spring 2010 conservation quarterly - yolo county resource conservation district

8/3/2019 Spring 2010 Conservation Quarterly - Yolo County Resource Conservation District

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Hedgerows: Multi-tasking for Farm and Wildlife Benets

Executive Directors and Board Chairmans MessagesConservation at Work Throughout the County

Events and WorkshopsAlso included: Annual Dinner Registration! See page 3

ocal pioneer

Any story about hedgerows in Yolo County, usually starts

with John Anderson. Over the past 30 years, he has workedrelessly to investigate, implement and educate land own-s and managers about the benets of hedgerows and nativeants. John does not have to go far to observe those benets, hes installed over ve miles of hedgerows on his 400 acrerm north of Winters. His native plantings along irrigation

anals stabilize banks and prevent erosion. The nearby trees andhrubs shade the water for improved sh habitat. The road-de plantings lter dust, reduce noise, and beautify the ruralndscape. Anderson has recently been featured on the coverf California Farmer, where he is referred to appropriately asCalifornias hedgerow pioneer.

hn also has a Yolo RCD connection and provided valuableadership as a Board Director. In 1996, he led the eort tocure our rst hedgerow grant. The Yolo County Hedgerow

roject brought together farmers, county extension and pestontrol advisors, city planners, university researchers, and RCDa to plan and install four insectary hedgerows along large

ow crop farms, and one demonstration hedgerow along anrban/rural border on the edge of Davis.

ome farmers had indicated an interest in using native plantingsserve as refuges for benecial insects that could prey upon

ommon crop pests, but they had lile information on costs and

stallation. The Hedgerow Project carefully tabulated all costsnd produced the rst well-documented estimates for establish-g a 1,500 foot hedgerow. NRCS cost-sharing programs canpically o-set 50 to 75% of these costs.

Benefcial insects vs. pestsThe Hedgerow Project and subsequent hedgerow installatiodemonstrate that aer three years, plantings are generally westablished, require lile, if any, irrigation and maintenancecompete well with common weeds. They can be relied upoperform a variety of benecial services such as soil and nutretention, and can reduce air, water, and noise pollution. Thalso provide windbreaks for crops and produce a successio

blooms that create foraging habitat for benecial insects. De

these benets, farmers expressed concerns about whether cpests might also increase in abundance, due to the increase high quality habitat that hedgerows provide.

Conservation Quarterly

Volume 13 Issue 1

Spring 2010

In This Issue

Hedgerows: Multi-tasking for Farm and Wildlife Benets

Story continues on page 5

John Anderson leads a workshop on the habitat benets provided by nativehedgerow plantings.

YOLO COUNTY

RCD

In 2009, California led the nation in establishing hedgerow

plantings. The Woodland NRCS eld oce, Yolo RCD andour partners worked with local landowners to install over30,000 feet of new hedgerows last year. That is 44% of theState totals, making Yolo County the leader in the State!


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In November 2009, the Natural ResourcesConservation Service (NRCS) honored the YoloRCD at the statewide CARCD conference asexemplifying success in establishing new habitaton private lands. Specically, the Yolo RCD wasrecognized for its role in establishing hedgerows.

Although occupying a relatively small footprintof the landscape, hedgerows provide important

ecological functions for conservation and landowner operations. And thoughYolo County occupies only a small area of the state, our landowners installed44% of the hedgerows in the entire State of California. In Yolo, hedgerows of-ten consist of a complex variety of native plants (trees, shrubs, forbs, grasses),and are increasingly a common feature along elds.

In this issue, we outline some of the benets of hedgerows and recognize theeorts of John Anderson whose enthusiasm and knowledge has served animportant role in the development of hedgerows in Yolo County.

In keeping with the hedgerow theme, Mace Vaughan (Xerces Society) willmake a presentation on the response of insects to restoration at our annualdinner on April 14th 2010. Mace is a lively presenter and will share a uniqueperspective on insects.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Daniel Efsea

Executive Director

For most of us, 2009 was a challenging year withthe economic downturn and the extended droughtaecting local growers. Many RCDs in the stateclosed their doors or cut sta to survive. Others hadto rethink the way they do business and create newincome sources.

Though these times have been challenging, it is goodto celebrate our successes as well. In addition, to theaward Dan mentioned, the California Association

of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD) also recognized Yolo RCD stamember, Jeanee Wrysinski, as the Employee of the Year.

We also established new working partnerships, such as with Yolo CountyDepartment of Parks and Resources, and had a record number of restorationprojects that were planted in the fall.

To help celebrate our conservation successes, and share your own, I want toinvite you to our Annual Dinner on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at the St.Anthonys Parish Hall in Winters. The event will provide support for the YoloRCD and allow us to sponsor a high school student to aend summer Range

Camp.

