ABF celebrates Opening issue R Night at the Desert Club the historic building is an important part...

Colorado Desert District Newsletter T R A C K S May 2013

Inside this issue

Palo verde year, Page 9

Blowin’ in the Wind, 5

ABF celebrates Opening Night at the Desert Club

Adios Jason, Page 20

(Continued on Page 10)

Photo by Paige Rogowski Close to 200 people celebrated the opening of the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center March 30 at a luau party reminiscent of the original opening in 1950.

In 1950, the luau party during the opening weekend of Borrego’s Desert Club was the highlight of the desert season. Borrego Springs has grown and evolved since then, but once again the historic building is an important part of the community. The Anza-Borrego Foundation (ABF) hosted Opening Night at the Desert Club March 30, but this time the event celebrated re-search in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Just like that original opening night, the recent event was a sold-out affair complete with a Hawaiian luau and ukulele players. Nearly 200 people enjoyed the gala event which raised more than $28,000 for ABF. Funds raised that night will be used to provide direct support for ABDSP and programs that support the Park.

Borrego’s Desert Club is now the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center. The club was originally built by Alphonse A. Burnand, Robert Di Giorgio, James Copley and

Salton Sea State Recreation Area

The Salton Sea has been the focus of legisla-tors lately.

California drivers will have the opportunity of putting the Salton Sea on their license plates if a bill proposed by Assemblyman Brian Nestande passes. The new plates would cost an additional $50 for drivers and would generate funds for the Salton Sea Authority.

Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez sponsored a bill that won initial approval last month from the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Com-mittee. That bill empowers the Salton Sea Au-thority to work together with the Natural Re-sources Agency to come up with a restoration plan.

From the desk of Interpreter I Fredda Ste-

phens: Is the fun over? We are at the end of anoth-

er very busy season at SSSRA. The pelicans, after practicing their flying formations for weeks and weeks, have finally headed north

leaving only a few summer residents dotting the Sea. Most of our faithful volunteers have fol-lowed, taking off west to the coast, north to Canada, across to the mid-west and eastward. What a challenge it is with everyone gone. It still has been a really busy month having lots of fun, fun and more FUN, just like the Beach Boys’ song of the ‘60s.

Once again, our kayak tours were booked

solid this year. We must have taken about 500 visitors out on the water this season and reaped more than $1,000 in donations.

In February we promoted our programs at the Indio Date Festival by bringing a kayak and paddle to the fair. While our captive audience colored their sea monster masks and waited their turn to “test out the kayak” and learn a little about paddling, we took the opportunity to promote the Sea. Whole classrooms of kids lined up to hop aboard as the teachers photo-graphed the little monsters. Is that FUN or what?

Our weekends have been filled with birding

walks and public kayak tours, Jr. Rangers and evening and campfire programs. The new Camp


LOG JAM: Notes from the District, sectors

Photos by Fredda Stephens People of all ages learn and get excited about the Salton Sea State Recreation Area at the Indio Date Festival.

Even sea monsters like to kayak at the Sal-ton Sea evidenced by this youngster who is wearing the mask he decorated.

(Continued on )

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Page 3

LOG JAM: District, sector notes (cont.) (Continued from Page 2)


Store has been doing well, selling snacks and drinks, ice and bait, and camping supplies. Visi-tors really appreciate being able to get a cup of coffee (and biscotti) or some ice cream. More and more visitors are taking advantage of the kayak rentals and getting out on the Sea for some high quality FUN.

We have welcomed many buses and school

groups and students from College of the De-sert, Elderhostel and other educational institu-tions that have come for field trips and to lunch with the pelicans. At the end of March a group of Borrego volunteers came to kayak and learn more about the other side of the Sea. The con-ditions were perfect and one of the volunteers exclaimed, “These were the best volunteer hours we have ever earned!” A FUN time was had by all.

And there is more. Once again our Spring

Festival was a fun-filled event. In addition to our usual egg hunt and kid’s activities, we used our new Cahuilla kish (which was in the pro-cess of being built by Park Maintenance Work-er I Albert Langarica and Volunteer Duane Bennett) as a talking point to illustrate the his-tory of the Sea.

