During the summer of 2014, SPAWN staff, interns, and numerous volunteers spent many hours building a cattle exclusion fence on the McIssac Ranch located adjacent to our office on the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Olema.
The cattle fence now protects the 1.5-acre riparian habitat free from cattle grazing, which has allowed the native riparian vegetation to thrive! SPAWN crews built willow walls along the steep banks to prevent fine sediment from washing into the creek and planted over 100 trees and shrubs within the area that have now grown like gangbusters!
Take a look at the before and after pictures below, from 2014 and 2017.
With the revegetation of the 450 linear feet of stream, we have seen an increase in the presence of ground nesting birds including turkeys and quail, and increase in the quality of streambed gravels and cobbles with less sand and clay particles.
We want to thank all of the SPAWN volunteers and members for making this project a success, and we look forward to continuing similar projects in the watershed that improve watershed quality and salmon habitat!
