Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School Tree Planting

Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School

Project Title: Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School Tree Planting

Project Description: Beginning in 2007, OneCoolEarth worked with students, teachers, and staff at Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School to organize a campus improvement project intended to replace the school’s dying pine trees.  The project began with the students raising young oak trees in a small on-site nursery near their organic garden.  By the Fall of 2008, the school’s young trees were ready to plant, along with a variety of other’s provided by OCE.  Engaging an army of student and parent volunteers, black walnut, canyon oak, tan oak, live oak, cork oak and redwoods were planted in the shade of the dying trees.

OCE Work History:

Fall 2007 – nursery started

Fall 2008 – trees planted

Project Status: monitoring

Updates:

7/29/2009 – Stopped by to check on trees.  Counted 55 trees altogether doing very well.  Possibility of additional planting.

San Luis Obispo, Laureate Lane Tree Donation

Project Title: Laureate Lane Tree Donation

Project Description: Trees were not the only thing growing at the 2002 planting of Temple Ner Shalom–the neighbor’s curiosity about nearby activity grew as well, and they approached Lionel to aquire oaks of their own.  Now over fifty coast live oaks rise along the white rail fence along their property.  Tour the site below using Google Maps.

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OCE Work History:

2002 – original donation

Project Status: established

Updates:

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San Luis Obispo, Terrace Hill Tree Donation

Trail

Project Title: Terrace Hill Tree Donation

Project Description: Terrace Hill is an inconspicuous but beautiful holding in San Luis Obispo’s ever-increasing open space lands.  Geologically, this hill on the southern end of town relates to the Morro Peaks, a minor sister to the more famous nine including Bishop’s Peak, Cerro San Luis, and Morro Rock, and offers the best view for the shortest hike.  Originally the land was owned by the French family, but was converted to open space to mitigate nearby development.  With a long history of grazing, the hill was all but bare and needed much restoration.  Lionel caught wind of the project and donated several hundred young oaks to the effort, as well as organized direct seeding of acorns across the slopes.  Today, hundreds of those trees begin to reach maturity, contributing to the beauty of this precious local resource.

OCE Work History:

1990’s – original donation and direct seeding

Project Status: established

Updates:

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San Luis Obispo, Sinsheimer Disc Golf Course Tree Planting

Teeing Off by Sycamore

Project Title: Sinsheimer Disc Golf Course Tree Planting

Description: Lionel was on hand with trees long before the establishment of the disc golf course in 2003.  Uncertain of the future use of the course in the 90’s, the area was planted with a mixture of drought tolerant oaks in the dry areas, sycamores alongside the seasonal creek, box elders, and incense cedars.  Some reaching heights of over 20 feet, the trees now provide welcome shade to golfers, as well as sometimes unwelcome obstacles for their discs.  The golf course was well-designed to utilize the trees in a varied and challenging course and is thoroughly enhanced by the added dimension of the planting–at times it is necessary to ‘tee off’ through a narrow gap, or ‘put’ under a low canopy.  More projects are planned for the area to further vegetate the stream bed.  Stay tuned for updates!

OCE Work History:

Fall of 1990’s – initial planting

Project Status: established

Updates:

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Cayucos, Whale Rock Reservoir Tree Planting

Whale Rock Reservoir

Project Title: Whale Rock Reservoir Tree Planting

Description: Named after a now submerged rock formation, Whale Rock Reservoir provides a portion of San Luis Obispo’s water supply, as well as that of the California Men’s Colony, Cuesta College, California Polytechnic State University, and Camp San Luis Obispo National Guard Camp.  Unfortunately, intensive grazing and deforestation have left the slopes of the reservoir highly unstable.  Add to this a raised water level from the flooding of the reservoir, and the results can be disasterous–major slumping along the steep slopes above the reservoir threaten the body of water’s storage capacity, have inhibited recreation, and necessitate expensive mitigation to protect Old Creek Road along its southern edge.

OneCoolEarth has long  advocated for utilizing extensive replanting to revitalize the slopes and put an end to the slumping, and has organized over twenty planting and direct seeding events in the past ten years.  With thousands of acorns, Catalina cherries, and black walnut seeds planted by hand and nearly one hundred live trees in the ground and now reaching maturing, the southern slope of the reservoir is beginning to show signs of recovery.   But in such a vast area, much remains to be done.

Update: January, 2010 – One Cool Earth has received a grant from PG&E to plant 500 trees at the fishermen’s entrance to the reservoir.  Working with the City of San Luis Obispo which oversees this natural resource, a plan for replanting has been developed.

Update: February, 2010 – Already 250 trees have been planted with the help of nearly 100 volunteers from Cal Poly, the Civil Conservation Corp, and Cuesta College.  The reservoir is a great educational field trip for students and community members to discover their water supply and its beautiful watershed, enhancing it in the process.  We will cease planting until the fall, when we will finish our goal.

Update: May, 2010 – Watered 120 trees with the CCC’s, will return in two weeks to water remaining 130 trees.  So far they look great!  Some, especially the canyon oaks, are displaying up to 6 inches of new growth, doubling their height.  An interesting phenomenon is occuring with the deer: trees planted below the road in dense coyote brush, near the reservoir are being grazed by deer, while those above the road are left alone.  Protective grow tubes are proving a necessity.