We put the kids to work braiding palm fi-bers to use for the construction, but most of the kids made them into hatbands or head-bands instead. What a “hands on” FUN way to learn history using native materials.

We would like thank our local supporters like Costco for donating ice cream for the chil-dren and Smart & Final for the hot dogs. Thanks to the Mecca Fire Department, the kids got to examine the cool equipment and big fire truck.

Also, a big thank you goes out to Casey Parks who gave all of the families in attendance

Photos by Fredda Stephens The beginning of a Cahuilla kish takes form at the SSSRA (above). Park Maintenance Worker I Albert Langarica and Volunteer Duane Bennett put the finishing touches on the kish (below). The completed kish is at the bottom of the page.

LOG JAM: District, sector notes (cont.)


free boat rides in his new air boat. More thanks again to the Sea and Desert Interpretive Associ-ation for sponsoring the event and providing mini-kayak tours in the harbor for all. And last but not least, to all of our dedicated volunteers that made these festivities happen. This much FUN is as good as it gets.

The final FUN finale was the Sunrise Kayak

Tour March 31. People showed up at 5:30 a.m. and were rewarded with an incredible experi-ence. The Sea was aglow, the sunrise amazing and the birds above acrobatic, making it more than just FUN. It was magical.

Picacho State Recreation Area

From the desk of Ranger Sue Barney: The vote is in! Each year the Yuma Sun asks

readers to vote for their favorite local business-es in a variety of categories. We are pleased to say that Yuma Sun readers chose PSRA as the winner in the Best Camping category for 2012.

While we agree with their choice, we also know there is always room for improvement and improve we did. April 13, 29 enthusiastic volunteers put on their work gloves and mos-quito spray and joined the Picacho staff for the California State Parks Foundation’s 16th annual Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup. The pro-ject was made possible by a generous grant of $5,100 from the California State Parks Founda-tion.

In April, 2012, non-native invasive tamarisk was removed from a large area in Picacho’s main campground. During Earth Day 2012, Friends4Picacho coordinated a volunteer pro-ject and planted 230 native mesquite trees and installed a drip irrigation system. Above aver-age rainfall and flood events have enticed a wide array of native plans including desert iron-wood, mesquite, palo verde, catclaw, creosote and others to germinate by the hundreds in the area formerly infested with tamarisk. This cre-ated a unique opportunity for natural restora-tion of native species.

For Earth Day 2013 three campsites in the impacted area were selected for rehabilitation. Volunteers and staff constructed a wood shade ramada in each site. Prior to the event, Dis-trict and PSRA staff worked to level the sites

Photos by Sue Barney District State Park Equipment Operator Gregg Johnson and SSSRA’s Park Mainte-nance Chief I Chad Rowan level one of the campsites that will be improved by volun-teers and staff on Earth Day. (Continued from Page 3)

Working together, volunteers and staff make putting up a ramada look easy on Earth Day 2013 at PSRA.



and place a new concrete picnic table in each one. On Earth Day the wood ramadas were built around the new concrete picnic tables and volunteers placed a new fire ring in each site.

They sweated over hand held power augers, posthole diggers and shovels to install parking bumpers in the sites while other volunteers used post pounders to drive in more than 50 fence posts. The temporary fencing will pro-vide a barrier to help protect the young native plants from feral burros. The parking bumpers will delineate the parking areas for the sites and keep vehicles from driving over and compacting the root zones around the trees.

As these plants and trees grow, they will pro-vide great habitat for wildlife as well as shade and privacy for the campsites. When the non-native vegetation was removed, some visitors were concerned about the bare ground left be-hind. The area now offers visitors an opportuni-ty to witness the transition as the native plants reclaim the area. The rehabilitated sites also provide visitors with additional accessible sites within the main campground.

Snack bars and boxes of fruit provided by Fruit Guys helped keep up energy levels. At the end of the four-hour work project, everyone enjoyed a barbecue lunch provided by Friends4Picacho along with a great homemade potato salad donated by Camp Host Margret Reap.

