Grayson residents get their hands dirty for next phase of riverside forest restoration
A new phase of river restoration launched Saturday with help from people in nearby Grayson.
They planted native trees and brush in an area that will augment work already done at Dos Rios Ranch, just to the northeast.
The nonprofit River Partners hopes that mimicking natural floodplain can aid wildlife while buffering high flows where the Tuolumne and San Joaquin meet.
The new 285-acre project is notable also because it is much closer to a town than any other part of the total 2,400 acres. Grayson is just a few hundred feet away as the crow flies, and someday a trail might provide easy access.
“We are combining efforts with River Partners to improve the quality of life for our residents around our area,” said Lilia Lomeli-Gil, co-founder of the Grayson United Community Center. It serves the mostly Latino and low-income population in this part of the West Side.
As Lomeli-Gil spoke, about 40 other residents worked their way across the planting site, which had grown feed corn just a few months ago. They shoveled dirt from holes, laid in the potted plants and protected them from rodents with half-gallon milk cartons.
Four-year-old Edith Sanchez did her part on the volunteer day, which covered about an acre. “She likes to dig holes and play with the dirt,” mother Rosalba Ramirez said.
A decade of work so far
River Partners, based in Chico, works with farmers and other allies to re-create some of the lush landscape of old. Only about 5% of the Central Valley’s riparian forest is left because dams and levees diverted most of the water.
Dos Rios launched in 2012 with the purchase of 1,602 acres from the Lyons family, which still does wildlife-friendly farming nearby. Restoration is done on this part.
An additional 497 acres are a dairy farm just to the south, added in 2014 and awaiting restoration. The remaining piece is called the Grayson Riverbend Preserve. It will have all of its native plantings done by late March, mostly by paid crews, project manager Austin Stevenot said.
River Partners has done all this with help from federal, state and local agencies and the Tuolumne River Trust. The funding totaled about $46 million as of last year. More could come from the state budget surplus and other sources.
River Partners plans to have regular public access to the area at some point. It eventually will be taken over by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which has an adjacent refuge totaling about 8,000 riverside acres.
25,000 new plants by spring
The Grayson Riverbend Preserve will have cottonwoods, willows and other fast-growing trees. The understory will host species such as blackberry, deer grass, golden currant and hairy evening primrose.
The 25,000 or so plants will be irrigated for three years, then left to survive on subsurface moisture, Stevenot said. Crews also will remove culverts and part of a levee to enhance water flow through the site.
Riparian forests provide shade and food for salmon and other fish. Dozens of bird species, both migrant and year-round, call this area home.
“This project is restoring ground back to what it would have historically or traditionally been,” Stevenot told Saturday’s volunteers.