This year we are actively seeking sponsors. Sponsors that donate $250 ormore will receive 2 tickets to the event, acknowledgement at the event, and anadvertisement in our newsleer, Conservation Quarterly, which is mailed out toover 1500 people.

We anticipate a full house, so please contact the RCD early if you would liketo purchase a ticket. I know that nances may be challenging for you, but itwould be great if you could aend and share your conservation successes withus, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Blair Voelz

Board Chairman

MISSION

The Yolo County Resource Conservation District (Yolo

RCD) commits to protect, improve, and sustain the natural

resources of Yolo County.

FUNCTION

Resource Conservations Districts were rst created as aresult of the Dust Bowl crisis. Originally focusing on

soil and water issues, the mission has broadened to include

sh and wildlife habitat restoration, farmland preserva-

tion, and control of invasive plant and animal species. The

Yolo RCD provides technical guidance, education, and

on-site expertise for private landowners and growers, cities,

schools, agencies, businesses, and research institutions.

CONSERVATION QUARTERLY

The Conservation Quarterly is a publication of the Yolo

County Resource Conservation District, a governmental

subdivision of the State of California organized under Pub-

lic Resources Code Division 9.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Blair Voelz (Chairman), Garth Williams (Vice-Chairman)

David Gilmer, Ali Pahlavanian, Bob Milbrodt,John Reyes, Gio Ferrendelli

ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS

Jim Mayer, Rudy Lucero, Rachael Long, Greg Giguiere

YOLO RCD STAFF

Dan Efseaff, Executive Director

Jeanette Wrysinski, Senior Program Manager

Sue McCloud, Financial Manager

Sheila Pratt, Administrative Assistant

John Reynolds, Revegetation SpecialistTanya Meyer, Vegetation Management Specialist

Diane Crumley, Education Coordinator

Heather Nichols-Crowell, Watershed Coordinator

Chris Robbins, Watershed Coordinator

Our projects reect a cooperative

effort with out partner agency, the

USDA Natural Resources Conserva-

tion Service (NRCS).

NRCS STAFF

Phil Hogan, District Conservationist

Wendy Rash, Soil Conservationist

Ha Truong, Agricultural EngineerNick Gallagher, Rangeland Management Specialist

CONTACT US

Yolo County Resource Conservation District

221 West Court Street, Suite 1

Woodland, CA 95695

Phone (530) 662-2037 ext.5

Fax (530) 662-4876

[email protected]

www.yolorcd.org

Cover photo of almond blossoms by Phil Hogan.

Winter 2010


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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has

been involved with wildlife habitat conser-vation for almost 40 years, and has seentremendous growth in the past decade.This growth has coincided with emergingtrends in conservation that increasinglytarget biodiversity and ecosystem services.Plant pollination by insects is one of themost widespread and important ecosys-tem services, and is essential in both natural and agriculturallandscapes. In this talk, Mace Vaughan will discuss the chal-lenges of invertebrate conservation, strategies for success,and the evolution of conservation on Americas workinglandsfrom the Dust Bowl to todayand how it all comes

together around preserving functioning habitat that is full ofbeneficial insects.Mace is co-author of the Pollinator Conservation Handbook

and lead author ofFarming for Bees: Guidelines for ProvidingNative Bee Habitat on Farms. He has served as a lecturer onhoney bee biology and beekeeping at Cornell University,from which he holds Masters Degrees in Entomology andTeaching.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION:

Trends in Conservation:

Insects & Ecologically-Focused Restoration

Mace Vaughan, Director

Agricultural Pollinator Conservation Program

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Please join us for the

Yolo County Resource Conservation District

ANNUAL DINNER 2010April14,20105:00 9:00p.m.

St.AnthonysParishHall,511MainSt.,Winters

_________________________________________________________________________________________________RCD Annual Dinner Registration

$30 per person. Please detach and send by 04/01/10Name(s) _________________________________________________________________________________________

Affiliation ________________________________________________Phone____________________________________

Please register ___ person(s) for. # ___of tri-tip dinners: # ____of vegetarian dinners: @ $30/each = amt enclosed $________

I have a tax deductible auction item to donate (please describe): ___________________________________________

I have a tax deductible cash donation: $________________________________________________________________

Please detach/return this form with payment to: Yolo Co. RCDAnn. Dinner Registration,221 W. Court St. #1, Woodland, CA 95695

PROGRAM

5:00 Wine-Tasting, Live Music, &

Silent AuctionLocal wines & music by thePutah Creek Muckrakers

7:15 Dinner & Close of AuctionLocal produce & grass-fed beef

7:45 Welcome/RecognitionRCD Cooperator of the YearSpecial Service Award

8:00 Special Presentation byMace Vaughan, Xerces Society_________________________

Proceeds from this event will benefit the Yolo CountyRCD, and will help to sponsor a local student for CARange and Natural Resources Camp. This week-longcamp provides hands-on experience with cattle, wild-life, stream and vegetation management.

