Putting your donations to work
Through generous community support, the Foundation has provided over $7 million supporting more than 30 projects in the San Mateo County Parks.
We support- Stewardship of the County Parks
- Preserving and Restoring Native Habitats
- Environment Education
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Bike Sunday
- Trail Improvements
Here's highlights of current efforts.
Welcome home, Checkerspot!
This year we celebrate the butterflies' return to Edgewood. In 1995, the Preserve was home to 5,000 bay checkerspot butterflies (Euphydryas editha bayensis). In 2002, only 1 caterpillar was found. What happened? Through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, researcher Dr. Stuart Weiss found that ammonia from the catalytic converters of cars on adjacent Highway 280 had fertilized the nutrient poor serpentine soil allowing nonnative Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) to crowd out native plants, including critical caterpillar food, California plantain (Plantago erecta). His research also tested various restoration techniques. Mowing, at a specific time in the life cycles of the various plants, proved effective. Thanks to a grant from PG&E cycles of mowing restored the habitat and this year 1,000 caterpillars and 12 live butterflies were relocated to Edgewood from a healthy population at Coyote Ridge in south San Jose.
Read more about the fascinating story of the Bay checkerspot butterfly's return to Edgewood in our Newsletter or on the Friends of Edgewood's website. Read the early research paper By Dr. Stuart Weiss. To see media highlights on this effort, see the Creekside Science webpage.
Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve Interpretive Center
Inspiring a Stewardship Ethic -- The Edgewood interpretive center Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve is a biological wonder in our backyard. As the seasons progress, the Preserve's mosaic of habitats offers visitors a changing display of nature's beauty. Edgewood's location makes it an easy destination from our urban areas and a pleasant break from our busy lives.
Edgewood has been saved from development in part by its unique plants and animals and in part by the efforts of many people, but its sensitive habitats are still threatened by invasive weeds and the thoughtless activities of visitors.
Join us as we move forward with an interpretive center that inspires stewardship of Edgewood's spectacular and irreplaceable landscape. Located near the main entrance to the preserve, the interpretive center will be a green building, using recycled materials and incorporating solar energy into the design.
The center and exhibits will convey key messages about Edgewood's unique features and its geological and biological wonders - along with the role that stewardship plays in maintaining this remarkable place. The interactive exhibits, designed with the needs of teachers in mind and linked to the State's curriculum standards, will appeal to a variety of ages and knowledge levels.
Phase 1 is completed! Improvements to the entrance including parking lot improvements, a school bus entrance, a new pedestrian bridge and a creek restoration have already been completed.
Phase 2 is underway and needs your support! Designs and plans are complete and a building permit is currently being secured. Construction envisioned in 2008, if we can raise the remaining funds this year.
Visitors to Edgewood can see the building footprint and signs illustrating the future center. Click here for an Interactive On-Line Tour. For more information or our special tour of the site call the Julia Bott at (650)321-5812
Preserving Fitzgerald Marine Reserve through Education
Numerous unique coastal habitats are found at the narrow 3 mile strip that forms the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve - including coastal bluff, sandy beaches, intertidal rocky reef and marsh. The Reserve's rich species diversity -- 439 species of marine plants and animals have been found there -- and easy access to the reef tide pools, makes it a popular destination for residents, visitors, schools and scientists. For over 30 years, the Friends of Fitzgerald has been providing docent tours.
A master plan, recently completed for this special marine refuge identified the need for educational facilities - including a modest-sized center supporting exhibits, training, library, and research. The plan also recommended new signage and other tools to help the docents and rangers preserve this special place for future generations to enjoy.
Once implemented, these facilities will support programs that instill a stewardship ethic that stays with the visitor - whether student or adult - forever. Inspiring and educating visitors, fostering protection of the Reserve and increased preservation of the ecosystem will be the ultimate impact of our work there. With your help, we'll accomplish this goal. An education center will be built and the parking reconfigured at the Moss Beach site.
Exhibits to show how the marine organisms live will be colorful, highly engaging, and thought-provoking.
Outside, a colorful, larger-than-life sculpture of tidepool animals that invites touch and exploration is planned. Children can move through openings in the sculpture to discover hidden reef treasures. Signs explain zonation in the reef's zones and compel visitors to tread lightly.
Enjoying the Many Trails in the County Parks
San Mateo County Parks has over 180 miles of trails, offering a variety of ways for people to enjoy the outdoors. The San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation is supporting improvements to the trails at Mirada Surf, Coyote Point and Crystal Springs Trail, which includes Sawyer Camp Trail.
Thanks to grant from the California Coastal Conservancy, the planning for the Mirada Surf segment of the California Coastal Trail and other amenities is complete and permits for the trail have been secured. See these drawings for a site plan and details.
Three of the four grant applications submitted were approved but that still leaves the County short of the fund necessary to build the trail. The County has applied for additional funding but competition for state and federal grants is great and we can't rely on those alone. The Foundation continues to seek private gifts to help us fund the completion of this missing gap in the California Coastal trail. Your contributions today will help us close the gap!
Support from local wind surfers is helping us provide funding to address eroding trails and bay access at Coyote Point. Other support is helping us provide colorful signs at the Marina with information about San Francisco Bay.
We are helping to extend the Crystal Springs Regional Trail System, by offering matching funds that make the County Parks' grant applications more competitive. When complete the Crystal Springs Regional Trail System will ruin from San Bruno south to Woodside. With over 350,000 visits annually, this trail is an important community resource. Donations to support the trail are dedicated to its support.
Learning about the Parks
The Foundation has developed a Teacher's Guide to San Mateo County Parks to help teachers take advantage of the park resources within an easy distance from local schools. No matter the grade level, there is useful information about each of the San Mateo County parks, suggestions for using the parks as part of a teaching program, correlations to California State Content Standards, and tie-ins with state-adopted science textbooks. For grades 2-6, the guide also outlines park-based activities that use the parks to enhance classroom learning in many disciplines. A Park Pack, with 15 copies of six different field guides, five sets of binoculars, numerous hand lenses, a nifty gadget that plays bird songs and other learning tools is also available for loan to assist teachers.
Order your free copy of our guide today at office@SupportParks.org or 650-321-5812.
Giving Back to the Parks by Volunteering
Volunteers play an important role in our parks. People enjoy giving back to the parks and it's fun! The Foundation, grateful for the wonderful support of volunteers, provides annual funding to support volunteer projects in the parks. The grants support many, many projects:
- Tools for the volunteers who remove invasive plants or work on trails,
- Training for docents,
- Purchasing trees and native plants for volunteers to plant, and
- Training, radios and supplies for trail patrol and trail maintenance projects.
Coyote Park Promenade Repairs
Erosion over the past few years has impacted the Promenade, a section of the SF Bay Trail in Coyote Point Recreation Area, resulting in dangerous conditions and fences that reduce access to the Bay.
The Foundation has provided a grant to the San Mateo County Department of Parks to study the hydrological conditions that led to the erosion and design a new trail for the park. The study is complete and a design that includes allowing a more natural shoreline and placing the new trail further upland is proposed. The path will still be adjacent to the shoreline and provide access to the beach and Bay. This permanent repair is a few years off because it needs permits and is anticipated to cost at least $1 million.
However, permits were recently granted for a temporary access and can begin this spring, if we raise the remaining $10,000 to cover the costs of this much needed project. $25,000 has already been raised.
Gifts should be made to the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation. They can be made through our Pay Pal account or you can use our donations form for checks/credit card donations. You must specify this project in a note to us. All money will go the project. The Foundation does not take any overhead from the contributions.