Regional Parks September-October 2018 September
– October
2018
Alamo • Danville • Blackhawk • Diablo • San Ramon
Valley
Sentinel
Photo: C. Godley
The
Look inside
for this Activity Guide Hills. the East Bay 2. fire fuels in Ever” page ct reduces Important Than Park Distri Prevention More See “Wildfire
Inside:
page 4 ortunities • Kayaking Opp • page 5 Ardenwood page 7 Rail Fair at ve Plants • California Nati Fall Sale of 13 page • e Festival Garin Appl page 14 nup 2018 • Coastal Clea
always for the community VOL 23, NO 8
Look inside for the latest Regional in Nature Activity Guide!
See “Bay Water
Trail Provide
s Access to Bay
Area’s Larges
t Open Space”
page 3.
Kayaking/Boating at Various Parks Rail Fair at Ardenwood Fall Sale of California Native Plants Garin Apple Festival Coastal Cleanup 2018
August 2018
www.valleysentinel.com
Plus many other activities for kids and families in your East Bay Regional Parks!
SPOTLIGHT
The Danville Thrift Station Celebrates 45 Years of Giving
By Jenise Falk, President, Friends of Discovery
In April 1973, president Marge Early and shop coordinator, Barbara Gibson, opened the doors of the Danville Thrift Station. This was the result of a vision and dedication by a small, but mighty group of volunteers determined to make a difference in their community. The “Friends of Discovery” volunteer organization was founded in order to provide a consistent funding source for the Discovery Counseling Center in Danville. Within the first two months the
ECRWSS
Postmaster: Dated Material
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DANVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 70
See GIVING page 10
Sentinel Newspapers, Inc. 542 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Ste A P.O. Box 1309 Danville, CA 94526 925-820-6047
The water feature at Hap Magee Ranch Park in Danville offers a quiet, pleasant and safe place for the little ones to “run through the sprinklers”! It is a combination of metal tubes that form a tunnel with water spraying inside as kids run through, and water spraying up from the ground. A motion sensor activates the water feature on a random circuit. Hap Magee Ranch Park is located at 1025 La Gonda Way, in Danville.
The San Joaquin Kit Fox By James M. Hale
The San Joaquin Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) is the smallest member of the dog family (Canidae) in North America. They are a subspecies of the Kit Fox which inhabits the southwestern United States and northcentral Mexico. They are related to the Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) of the western grasslands, prairies, and deserts of central North America further north. Their large ears which are set close together, slender body with long legs, narrow muzzle, and long, bushy tail tapering at the tip, are diagnostic features of this handsome little fox. They carry their tail fairly low and straight. The color and texture of the San Joaquin Kit Fox fur varies geographically and seasonally. Buff, tan, and yellowish-gray are the most common colors, with two distinct seasonal coats during the year. During summer, the pelage is usually tan or buff. The autumn molt gives rise to a dense winter coat of silver-gray. The
belly and undersides are light buff to white. The chest, lower sides, flanks, and shoulders are highlighted with rust or buff. The tail is black-tipped. Adults reach thirty-two inches in length and may weigh up to five pounds. The Department of the Interior’s United States Fish and Wildlife Service federally listed the San Joaquin Kit Fox as an endangered species in 1967. The California Department of Fish and Game listed them as threatened, four years later in 1967. Native grasslands, scrublands, alkali sink scrubland, valley and foothill oak woodlands, vernal pool and alkali meadow communities, of the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills, provide habitat for the San Joaquin Kit Fox. Most of their original habitats have been modified or changed to oil exploration and extraction
equipment, wind turbines, and agricultural mosaics of row crops, irrigated pastures, orchards, vineyards, and grazed, nonnative annual grasslands. The San Joaquin Kit Fox inhabited most of the San Joaquin Valley from southern Kern County, north to eastern Contra Costa County and eastern Stanislaus County prior to 1930. Their range had been reduced by more than half by the early 1930’s, with the largest
This month’s Special Section:
remaining habitats being in the western and southern portions of the Valley. Fifty-three occurrences of San Joaquin Kit Foxes have been documented within the ECCC HCP/NCCP inventory area between 1967 and 1997 for the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy. These records were located from the Black Diamond
Kids & Teens - Back to School pages 8-9
See FOX page 11