It was a tremendous joint effort and the re-sults were immediately noticeable. Much grati-tude and thanks to our generous sponsors and hard working volunteers!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The Volunteer Potluck will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at the RoadRunner Club sports complex. Enter the gate on Di Giorgio Road and continue straight on Sam Snead Drive West. Turn left on Fairway Drive and go a short

(Continued from Page 4)

Photos by Sue Barney

Volunteer post pounders and parking bump-er installers work together to make im-provements at Picacho State Recreation Ar-ea on Earth Day 2013.

Photo by Eric Hollenbeck A blue heron on an antenna surveys the sur-rounding area at Picacho State Recreation Area.



block then right at the first street and you are there. Hosts Mike and Jan Bigelow will pro-vide barbecued hamburgers and the fixings.

Bring a salad or dessert and your own table setting and silverware. Also bring the drink of your choice.

ABDSP made the news in two stories from the March issue of Desert Report that features news of the desert from Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee.

The first story, Invasive Species in Anza-Borrego State Park, was written by Park Maintenance Worker II Scot Martin and Senior Park Aide Larry Hendrickson.

The article gives a short history of the inva-sion of tamarisk trees then describes the eradi-cation efforts that began in 1983 and continue today.

And, Scot and Larry noted, since the 1970s, many more non-native invasive species have been identified including Sahara mustard. They added that non-native animals such as feral pigs and brown-headed cowbirds also are a threat. In the past, the Park successfully removed feral cattle and horses.

The article concluded that although the treat-ment of non-natives is expensive, time-

Photo by Scot Martin Veteran District Resource Crew Member, Park Maintenance Assistant Daniel Aceves, (right) shows new crew member, Park Maintenance Aide Jack Jorgensen, how the crew gets old Peninsular bighorn sheep drinker boxes off a mountain. The new drinker box, installed and functional in the foreground, was delivered by Environmental Scientist Mike Puzzo (using the method demonstrated by Daniel) prior to his becom-ing a proud father a week before this photo. The Sunset guzzler is back in good working order with about 1,800 gallons of water.

Photo by Don Strampfer Rangers from all over the District joined peace officers from other agencies in an ac-tive shooter drill conducted by the San Die-go County Sheriff’s Department. The training was at Borrego Springs High School and members of the senior class as well as mem-bers of the public volunteered to act out roles for the drill.



Footprints District Superintendent Dan Falat an-

nounced that ABDSP Superintendent Kathy Dice has assumed the Sector Superin-tendent duties and oversight of the Salton Sea State Recreation Area.

Paul Reisman will continue to be part of the sector and has been temporarily as-signed as supervisor in charge of all visitor ser-vice operations and CAL responsibilities.

Park Aides John Sproule, Jason House and Hector Ramos started back to work for the season at CRSP.

And Senior Park Aide Marcia Lay-Obst joined Park Aides Grace Durate-Ballou, Sharon Hill, Sharon Crosswhite and Sarah Reisman for another season in the mountains.

Sarah is splitting her time between CRSP and PMSP.

SSSRA has two new employees: Park Aide Tammy Rowan who is working in the kiosk and Holly Lawson who has trans-ferred from ABDSP and is a maintenance aide.


consuming and requires monitoring and re-treating of seedlings, tamarisk eradication has been successful.

The second article, The Desert Holdings of the University of California Natural Reserve System, describes the five major desert natural reserves including the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego De-

sert Research Center in Borrego Springs. “… thanks to a partnership between the Cal-

ifornia Department of Parks and Recreation, the Anza-Borrego Foundation and the NRS, scien-tists and students will have a base from which to explore the region … it will also serve as a meeting place for the public to learn about local natural history and scientific research conduct-ed in the park,” the article said.


Photos by Jessica Murany Park Champions, volunteers provided by the California State Parks Foundation, remove invasive species and repair and improve trails at PMSP.

Park Champions take a break to have their photo taken during a work day at Palomar Mountain State Park.



Palomar Mountain State Park

From the desk of Ranger Jessica Murany: Palomar Mountain State Park held yet an-

other Park Champions Work Day March 23. A group of 25 volunteers provided by the Cali-fornia State Parks Foundation (CSPF) worked side by side with Palomar Trail Maintenance Unit (TMU) volunteers and Park staff to im-prove the Park's trails and remove invasive species.

