January Volunteer Recap: January Workday Successes! | Cal Parks
Published: February 15, 2023

In January, we had 112 volunteers contribute 336 hours of service to Rio de Los Angeles State Park, Half Moon Bay State Beach, Garrapata State Park, and Fort Ord Dunes State Park. Unfortunately, the atmospheric river storm affected a few of our parks and programming throughout the month with torrential rains, landslides, and high winds. Nonetheless, we can’t thank our volunteers enough for attending our volunteer workday events to help us and our incredible park staff partners protect and preserve our state parks. Read more to learn about what our determined volunteer community has been up to the past month. 


January Workday Impacts: 

“The day was great and I've already signed up for more volunteer events!” - Volunteer, Half Moon Bay State Beach  

 

Rio de Los Angeles State Park

On January 21, we had 29 volunteers join us at Rio de Los Angeles State Park. Our volunteers supported this unique state park’s important riparian habitat restoration efforts by planting 100 native flora. They planted mule fat, a local native plant that provides essential habitat for species like the tenacious Least Bell’s Vireo. Urban parks like Rio de Los Angeles State Park are sanctuaries for surrounding communities and provide vital habitat for wildlife that migrates along the Los Angeles River. Special thank you to our Volunteer Core Leaders and park staff partners Kay Foster, Brian Hembacher, Michelle White, and Luis Rincon.  

Click here to join our next Rio de Los Angeles State Park volunteer workday! 


Half Moon Bay State Beach 

On January 21, we had 44 volunteers join us at Half Moon Bay State Beach. As the rain eased off, cool but sunny skies greeted volunteers at Dunes Beach. Our volunteers participated in the park's ongoing habitat restoration project, which promotes biodiversity and supports wildlife by planting 300 native plants and removing 1,850 ice plants that invade our coastal bluffs. In addition, four volunteers received quail pins to commemorate joining three or more volunteer workday events. Special thank you to our Volunteer Core Leaders and park staff partners John Salcido, the Gupta family, Andrew Poon, Ethan Rayner, and Joanne Kerbavaz. We also wanted to give a huge congratulations to John Salcido for receiving a Golden Bear Award from the California State Park and Recreation Commission – thank you so much, John, for your outstanding contributions to our parks!  

Click here to join our next Half Moon Bay State Beach volunteer workday! 


Garrapata State Park

On January 24, we had 19 volunteers join us at Garrapata State Park. Since our previous workday, invasive species had started to grow among recently planted native plants. For that reason, this workday project focused on removing sweet alyssum, mustard, and thistle from disrupting the park’s diverse native plant communities from thriving. Wildflowers and bright blue ocean views, an epitome of California, surrounded volunteers as they carefully removed non-native species. Their efforts allow the native flora a chance to grow without any disturbance. Special thank you to our Volunteer Core Leaders and park staff partners Rick McGarrity, Helen Ogden, and Sam Winter.  

Click here to join our next Garrapata State Park volunteer workday!


Want to feel more connected with nature? Join a community of park volunteers today! Check out our calendar to see what workdays are around your area: volunteer.calparks.org.