Urban Conservation Walks

I want to tell you about an exciting series of ‘urban conservation walks' planned for the beginning of April 2011.

Over the years, I have presented a set of local, rather easy walks/ hikes to view conservation areas in the Orange County. Some of these walks have explored the local wetlands and birding areas; some have focused on riparian areas and some on our local Orange County wilderness parks.

The past two years these spring ‘urban conservation walks' have had a theme. The ‘wetland walks' were a series of 4 walks (in two days) exploring the wetland area of Huntington Beach from the Bolsa Chica area to Talbert Marsh on to the Santa Ana River. We saw the beginnings of the project to restore the Talbert Marsh. We also took in the big view of Bolsa Chica with a walk on the bluffs followed by a walk in the wetlands.

This spring the ‘walks' set out to discover Orange County's watershed. From Santiago Creek through Irvine Park and on to Santiago Park we ventured. We finished with a walk through the San Joaquin Wildlife Area along San Diego Creek and into Newport Back Bay.

Now for 2011…I am planning a new series of walks that will explore some of the old and new burn areas in Orange County. Titled the ‘wildfire walks' this series of 3 hikes over two weekends will take us to areas in north county that have burned and are now in the process of recovery. This unique grouping of ‘urban conservation walks' is set for the first two weekends in April.

On Saturday April 2nd we will hike into Coal Canyon off the 91 freeway and follow the road up to the tecate cypress preserve. This area burned 6-7 years ago and although the mature trees are skeletons the hillside is covered with new cypress as the area slowly recovers. The following day April 3rh will be a stroll in Santiago Oaks Park. A fire 3 years ago burned this park but our coastal sage habitat has come back! The third and last walk scheduled for April 10th will focus on the area of the recent ‘freeway complex fire' along the Santa Ana River and Chino Hills.

Plan now to join us on one or all three of these ‘urban conservation walks' as we explore our own backyard and marvel at the wonders of nature.