space and be sure to sign our waiver on our website. You must sign the waiver to attend unless you have earlier this year. Waiver: https://ecoshasta.org/events/trip-event-waiver/

Meet at the Mt. Shasta Mall Parking lot near Chase Bank and we will carpool/caravan to the trailhead. For more information contact walk leader David Ledger at david@ecoshasta.org