The work included cutting back vegetation on trails, chain sawing and removing downed tree trunks and limbs, tread repair, invasive species removal in French Valley and improving a trailhead.

Additionally, thanks to the CSPF, new tools for Palomar’s TMU were purchased to replace old worn out ones.

To see our champions in action, go to: http://palomarsp.org/photo_gallery/index.htm or http://www.fl ickr.com/photos/cspf/sets/72157633154933164/.

If you are sitting at your computer and need a break, a moment to relax or a breath of inspi-ration, open the following link and listen to the song Under Blue Sky, Native American flute mu-sic inspired by Palomar Mountain State Park. h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ?v=AMwZtgVFmMU.

April 13 we held an Earth Day event with a

twist (see page 22). Instead of having the usual restoration and

clean up service day at the Park, we decided to take people out on thematic hikes to give them the opportunity to learn a little about the Park's history, its treasured resources or just to en-joy its beautiful vistas.

The objective for our Earth Day event this year was for everyone to walk away with the idea … this is why this land was selected to be pre-served and added into the State Park system.

Our goal was to build value and awareness of the Park's history and natural treasures and I believe we achieved it by the inspiring feedback we received.

Photos by Jessica Murany Visitors enjoy the shade during a hike at Palomar Mountain State Park during an Earth Day celebration.

Getting out among the big trees at PMSP, en-joying the pine-scented air and looking down on the world below, makes things fall into perspective.


Photo by Leslie Bellah Palo verde trees are in bloom all across the desert. Although wildflowers have not been abundant this year, palo verdes have made up for them as this one tree at District head-quarters shows. The palo verde (green stick in Spanish) is green from its leaves to the trunk. The green bark can photosynthesize which is normally done by leaves in other plants. In the palo verde, leaves are small because the bark is doing the work and they can be shred in times of extreme drought.


Thirty people showed up to go out on a thematic hike. The three themes were Palomar's Pioneer Heritage, Edible Moun-tain Plants and Mountain Vistas.

I would like to give a big thanks to the volunteers who lead the hikes and put their time into planning for them.

Many thanks to Kathy Lande, Daniel Minshew and Rick Bar-clay! This event could not have gone on without you!

(Continued from Page 8) A new book, Desert Insects & Kin — A Photographic Survey & Natural History — Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, is for sale at ABDSP’s Visitor Center and Anza-Borrego Foundation’s State Park Store. The book was written by Lynn and Gene Monroe who have been studying and photographing insects and other arthropods such as scorpions and spi-ders in ABDSP for 20 years. It is also available in the Stout Research Center Library.

Nearly 200 enjoyed evening luau (cont.)

George (Bud) Kuhrts III. The designer-builder was William Kesling who began construction on the building in 1949. Today it is a superb exam-ple of Borrego Modern architecture. It was de-signed as a clubhouse for a golf and desert rec-reation community and was a center for the community social activity for years.

Today it is the center for desert research through the University of California at Irvine (UCI). The university, ABDSP and ABF were the driving forces to create this center and Audrey Steele Burnand made it possible with a substan-tial donation to UCI for the purchase of the property and its initial restoration.

It was fitting that ABF used the old club’s Opening Night theme for its annual fundraiser to spotlight the ongoing research in the Park that will be enhanced through the new Research Center. ABDSP is a living laboratory that at-tracts scientists from all over the world. During the last decade, ABF has funded nearly $200,000 in grants for research projects. ABF also sup-ports the scientific work of the various societies

that are doing ongoing research in archaeology, botany and paleontology. Part of the funds raised at the gala will support these research projects.

Ralph Singer, president of ABF, thanked eve-ryone for attending and supporting the Park through this gala. Retired ABDSP Superinten-dent Mark Jorgensen singled out Park research-ers Diana Lindsay and the late Paul Jorgensen as examples of how ongoing research benefits the Park as well as the region.


