East Bay's redwood forest is just a few miles from downtown Oakland. This is the last remaining belt of costal redwood within the East Bay. This 2,000 acre forest was re-named after Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt in 2019 for efforts towards preserving the parks redwood trees. Early 20th century saw heavy logging of the redwoods Aurelia Reinhardt, a professor of botany at Mills College in Oakland, began to take an interest in the redwoods and the need to protect them, playing a pivotal role in conserving their habitat, and leaving behind this beautiful park for all of us to enjoy.
Outdoorsy tribe organized volunteer work day at the park aiming to restore the natural habitat of the redwoods and removal of the invasive plants within the park area. Thanks to the East Bay Regional Parks ( https://www.ebparks.org/parks/reinhardt-redwood ) for giving us the opportunity to contribute in conservation of the environment.
Outdoorsy Tribe Volunteer Team Size: 13 members
What the tribe did: 13 members of the tribe were engaged in two sections of the park to remove the growth of French bloom, a highly invasive species. French broom is an aggressive invader, forming dense monoculture that exclude native plants and wildlife.
What the tribe learned: French broom forms monocultures taking away valuable resources from the native plants. These plants were brought into the country as a drought resistant plant which can easily grown in low nutrient soil. Broom is unpalatable to most livestock except goats. These leguminous plants produce large amounts of seed, and easily re-sprouts from the crown. It grows tall enough to be a perfect fuel for wildfires. French broom needs to be pulled mostly by hand if it is small or with a weed wrench if these are tall. Tribe learned how to use the weed wrench to remove plant from its roots.
Interesting facts about the work: French broom seeds can stay dormant for 30 years and sprout again, so it is important to pull these out before they start building seeds that spread far and wide. Given the plant can grow bigger than a shrub but smaller than a tree, it's the perfect bridge to spread wildfire from shrubs to tree, highly dangerous species.