Stay tuned on how you can help these efforts.

OCE Work History:

Fall of 2000 – initial planting

Fall of 2004 to present – annual direct seeding

January 2010 – received grant from PG&E to plant 500 trees over 5 months and sustain them through their first years.

February 2010 – Planted 250 trees since beginning of year.

May 9, 2010 – Watered.

Project Status: ongoing

San Luis Obispo, Walter Capps Memorial Forest Tree Planting

Walter Capps Memorial Forest

Project Title: Walter Capps Memorial Forest Tree Planting

Description: The Walter Capps Memorial Forest is a little-known gem of El Chorro State Park, in memory, of course, to the former congressman and accomplished Californian, Walter Capps.  The park’s dedication and planting proceeded after his untimely death in the late 1990’s, and OneCoolEarth with the help of the Grizzley Academy returned to the site approximately 10 years later to add even more trees.  In all, OneCoolEarth helped plant several hundred new trees on the site, literally creating a forest of native cypress, oaks, sycamores, box elder, toyon, and Catalina cherries.

OCE Work History:

1990’s – original planting

03.07.2008 – additional planting

Project Status: established

Updates:

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San Luis Obispo, Hogue Action Pistol Range Tree Planting

Hogue Action Pistol Range

Project Title: Hogue Action Pistol Range Tree Planting

Description: The local pistol range,  frequented by gun enthusiasts, law enforcement personnel, and individuals interested in self-defense, is situated along a desolate section of the 101 between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.  Lionel noticed the site because of its denuded embankments, and because it is particularly exposed to the elements, he believed that trees could serve to protect against erosion, provide windbreaks and shade and cool the area.  In the fall of 2007, with permission of the rangemaster, he and Chrissy planted more than a dozen cypress, oak, and box elder along the embankments.  OneCoolEarth plans to return in the future and continue planting.

OCE Work History:

Fall of 2007 – initial planting

Project Status: monitoring, planning

Updates:

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San Luis Obispo, Odd Fellows’ Hall Tree Planting

Oaks Growing Tall

Project Title: Odd Fellows’ Hall Tree Planting

Description: The Odd Fellows Hall on Dana St. represents a fixture of local events and community gatherings.  To give a little back to the place that has given so much, OneCoolEarth donated and planted several oaks–in the front of the building to beautify and shade the premises, and in the back along the parking lot to furnish shade and dispel the heat-island effect of parking lots.  Only two years after planting, the trees in the front have jumped to five feet in height with virtually no regular irrigation, exemplifying the success of native plants in landscaping and refuting the myth that oaks grow slowly.  The trees can now stand alone in the landscape or be enhanced by future plantings.

OCE Work History:

Fall 2007 – planting

Project Status: established

Updates:

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Cal Poly, Aero Hanger Nursery

Chrissy Waving the Wand

Project Title: Cal Poly Aero Hanger Nursery

Description: Currently home to more than 300 living oaks, redwood, and cypress, the aero hanger nursery is the home base for OneCoolEarth’s local activities.  Although the nursery is named after the nearby plane hanger–a student landmark on campus–it is actually located next to the Cal Poly groundskeeping headquarters.  Working in such close proximity to Cal Poly’s groundskeepers has enabled OneCoolEarth to thoroughly integrate our activites with the campuses, finding out where plantings are needed on campus, notifying the groundskeepers first hand of our projects, and raising their interest and awareness of native plants.  Much of the nurseries stock has been planted on Cal Poly, especially around the soccer fields.  For students, having the nursery so close to school offers a chance to get their hands dirty planting, planting, repotting and preping up for our projects.  Eventually, OneCoolEarth hopes to transfer the nursery entirely to student care.

OCE Work History:

Fall 2003 – Established

Fall 2003 – present – seasonal seeding

01.10.2009 – Materials Engineering Honors Society Redwood Repotting

04.25.2009 – WOW Leader Potting and Planting

Project Status: ongoing

Update:

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Cal Poly, Organic Farm Nursery

Cal Poly Organic Farm

Project Title: Cal Poly Organic Farm Nursery

Description: Reaching out to Cal Poly students for assistance with planting efforts, and to further educate about native vegetation, OneCoolEarth partnered with the Cal Poly Organic Farm to set up a nursery highly visible and easily accessible to students.  With space for over 400 pots, the nursery adds significant capacity to our planting efforts.  The nurseries location also furthers ties between agriculture and native trees and has already built many positive relationships with Cal Poly and the community: OCE has participated in the farm sponsored Earth Day event, giving away trees to visitors, and we have entered discussions to plant many of the trees on the farm and along field fence lines in the Fall of 2009.   The compost unit across the way has generously donated much of the soil required to complete our potting.

OCE Work History:

Fall 2007 – Established site, moving in weed barrier, shipping crates, pots, soil, and initial plantings.

Earth Day 2007 – Tree Giveaway

Fall 2007 – Planting

Earth Day 2008 – Tree Giveaway

Fall 2008 – Planting

Project Status: ongoing project

Updates:

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