October 23, 2020
Dear Friends,
|
|
I hope you are taking some time to slow down and observe the seasonal changes this autumn. I can definitely feel the shift. I took a few days off last week to rest from our recent Dinner on the Pacific Plate. Who knew that creating a virtual event would be just as much effort as hosting an in person affair? It was a fantastic experience and a lot of fun too. I am so impressed with how many of you gathered with us, during a pandemic, just weeks prior to a big election, to demonstrate how much this park and PRNSA mean to you. Thanks for showing up for the Seashore!
|
|
Post-Fire Regeneration in the Park |
|
You still have time to contribute to our Regeneration Fund. Join us by making a gift by the end of the month to help us reach our $75,000 goal.
We still have $17,000 to go!
All donations will be split between post-fire conservation efforts and fire ecology education. Over the coming months, we will highlight the Woodward Fire conservation progress. Please read below to learn about our new interns and where they are supporting these important efforts in the Park. We are excited to welcome them to our team. Thank you for helping us continue this work by supporting our Regeneration Fund today.
|
|
Last Chance to get Your THANK YOU gifts!
For a donation of $50 you will receive a PRNSA face mask; $150 – a Dinner on the Pacific Plate t-shirt; and $500 – an invitation to a fire ecology walk when it is safe to enter the burned area of the park.
|
|
Our Wild and Precious Communities
Did you catch the Terry Tempest Williams event (and fundraiser for PRNSA) our friends at Point Reyes Books hosted last week? Terry is one of our favorite authors and one of the most important conservationists of our time. Her latest book, Erosion - Essays of Undoing, is a call to action to preserve and protect our public lands and democracy itself. We are seeing first-hand how a changing climate is affecting our state and public lands. With an election less than two weeks away... What's the best way to help?
Vote for representatives who prioritize our wild lands, waters and air and understand the need to welcome all to our parks.
|
|
And lastly, with the longer nights, and inspired by Terry's book and upcoming bat week, we offer you, below, some of our favorite Park in Place educational webinar picks of the season, our talk with Dr. Carolyn Finney about racial justice in the outdoors, and a list of our exciting November Field Classes. I hope you enjoy the shorter days and be sure to vote! |
|
Heather Clapp
Director of Development and Community Engagement
PS: Thank you for getting out to vote for the environment!
|
|
|
Coming soon! Bear Valley Visitor Center (BVVC) will be staffed with an orientation table outside to let visitors know where and how to recreate. Since most trails in Bear Valley are still closed, the orientation table at the BVVC will be used as an informational "launching pad" for visitors to explore other areas of the park.
Limantour Road is open to visitors. Limantour Beach is entirely open to the public.
Visitors are reminded to respect trail and road closures. All trails that go into the Woodward Fire burn area remain closed. Fuels on the interior of the fire will continue to burn until the winter rains arrive. Keep yourself and park personnel safe by staying out of the closure zone. go.nps.gov/pore/woodwardfire
Visit this website to get the most up to date information on the fire, including park closures.
|
|
|
PRNSA Community Book Read
& Conversation with Author Dr. Carolyn Finney
Next Week! Thursday October 29, 4-5pm
|
|
Since midsummer, members of the Marin County Free Library & PRNSA community have been reading the book Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. On Thursday, October 29th at 4pm PST, we will be joined on Zoom by author Dr. Carolyn Finney, who will elucidate our discussion of the histories and critiques in her book. We encourage typed questions using the Zoom Q&A, and a limited number of attendees will be invited to join our panel. Click here to register!
Copies of the book are still available at both Inverness and Point Reyes Libraries. Please call and reserve a copy for pickup, or stop by during curbside hours and request the book. Black Faces, White Spaces is also available on Hoopla through the library with no wait. Instructions for downloading to Hoopla on the library's website: https://marinlibrary.org/ebooks/
|
|
10am – 5pm
Turn your photos from "grabbers" into "keepers" by learning and practicing smartphone techniques at beautiful Abbotts Lagoon. Register HERE
|
|
Saturday, November 14
10am – 2:30pm
In this online class we will focus on writing as a means of personally and collectively connecting to Earth and finding creative insight. Register HERE
|
|
Saturday, November 14
10:30am – 1:30pm
Forest bathing is a guided nature meditation, a slow meander in the forest to connect more deeply with nature and within. Register HERE
|
|
Sunday, November 15
10:30am – 5pm
Come celebrate the natural world and photograph close- where a flower becomes its own world. Register HERE
|
|
FAVORITE FALL WEBINAR PICKS |
|
Terry Tempest Williams got us thinking of the magnitude of erosion and human time here on Earth (see our webinar "Does Earth Have a Memory" below). Then, because it's October and bat week next week (Oct. 24-31), we gift you with the Bat webinar we hosted in May.
|
|
Savannah Fuqua
Coastal Dune Restoration
I grew up in rural west Tennessee, in a little town called Milan. My dad was a wildlife technician for Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and he instilled in me a love for nature from a very early age. I followed this passion by attending Washington University in St Louis where I got a degree in Environmental Biology. While there, I met a researcher who studies the rare and endangered Tidestrom's Lupine here at Point Reyes. I assisted her with fieldwork here one summer and fell in love with the landscape, especially the dunes. This is my second time with PRNSA, where I have been working as the Coastal Dune Restoration intern. I love getting to spend my days working to restore and conserve such a unique and beautiful ecosystem.
|
|
Jerimiah Oetting
Science Communication
I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, with a degree in Ecology, Evolution & Animal Behavior. While earning my bachelor's, I was lucky to spend my summers working at a small mom & pop cafe on the Blackfeet reservation in St. Mary, Montana, serving pie and exploring the mountains of Glacier National Park. I've since lived in seven states as I've moved around the West pursuing seasonal positions with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. I've worked at Crater Lake, Rocky Mountain and Olympic national parks. In June, I completed my master's degree in Science Communication at UC Santa Cruz, and now hope to write about how land management, conservation and climate change are challenging the West. I wanted to intern at Point Reyes because I felt the position would unify my degree in science communication and my past experience as a field biologist working for the park service and other federal agencies. The opportunity to write about the Point Reyes landscape while informing the public about the recent fire sounded like an excellent way to develop into a stronger science communicator.
|
|
Emalia Partlow
Exploratory Data Analysis
I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii and now live in Monterey, CA. I attend the University of California Santa Barbara where I study biology in the College of Creative Studies. For as long as I can remember, the natural world has been a source of curiosity and wonder for me. Some of my earliest memories include exploring tidepools and observing elephant seals in Point Reyes National Park. Throughout my educational career, independent and collaborative research has fed my passion for understanding marine ecological systems like these. PRNSA’s mission aligns with my goal of using research to foster applied actions that support conservation efforts. During quarantine, I was eager to expand my experience as well as help PRNSA and the National Park Service. The data analysis internship position has allowed me to gain valuable tools that will help me pursue my desire to be an ecological researcher.
|
|
We partner with the National Park Service to create opportunities for all people to experience, enhance, and preserve Point Reyes National Seashore for present and future generations. |
|
Point Reyes National Seashore | (415) 663-1200 x 310 | [email protected] | www.ptreyes.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