Landscape painting of Winters orchard by Andrew Dorn.

For more information, please call Sheila Pratt at 530-662-2037, ext. 117

Conservation Quarterly Fall 2009


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Fall is always a busy time of year for conservation work,but this fall was exceptional for the Yolo RCD. We in-stalled ten dierent projects in the county, from very smallto very large.

The majority of our work was in the Cache Creek Wa-tershed. We have recently begun working with the Yolo

County Department of Parks and Resources on projectssuch as Capay Open Space Park, located outside of Ca-pay. The area was planted to natives a few years ago, forpeople to enjoy habitat and wildlife viewing along CacheCreek. We added 15 acres of native grasses to the nativeplantings, and students from the SLEWS Program addedmore plants and xed up the drip irrigation system. Wealso worked with a private landowner whose orchardhas been falling into the creek. A native hedgerow wasinstalled by the county and we will work with the countyto develop a management plan that includes native plantsto help stabilize the bank. Correll-Rodgers was once agravel mining site, but this 68 acre site has been deeded to

the county for habitat restoration and ood water retention.Students from the SLEWS Program planted riparian plants

both in 2008 and 2009, and we seeded native grasses thisfall for total of two acres of restoration, with more to follow.

We worked with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Tribe on twoprojects: seeding a small native grass swale for bird habitatat the golf course, and installing an almost half mile longhedgerow, which includes native grasses, for benecial

birds and insects. Students from the Yocha Dehe Academycame out to help plant and learn about the importance ofhedgerows and conservation projects on the farm.

Further up the Capay Valley, we are completing a nativegrass planting along a grassy swale, which was created tomove ood waters from a small tributary through severalprivate properties, while at the same time providing habi-tat. In Rumsey, with the help of the hardworking SLEWSstudents from Esparto High School, we planted 200 native

plants along Cache Creek. We also seeded 10 acres of na-tive grasses, which was quite an accomplishment, consider-

ing that a year ago this site was a rough eld of tamariskand milk thistle.

Yolo RCD sta also worked on several projects o CacheCreek. Grasslands Regional Park, south of Davis, is beinginvaded by perennial pepperweed, an aggressive plant thatpushes out other benecial vegetation. Weve been treatingit throughout the park and around the vernal pools, whereit is threatening several endangered plants and animals.Reclamation District 108, in northeast Yolo County, has justinstalled a solar array to help power their water pumpingfacility. We planted seven acres of native grasses at thissite for visual beauty as well as to resist weeds and create

habitat. Our biggest project was a multi-partner habitatcreation project set amid rice and other agricultural eldsnortheast of Winters. This project created over 33 acresof wetland and upland habitat around ponds and canals,which will improve water delivery and drainage aroundthe elds.

Conservation at Work Throughout the County

Yolo RCD sta seeding seven acres of native grass at a new solar array site.

Over 3400 trees and shrubs were planted as part of this 33 acre habitat restoration project northeast of Winters.

Conservation Quarterly Winter 2010


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To address these concerns, UC Cooperative ExtensionAdvisor Rachael Long monitored insect populations inthe farm hedgerows from the Hedgerow Project twicea month for two years. Nearby weedy areas were alsosampled for comparison. Thousands of benecial andpest insects were identied and counted. The studydetermined that in native plant hedgerows and native

grass areas, benecial insects signicantly out-numberedpests by an average of 3-to-1. The absence of immaturepest species indicated that pests were not reproducing inthe hedgerow habitat. In contrast, the reverse was truein weedy areas, with crop pests consistently out-num-

bering benecial insects.

From this and additional studies, Rachel Long and col-leagues conclude that perennial hedgerow plantings donot contribute to the build-up of crop pests. Farms withnearby natural habitat support larger populations ofnatural pest predators. These predators may translate toreduced crop damage and a decreased need for pesticide

application.

How about pollinators?Approximately 60-90% of theworlds owering plants dependon pollination, an essential eco-logical service. Native bees areimportant pollinators, and con-tribute substantially to the pollina-tion of many important crops inYolo County such as watermelon,sunowers, tomatoes, almonds,and alfalfa seed. In addition, native

bees pollinate valuable native plantspecies.

Many researchers and farmershave expressed mounting concernover recent world-wide popula-tion declines of both managed(European honey bees) and wild

bee populations. Causes havebeen dicult to pinpoint, yet lossof habitat, intensive agriculturepractices, pesticide use, disease,parasites, and invasive species areall potential contributors.

National expert, Claire Kremenand colleagues, using researchconducted largely in Yolo County,have documented both the eco-nomic and ecological benets of providing foraging andnesting habitat for native bees. Unlike the highly social,colony-dwelling European honey bees, north Americannative bees are mostly solitary, and require nesting sites inthe ground and in old trees and plants. Most solitary na-tive bees have shorter ight ranges than honey bees, and

need to have their foraging and nesting habitat within arange of about 600 meters.

