September 2026 Watershed News | | |
This special edition of the FOSC newsletter features articles and contributions from a
few of our incredibly talented and environmentally active young community members,
as well as outreach and stewardship opportunities designed for youth.
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Team Oakland took over the nursery this summer! Four crews joined us throughout the season to tackle projects, network with environmental professionals, and gain hands-on experience caring for the place where thousands of native plants get their start.
Photo by Laila Robinson—2026 Dale Bowyer Fellow
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Friends of Sausal Creek is a volunteer-based, community organization. We appreciate your support of our education, monitoring, and restoration programs in the
Sausal Creek Watershed.
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Upcoming Events
FOSC 30th Anniversary Summer Soirée
Saturday, September 26, 5 - 8 p.m. | FOSC Native Plant Nursery
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The Soirée is just around the corner!
Join us at our native plant nursery for a celebratory evening under the Harvest Moon, with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, and live jazz.
Just 8 tickets remain! Get yours before we finalize our guest list this Saturday.
And the auction is already underway! Register to bid, browse the items, and start bidding, whether or not you can join us on the 26th.
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Creek to Bay Day
Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 26 | Multiple Watershed Sites
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Pitch in for Creek to Bay Day! Join neighbors across the watershed to help keep our city and waterways clean—from creek to bay and beyond.
Saturday, September 19
- Dimond Park/Canyon: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Monterey Redwoods: 9 - 11 a.m.
- Marj Saunders Park: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Wood Park: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Barry Place: 1 - 4 p.m.
- Fern Ravine: 1 - 4 p.m.
Sunday, September 20
- Bridgeview Trailhead: 9 - 11 a.m.
- Jingletown: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Saturday, September 26
- Beaconsfield: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
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21st Annual Native Plant Sale and Open House
Saturday, October 24th, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. | FOSC Native Plant Nursery
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Calling all young plant enthusiasts!
Interested in getting involved with FOSC this fall? We’re looking for youth volunteers to help at our Native Plant Sale and Open House. There are lots of ways to pitch in, learn about native plants, and get hands-on experience at our nursery.
Got an artistic streak? We’re inviting one young person to support local artist Simone Lassar with live block printing featuring special native plant designs from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
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For ALL Ages: Coming to the plant sale and want to leave with a one-of-a-kind piece? Bring a light-colored, soft, non-textured piece of natural fiber clothing or fabric to print!
Please reach out to info@sausalcreek.org if you’re interested in volunteering.
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Team Oakland 2026
Summer Crew Reflections
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This year marked our 11th year hosting Team Oakland crews, a summer program run in collaboration with Youth Employment Partnership (YEP) that connects Oakland youth with paid work experience supporting their community and environment.
35 students spent six weeks working across the Sausal Creek watershed. They propagated plants and built structures at our native plant nursery, learned habitat restoration techniques in an array of ecosystems—from the Fern Ravine redwood forest downstream to the Jingletown Native Plant Garden. They tested water quality, identified benthic macroinvertebrates, and kayaked the estuary to survey marine debris.
Here are a few snapshots from their summer, along with reflections from the students themselves!
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Growing year-round youth opportunities:
This fall, five students from our Spring Stream Team program will help kick off FOSC’s new Innovation Incubator—helping to shape the future of our Spring Stream Team and Team Oakland programs, from curriculum and schedules to transportation and field activities.
The Innovation Incubator is part of FOSC’s growing effort to create year-round, paid opportunities for youth to engage with the watershed. This winter, a group of students will bring the spring propagation work full circle through our first Seed-to-Site Squad, focusing on winter planting of native seedlings.
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Youth In Action
Watershed Warriors
| | Last week, the Watershed Warriors visited Fern Ravine, exploring the history and ecology of the redwood forest. At FOSC’s native plant nursery, they learned about growing plants for restoration and conducted interviews for their documentary. Photo by Stefany Ortiz, Latitude High School Junior. | |
Over the fall semester, 45 Latitude High School students are participating in our inaugural Watershed Warriors program, hosted in partnership with BayQuest and Latitude High School. With the watershed as their classroom, students are following Sausal Creek from the forests of Joaquin Miller Park to the San Francisco Bay for immersive field trips, habitat restoration, and an Eco Sail on the open water.
Throughout the semester, students will document their experience through photos and video, producing two 10-minute documentaries that share what they’re learned about the watershed and the importance of protecting it.
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FOSC's Student Leadership
Welcome, New Student Board Members, Ava and Alan!
| | | | Ava Capen is a senior at Berkeley High School and an aspiring conservationist and an environmental steward who has worked on a plethora of different kinds of environmental projects. She loves invasive species plant removal, trail clearing, and all kinds of conservation and forestry work, with experience both locally and in the Sierras. Ava looks forward to connecting with local community members who share her passion for environmental work and learn from them. She hopes this will be a stepping stone on her environmental career path and is so excited for this opportunity to make a difference in a small but big way! | | | | Alan Resendiz is a senior at Skyline High School who first learned about FOSC as a 2026 Spring Stream Team youth intern. Through volunteer workdays and two internships, he has learned more about restoration, wildfire risk, and the Sausal Creek watershed. Drawn to having a bigger role in his community, he hopes to bring a younger voice to conservation and restoration, while encouraging more of his peers to develop similar interests. Outside of school and environmental work, he is on the Skyline High School wrestling team and enjoys martial arts and hiking. | | |
Thank You to our Funders and Donors
Friends of Sausal Creek works with Oakland’s young people at every age, from K-12 students studying the watershed through hands-on science to teens in paid internships and fellowships.
Our current youth programs are supported by the Kathryn and Robert Riddell Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation, and our partners at Youth Employment Partnership, with additional support from the Hillside Gardeners of Montclair and gifts from individual donors. Thank you for helping these programs grow.
| | Join us for one of our many upcoming work days, or support this work with a gift. Your contribution helps support habitat restoration, environmental education, and community connection in the Sausal Creek Watershed. | | |
Friends of Sausal Creek is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to restore, maintain, and protect the Sausal Creek Watershed.
We educate future generations, involve the community in local environmental stewardship, and collaborate with agencies and other nonprofits to have a positive impact on the local ecosystem.
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Photo credits:
Laila Robinson, Kate Belin, Eliana Thompson, Elena Stenger, Stefany Ortiz, Ava Capen, Alan Resendiz
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