Save The Bay’s Habitat Restoration Team (HRT) has been busy working with many partners to kick-off an exciting new project this Fall. The team is planning and preparing for the revegetation of a 16-acre slope – our biggest restoration project yet!  

 Due to the small but efficient size of HRT, the many programs we implement, and the magnitude of this project, we have partnered with San Jose Conservation Corps (SJCC) to collaborate on this project. SJCC has become an extension of our team with regards to site preparation and fun in the field, of course.  

Before we can start working at the new site, we need to prepare a site adjacent to it: an enormous dry pond with a gravel island right in the center, measuring about 200m long and 40m wide. In the future the pond will be opened back up to the natural tidal flow of the Bay Area and will be entirely inaccessible by foot. Once this happens, the island in the middle of the pond will become pristine bird refugia during mating, migrating, and nesting seasons as it is isolated and away from predators on land. However, the island was covered in invasive weeds like Wild Mustard, Italian Thistle, Stinkwort, and more.  

With the help of the SJCC, we prioritized weeding all the invasives from this island before we diverted all our team efforts and attention to prepping the new site. Over the course of 4 extremely hot days in the first week of October, an SJCC crew of about 7 people and a couple members of our team were able to successfully weed the entire island. In total, about 1,500 lbs of weeds were removed, bagged, and dumped at a compost pile off-site.

Now, we’re working closely with SJCC to begin preparations for the new site. Stay tuned to learn more about this new restoration project, the biggest in Save The Bay history. Thank you for your hard prep work, HRT and SJCC – let the excitement begin!