Kremens work with watermeloncrops has shown improved pollina-tion in elds near landscapes withlarger proportions of habitat. Theirteam concluded that native beescould provide all necessary pol-lination, if between 10 to 30% of theland within of a mile of agricul-tural elds was in natural habitat.This could be accomplished if areassuch as eld borders, equipmentareas, canal sides, and roadsides

were planted with native landscap-ing and hedgerows.

Over 50 species of native bees visitour crops of watermelon, sunow-ers and tomatoes. Because native

bees perform pollination dierentlythan the European honey bee, theirpresence has been shown to in-crease yields in elds of sunowersand to increase the size and yieldsof tomato plants, a crop that is gen-erally thought to be self-pollinating

Currently, Claire Kremen is con-tinuing her research in collabora-tion with the Xerces Society. MaceVaughan, Director of the XercesSocietys Agricultural Pollinator

Conservation Program will be our keynote speaker at theupcoming Yolo RCD Annual Dinner (April 14 th). Macewill continue the discussion of this work and address thechallenges and strategies in preserving functional habitatfor insects that benet both agricultural and natural land-scapes.

Story continued from front page...

Hedgerow Highlights

Hedgerows have been part of farmlandscapes for hundreds of years.

Native trees, shrubs and grassescan be self-sustaining aer 3 years.

Benecial insects out-number crop

pests 3-to-1 in hedgerows of nativeplantings.

Hedgerows provide foraging habitatfor many native bees.

Native bees provide pollinationservices to many important localcrops including tomatoes, sun-owers, alfalfa seed, almonds, andwatermelon.

Native bees nest and forage within1/3 of a mile from their pollensource.

Dan Efsea (Yolo RCD), John Anderson, and Phil Hogan (NRCS) examine newgrowth in a mature hedgerow that borders a canal on Johns farm near Winters.Photo courtesy of NRCS California.


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Upcoming Events and Workshops

YoloCountyRCD/NRCSFieldOfce

221W.CourtStreet,Suite1

Woodland,CA95695

Nonprofit

U.S.PostagePaid

Woodland,CA95695

PermitNo.31

Woodland,CA Ifyouwouldliketoreceivethisnewsleerelectronicallyinsteadofbymail,[email protected].

March 23, 9am-4pm, Farm Water Toolbox

Winters Community Center, WintersA regional forum for the Southern Sacramento Valley farm com-munity featuring talks on State water policy; regional issues re-garding the Delta, groundwater, and regulations; soil and cropmanagement for water eciency; and funding and support forwater management. Organized by EcoFarm. Register by phone at(831) 763-2111 or online at agwaterstewards.org

March 31, 5-7pm, Water Conservation for Home and Garden

Woodland Community and Senior Center, Woodland

The Yolo RCD and the City of Woodland are hosting a free work -shop to assist residents in making water-wise choices aroundtheir homes, including how to save water in day-to-day tasks andthrough landscaping with native and drought tolerant plantings.

April 14, 5-9pm, Yolo RCD Annual Dinner

St. Anthonys Parish Hall, Winters

An evening of good food and good company. Join us as we cel-ebrate another year of conservation work in Yolo County. Ticketpurchase includes local wine-tasting, silent auction, live music bythe Putah Creek Muckrakers, and dinner prepared with local foods.

Special presentation by Xerces Societys Mace Vaughan. Proceedsfrom this event will benet the Yolo RCD, and will help to sponsora local student for CA Range and Natural Resources Camp.See registration yer on page 3.

April 21, 8:30am-12:30pm, Riparian Weed Control Methods

Cache Creek Nature Preserve, WoodlandDiscuss and observe the results of integrated riparian weed management methods with emphasis on using herbicides safely. Onehour of Laws and Regs and two hours of other DPR credits have

been applied for. Held in cooperation with the Cache Creek Conservancy.

April 29, 9am-12pm, Rangeland Restoration TourBobcat Ranch, Winters

Discuss the challenges and successes of establishing native perennial grasses, trees, shrubs and forbs on a working cale ranch. Workshop participants will view rangeland restoration project sites onBobcat Ranch. Organized by the Audubon California LandownerStewardship Program.

May 1, 9am-3pm, Cache Creek Discovery Day

Cowboy Camp, Cache Creek Natural Area, Hwy. 16

A fun-lled day for all ages, with special empha-sis on youth outdoor-learning, featuring a broadrange of activities relevant to our local water-shed as part of Watershed Awareness Month.

Activities include wildlife viewing, guidedhikes, educational displays, Native American

basketry, live music and BBQ lunch. Organizedby Cache Creek Watershed Forum.

For more information on these workshops & events, contact Sheila Pratt at (530)662-2037ext. 117.


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