Photo by Paige Rogowski District Environmental Scientist Mike Puzzo and ABF’s Institute Manager Briana Puzzo brought their newborn son, Kellen, to his first ABF fund-raiser.

Photo by Paige Rogowski Enjoying a balmy evening at the Opening Night of the Desert Club are (left to right) Lou Bahar and her husband Ralph Singer (partially hidden), Milton Lum, Al and Charlie Aron, Ralph and Rosalie Webb, Mary Ellen Bloom, John Peterson and his sister, Joyce Hill who was visiting from Australia.

Photo by Kyle Roan People enjoyed Hawaiian music as they vis-ited and bid on silent auction items.

Name your favorite books so we can read them too!

AmeriCorps helps build stage station replica

Photo by Alan Schmidt AmeriCorps volunteers (above) begin to build a replica of the Carrizo Stage Station’s footprint.

By Sue Wade Associate State Archaeologist

After nearly 70 years, there are again ruins (albeit a re-creation) of the Carrizo Stage Sta-tion to be seen at the Carrizo Marsh in ABDSP.

The 2000-2002 archaeological investigations at the Stage Station uncovered the architectural remains of the Station as well as a large collec-tion of historic artifacts that revealed much about the lives of those who lived at this 19th century isolated frontier outpost.

During the past decade, this information has illuminated many interesting field trips to the site and will provide information for interpre-tive panels that are scheduled to be placed along the Southern Overland Trail and at the Carrizo Stage Station site in the future.

With the support of ABDSP Superintendent Kathy Dice, the hard work of ABDSP Ranger Steve Bier, District State Park Equipment Op-erator Gregg Johnson, SSSRA’s Park Mainte-nance Chief I Chad Rowan and District Park Maintenance Supervisor Jim Dascoulias as well as the energetic work of the AmeriCorps vol-unteers, there is now a stage station replication to see after the two-mile hike to the site.

April 7 Archaeology Weekend Participants were the first to discover the “ruins” at the end of a rather warm Sunday hike!

Photo above by Steven Van Wormer Photo below by Sue Wade

AmeriCorps volunteers (above) rest after a job well done and State Park employees (below) unload the bricks that will be used in the project.

Paleontology Society thanks its members

Hugh Vance, for his dedication to laborato-ry health and safety, the Endovelicus Award—Endovelicus was an Iron Age god of public health and safety in Lusitania and Gallaecia.

Life memberships were awarded to our invertebrate researchers Scott Rugh and Dr. Astrid Monteil Boehringer.

The Friday field trips were very productive in an area last surveyed more than ten years ago. More than 100 localities were recorded on these trips and at least as many specimens brought into the lab. Thanks to Environmental Services Intern Ron Shugan for leading them

In the lab, Ron Pavlu has worked on Shelley the desert tortoise tirelessly and with incredi-ble results. Hugh Vance updated the health and safety procedures manual, evaluated equipment and pushed to obtain new micro-

Photo by Jon Gilbert Scott Rugh and Dr. Astrid Monteil Boehringer were given life mem-berships to the Paleon-tology Society at the annual picnic.

By Lou Bahar, Paleontology Society A wonderful aspect of March is the sequence

of community gatherings, galas and parties at which awards are presented to volunteers in recognition of their service. The April issue of Tracks reviewed the annual awards at the Vol-unteer Gala. The following week the Paleontol-ogy Society held its annual picnic and awards were presented by the District Paleontologist and Steering Committee Chairperson. The pic-nic was held at the home of John Strong and Deborah Sperberg.

Certificates of Excellence were awarded to Volunteers Mark Armstrong in Field Paleontol-ogy, Lou Bahar in Paleontology Collections, Susie Walker in Paleontology Collections and Ron Pavlu in the Paleontology Laboratory.

Special Awards included the following: Sue Vescera, for becoming an expert (and

beyond) on the ABDSP terror bird Titanis wal-leri—she received the Phorusrhacid Award (Phorusrhacidae is the scientific name of the family group that includes terror birds).

Tom Spinks for enthusiastic pursuit of fossil plants. He was given the Paul Bunyantology Award—nothing further need be said.

Jon Gilbert who can design anything, got the MacGyver Award—naturally.

