Creek Restoration
Have you seen the new Gateway Facility?
Ecological Monitoring:
Weed mapping
Oak Monitoring
Species Lists
Educational Programs
Restoration through the seasons

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and Arastradero Preserve Stewardship Project staff, the Creek Site covers approximately 1.5 acres and is composed of native bunch grasses, oaks, shrubs and forbs. The site is approximately 95% weed free.

Creek Restoration
The Arastradero Creek Riparian Corridor (formerly known as the Bressler Property) is a 13-acre parcel acquired by the City of Palo Alto in 2005. Previously, this area was privately owned, with a house and horse arena on site. The creek that runs through the Riparian Corridor property had been buried in underground culverts. The City of Palo Alto obtained funding from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the State Department of Parks and Recreation to daylight this creek. Stream restoration included creating off channel pools and backwater sections of the creek with the intention of providing potential habitat for a variety of amphibians including the threatened California red-legged frog, Foothill yellow-legged frog, and California tiger salamanders.

Acterra's Stewardship program is now revegetating the area around the creek; 1,150 linear feet of riparian corridor. In December 2006, Acterra began coordinating local volunteers of diverse ages and socioeconomic backgrounds to work on this project. By summer,1000 volunteers had revegetated one third of the length of the riparian corridor, and the work continues!

If you have not been to the revegetated area, please sign up for a volunteer workday so that you can pay it a visit! It is truly a wonderful experience to see hundreds of native plants thriving in the California sun. Bunchgrasses, willow saplings, native shrubs and more are all growing together as a once-buried creek again becomes a living eco-system.

Have you seen the new Gateway Facility?
The Pearson-Arastradero Preserve Gateway Stewardship Facility, designed by Arkin-Tilt Architects, and built by volunteers, staff and contractors, opened its doors to the public on March 3, 2007. The buildings include an office for the Preserve Steward, rangers and key volunteers, a meeting and teaching space, public restrooms, and storage for restoration tools and supplies.

One of the most exciting features of the new building is its green design and operations. It utilizes passive solar heating and cooling, straw bale construction, photovoltaic solar panels, and reused materials that were salvaged from the old house and barn.

Acterra is in charge of creating and installing a native plant garden around the facility. The Acterra Native Plant Nursery has provided both plants and seeds for this project. Hundreds of staff and volunteer hours have gone into weeding invasive plants, mulching, and caring for the native plants in this site. Acterra will continue to plant natives around the facility in 2008 and 2009.

Ecological Monitoring

Weed mapping
With a grant from the Santa Clara County Weed Management Area, Acterra is mapping Yellow Starthistle, Poison Hemlock, Jointed Goatgrass, and Italian Thistle. Our completed maps are sent to the Department of Agriculture to help their efforts to monitor regional trends in the spread of invasive exotic plants.

Oak Monitoring
Have you seen tree tubes or trees in cages on Pearson-Arastradero Preserve? These are being monitored and taken care of on a yearly basis. Oak acorns were collected from the Preserve, germinated in our native plant nursery, and carefully planted in select locations. Each year Acterra staff and volunteers return to the plant oaks to weed around them, add mulch, provide water, repair tree tubes, and record the location and health of each tree on our GPS unit.

Species Lists
Part of our stewardship on the preserve involves biological monitoring. We are continually updating our species list as part of this process. Below you will find links to our plant and animal species lists. If you observe a species that is not currently on our list(s) please email and let us know what you saw! (links will be sent via email.)

Educational Programs
From full moon hikes to annual Restoration Workshops, Acterra staff and volunteers are continually creating exciting and informative events for the public to participate in! Our Young Earth Stewards Program does outreach to local schools in diverse communities, helping middle and high school students connect with nature on Arastradero Preserve or in their own backyard! Students learn to be earth stewards by restoring land to increase biodiversity. Biological diversity goes hand-in-hand with cultural diversity, and our programs work with a wide variety of folks from all different backgrounds. Wintertime is planting season! Volunteers get their hands wet and their boots muddy installing grass plugs, shrubs, and tree saplings. In the spring, we continue planting but also begin clearing invasive weeds from restoration sites. During springtime we get to see the wonderful wildflowers in bloom; showing off the results of the year's hard work! In the summer, come have fun in the sun as we spread mulch, remove exotic plants, and dig out Harding Grass. Fall's smells are invigorating while we collect seeds, monitor oaks, and prepare the ground for winter to come again.

Restoration through the seasons
During the winter months we continue major native grass restoration projects on the preserve. In the spring we clear sites of weeds, collect native seeds, and plant and maintain grass sites, some in their third year. In April and May we will also be shoring up trails and removing non-native, invasive plants throughout the preserve. In the summer have some fun in the sun with us as we remove non-native invasive plants. In the fall come help us continue oak planting.