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- Attendees:
Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, Kim Gardner, Greg & Roxanne
Koopman, Marty Reinders, Ron
Horii. Visiting: County Parks Natural Resources Program Supervisor Barry Hill and Deputy Director Don Rocha.
- Barry Hill and Don Rocha came to talk about cattle grazing in Santa Teresa Park. Barry gave a slideshow presentation.
- Cattle grazing has been introduced to Santa Teresa Park as a resource management tool.
- Grazing
supports endemic flower and wildflowers and improves conditions for
native species, like the Bay Checkerspot butterfly. It should also
reduce the risk of fire.
- Funding for the program came from the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish & Wildlife Service grants. The
total cost of the project was $3/4 million. The budget was ~$1 million.
Grants provided $640K. County Parks provided in-kind support services.
- The
CEQA process for the plan was completed in 2013. Implementation:
2014-2016. There are 9 miles of fences, 7 water systems, 2 fed from
springs, 5 from Great Oaks Water Co.
- The cattle arrived on
7/18. The rancher is from the Pacheco Pass/Hollister area. He has 50
head of cattle in the park. He also has cattle at the Mendoza Ranch
(Coyote Lake) and a ranch on Bailey Ave.
- Grazing is based on resource need, not for making money. The rancher is charged a fee for grazing.
- There
are 4 pastures. The cattle are in the Pueblo field now. They will later
be moved to the Rocky Ridge field, which is the largest. They will be
moved as a group for now.
- There are no fields west of Bernal Road, but eventually there will be.
- The
fence was put through the middle of the pond on the Hidden Springs
Trail so cattle could get to it, while protecting part of it.
- Fences were put on both sides of the Hidden Springs Trail to protect the trail. They wanted to minimize trail impact.
- The fence was put through the middle of the corral in the Pueblo Area to protect an archaeological site.
- The ultimate plan is for 20-140 animals, depending on the rain. They are not allowed to bring in hay.
- The
hillsides near the neighborhoods are covered with oak woodlands and are
not grazable. They provide a buffer between the grazing areas and the
neighborhoods.
- Using goats for vegetation control is expensive.
They cost $900 an acre. They must be herded and tended. They can be
used in some areas where fire, herbicides, or cattle cannot be used.
- The fields will not be completely grazed down so that nesting birds will still have some grass for cover.
- To
avoid over-grazing, they will evaluate the residual dry matter left on
the fields. Their target is 600-1000 lbs/acre left at the end of the
grazing season. (3000-4000 lbs/acre is typical without grazing.)
- There will be a public workshop in the spring wit the ranchers and park staff.
- There
are no bulls in the herd now, but there will be bulls in the future.
The cattle are bred to be docile. Calving occurs in October. Bulls
arrive in late spring. There will be 3 bulls per herd.
- March-October is the default grazing period. They may be here until next year.
- Contact: barry.hill@prk.sccgov.org, (408) 355-2361. Barry is based at Vasona.
- Treasurer's report: balance is $1018.50. We paid the UNSCC dues.
- We
submitted our application for a City of San Jose Community Action and
Pride (CAP) Grant for Cycle 30, which runs from 9/1/16 to 8/31/17. We
requested a grant of $1,150 to pay for our UNSCC membership, website,
newsletter, PO Box, and event expenses, including Fandango and National
Night Out in 2017. Ron, Mike, and Kim attended the CAP Grant class
for Cycle 30.
- The final report for the current CAP Cycle 29 is due 9/30/16. Mike and ron will be working on it.
- The newsletter is done. Mike will make copies to distribute at Fandango.
- An
Eagle Scout from the East Bay is interested in organizing the trail
project from Santa Teresa Spring to Manila Way. He will be coming to
Fandango. The County has gravel for the trail.
- Aug. 28 is our
trip to Monterey County with Barbara Brown. We will have a BBQ &
clam chowder lunch. The cost will be $20. We will meet at Carl's Jr. at
8 am on Cottle Road (not Bernal Road) and carpool from there.
- Kim wrote a guide on how write grants. It's been sent to the Volunteer Coordinating Council.
- Mike
and Ron will meet with Parks Director Robb Courtney on 8/30 at 11:30.
They will talk about the budget for the Curie Drive road improvements
and about implementing the whole historic site plan.The Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association is also interest and will be coming to the meeting. The issue was brought up before the Parks Commission meeting. Park staff was asked to report on it to the commission.
- 9/17/16 from 11-3 is the Village Oaks Festival at the Village Oaks Shopping Center. We could have a booth there at no cost. Unfortunately, it overlaps with Coastal Cleanup Day, so we probably won't be able to participate.
- Fandango
is on Saturday Aug. 13 from 5-8 at the Bernal Ranch. Setup will start
at 3. We will be helping with setup and teardown. Kim will be at the
FOSTP table, where there will be a walk-away vegetable garden activity.
Kids will plant seeds in a paper cup. The materials will be provided by
the Parks Dept. Roxanne recruited 5 high school students to help out,
including their daughter Vanessa. Greg will supervise them. Mike &
Dorene will be telling stories in the second barn. Barbara Brown will
tell the story of Zacarias Bernal. Ron will take pictures.
- Ron
showed pictures: Boy Scouts rehabilitating the planter boxes and doing
garden cleanup at the Bernal Ranch; Carnivorous Plant Night at the
ranch; turtles, Pokemon players, security lights, and plant growth at
Santa Teresa Spring, cattle grazing, mountain bike demo, Fandango
planning meeting, groundskeeping at the ranch, upcoming movie night.
Ron also showed pictures from National Night Out events at Southside
Community Center, the Hayes Mansion, Silver Leaf Park, and Basking
Ridge Park. Next year, we will be looking at organizing our own
National Night Out, which will be on August 1.
- On Aug. 6, there will be a movie night and campout in the Pueblo Area of Santa Teresa Park.
- Ron
Horii is teaching a photo class on Aug. 20 at Ulistac Natural Area in
Santa Clara at 4:00. He will be giving a photo class at Santa Teresa in
the fall, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 12 at 10 am.
- The
volunteer's recognition picnic will be at Martial Cottle Park on 8/27
starting at noon. On the same day, Supervisor Mike Wasserman and
Assemblymember Mark Stone are sponsoring a breakfast and tour of the
Casa Grande and New Almaden from 10 am to 1 pm.
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