February Happenings 2026

RSVP Bird Walk | Firewise Webinar | Volunteer Events | Native Plants in Bloom!

If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can see it online. Volunteers take a break from clearing and delivering debris to the dumpster to take a photo of their hard work by the Claremont Ave entrance to the park. | Photo by Ruby J. Soto Cardona. A fun MLK Day of Service! The Garber Park Stewards hosted a truly inspiring event on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, January 19. Thanks to the efforts of 37 volunteers, we filled a 20-yard green waste dumpster with 2.5 tons of eucalyptus debris and fallen branches, plus other invasive plant material. In addition to our returning (and a few new) volunteers, the Stewards were joined by volunteers from the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, the North Hills Community Association (NHCA), SLR Consulting, and the Claremont Resort & Club. The resort management kindly provided a delicious lunch for everyone after the event.  Thank you to the City of Oakland for organizing this city-wide MLK Day of Service and providing our bin! Join the Garber Park Stewards newsletter to get updates of their upcoming volunteer events and more! Join Mailing List Photo and event information courtesy of Oakland Firesafe Council. Firewise Webinars The Oakland/East Bay Garden Guild, Montclair Presbyterian Church, and Oakland Firesafe Council gave a Wildfire Safety Presentation for high wildfire risk areas on Wednesday, January 14th, over Zoom. The presentation included information on fire safety and this year’s vegetation inspections, City Council wildfire-related activities, advice on home hardening, Firewise USA program review, and tips on firesafe landscaping and vegetation management.   If you missed out on this opportunity, you can view a recording of the presentation here and a summary of the presentation here. You can also visit the Oakland Firesafe Council page for additional guides, a planting presentation slide deck, and more.    Upcoming webinar: Sign up for their February 9 (from 2-3pm) Firewise Landscaping Webinar—first in the series of five 1-hour Firewise Webinars to help you reduce your risk of loss from wildfire. Webinar Info A Northern (Red-Shafted) Flicker spotted resting on an oak branch | Photo by Jeffery Martin. Let's go Woodpeckering! Sunday, February 15 from 8am - 11am (meet-up at 7:45am) Jeff Martin, Conservancy member, wildlife educator, naturalist, videographer, and woodpecker enthusiast, will lead us on a route through the territories of six regularly occurring woodpecker species. We will probably see and hear quite a few woodpeckers, and hopefully at least two or three different species among them. We will learn where to look for them, how to identify them, and observe their unique foraging habits. We will surely see and identify other interesting birds we see along the way, but our special interest is Woodpeckers! Please RSVP below to save your spot.  - The woodpecker walk, round trip, up and down the hill is approximately 2.5 miles, but we will take breaks along the way as we look for woodpeckers. - Moderate to heavy rain cancels. Light, occasional rain we meet as scheduled. Sign Up Volunteers at one of our previous events bagged eucalyptus debris and ivy, to help clear up the path and make it more enjoyable to walk on | Photo by Nancy Mueller.  Thursday, February 19 from 9:30 - 11:30am Meet at the steps of the Evergreen Path Join us for a wonderful volunteer event hosted by the Claremont Resort & Club in collaboration with the Garber Park Stewards. We will help clean the public paths leading to the Evergreen entrance and part of the main steps and trails in Garber Park.  Lunch will be provided after the event so please send us an email at info@claremontcanyon.org to RSVP or fill out the form below. We will provide tools and gloves. Wear sturdy shoes you don't mind getting dirty, long sleeves and pants, and bring a water bottle. Volunteer A young miner's lettuce plant reaching for sunlight in Garber Park | Photo by Ruby J. Soto Cardona. Native plants sprouting! Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), also known as Rooreh, is helping us welcome the month of February. This annual herb is native to a large area of Western North America, and grows in Claremont Canyon, including Garber Park. From February to late May, you may be able to see tiny flower clusters at the top of the plant’s stem, right at the center of its circular leaves. According to Calscape, "the presence of Rooreh is indicative of a healthy oak woodland" and we are excited to see this plant spreading in the canyon, especially in recently restored oak woodland areas where volunteers have worked! You can learn more about this intriguing plant here at Calscape. Our volunteers Quinn (left) and Christie (right) enjoyed using our weed wrenches—great tools to help us remove the long taproots of broom plants, especially on steep hillsides and dry soil | Photo by Ruby J. Soto Cardona. Broom removal at Signpost 29 Grab a weed wrench and help us remove broom! As plants continue to grow, we are focusing on our broom removal project in the upper canyon. At Signpost 29, there is an area filled with larger native oaks and bays where the understory has slowly been uncovered from this invasive and highly flammable plant. Broom tends to overcrowd native plant species, creates a monospecific stand (a forest of a single species), and excludes wildlife—and our volunteers have been helping us remove over 10,000 plants from this site. Join us at our next event as we use weed wrenches to help remove and lower the broom density, and help lower fuels in Claremont Canyon. Volunteer with us by yourself or with your group/company. Send us an email or visit our schedule page for exact dates of future events. Volunteer All levels of fitness are welcome! Wear sturdy shoes, dress in layers and bring your favorite water bottle. Tools and gloves are provided.  Garber Park Stewards Saturday, February 14 and 21 9am-12pm  Visit this 13-acre park and help restore its native wild habitat (we meet year-round). Meet at the Fireplace below the Evergreen Lane entrance (Map). For more information or questions contact Wyllie. Volunteer at Signpost 29 Saturday, February 28 10am - 12pm Join us at Signpost 29 for a day of restoration (1.5 miles up Claremont from the intersection of Ashby/Tunnel Rd.) as we work to restore and maintain pathways, remove invasive broom and collect litter. More information Here. Questions? Contact us at info@ClaremontCanyon.org. Hiking the Canyon We would love to hear from our members and others who are out hiking or otherwise observing nature in the canyon. Send us your pictures at info@ClaremontCanyon.org and we will feature one each month. A curious Northern raccoon (Procyon lotor) on Alvarado near Gravatt, Oakland | Photo by Nancy Mueller, October 2025. Share this newsletter with your friends: Do you have a friend who would appreciate receiving our monthly email newsletter? You can easily add new recipients to our mailing list by going here.  At Signpost 29 we have been working diligently to remove many invasive and non-native thistles growing in the surrounding area where our oak trees were planted. This invasive plant removal helps the oaks continue to grow and thrive as they continue to mature. | Photo by Ruby J. Soto Cardona, January 2026. Trails are open All trails are open and accessible throughout Claremont Canyon. The trails are muddy from all the rain so wear appropriate shoes and be extra careful. For maps and complete information on trails click here. You can also take a guided tour here. Please stay safe and take all items and pet waste out with you. For the long-term stewardship of Claremont Canyon Copyright © 2023 Claremont Canyon Conservancy, All rights reserved. This email was sent to {{Recipient Email}}. Click here to unsubscribe.