Marsha Boring, for getting things done be-hind the scenes, was presented with the Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Em-mannuel Ambroise Diggs Award (Oscar, etc. is the full name of the Wizard of Oz).

Photo by Lou Bahar

Paleontolo-gist Lyn Murray

congratu-lates Mark Armstrong

for his paleo field work.

Photo by Lou Bahar Jon Gilbert was the proud recipient of the MacGyver Award.



Volunteers accomplish so much (cont.)

scopes and air filtering system in the prepara-tion area. Norm Gallagher organized the new and unprepared fossil specimens and did what he could to keep the lab from being overrun with unfinished fossils. He and Paulette Ache figured out how to manage this larger than nor-mal inflow.

Norbert Sanders and Jon Gilbert worked overtime to make double-sided clamshell cra-dles to protect larger bones that are in the lab or for ones in curation that need reinforcing. Paulette Ache is training Bill Burwell and Joanne Ingwall in identification and how to capture in-formation and enter into the database. The new help will reduce the backlog of specimens com-ing out of preparation.

Ted and Betty Kawasaki, Suzie Walker, Cin-dy Stoddard, Marilyn Gough, Jack Kyrstad, Sue Vescera, Bill Burwell and I assisted in collecting and entering data for the Kidwell invertebrates.

Tom Spinks has been working with Linda Gil-bert to incorporate plant fossils into the data-base. His report this month gives us a good in-troduction to the subject, "The plantae re-sources in the ABDSP range from a >28 meter long fossil tree trunk piled in a fossil log-jam, to delicate leaves trapped in ancient silts, from tiny fossil roots to even smaller grains of fossil pol-lens sifted from the sands of the Colorado Riv-er. Most of the fossil plantae material found in the park is fossil stem material, primarily trunk and branch pieces and there is currently more of this material in the paleo collection than any

other type." Considering the huge number of fossils of

large herbivores that lived in this area in the past, it is easy to see how this study of plants will be very important for understanding the ancient environment.

Finally, but not at all least, we completed an-other very successful season of Fifth Grade camp, now renamed Camp Borrego. The chil-dren were treated to the wonderful experience of working in a paleontology laboratory and many of them left with eyes wide open to the exciting field of science.

Jimmy Smith reported the following, "There were 12 classes from San Diego and Imperial Counties, an average of 30 fifth graders with parents and camp staff in each. Six staff mem-bers from Paleo covered all 12 classes, which were Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 until 4. We also were able to provide instruction to four classes from Imperial County who previ-ously were funded by the Desert Protective Council, but have lost their funding. They called and said that they would pay their own way if we could schedule them in; of course we could and we did. So about 300 kids who had never seen a State Park got to stay for two and one half days, sleep in a ger, camp, see science, dig bones, hear coyotes, look at the Big Dipper and Orion. What could be more important?"

[Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part col-umn on awards and Paleontology Society members who received them. The second part will be in the next issue of Tracks.]

Photo by Lou Bahar Ron Pavlu sits near Shelly the fossilized tortoise he has been preparing. (Continued from Page 12)

Photo by Hugh Vance Tom Spinks holds his award for the pursuit of fossil plants, the Paul Bunyantology Award.

Volunteers are at the end of their ropes

Photos by Jeri Zemon Adopt-A-Wash Volunteer Tony Feathers has been exploring wash-es along the Borrego-Salton Sea-

way this season. As he explores, he gathers trash that people dump over the edge of the road into the washes. He has collected old tires, microwave ovens, a vacuum cleaner and a high chair among other things. All of this refuge was about 100 feet below several pullouts. The climb was too steep to haul the big bags and appliances out by foot. So Volunteer Bill Parker and Tony decided the best way to get the job done was to throw a rope over the side, tie up the trash and pull it up the hill. ABDSP Supervising Ranger Sue McLaughlin and Ranger Jeri Zemon assisted the intrepid volunteers in hauling out the bundles and appli-ances. Sue remarked, “We looked like characters in the opening scene from Les Misera-bles.” The workers filled one pickup truck bed completely, but unfortunately there still is more trash waiting for next season. (Photographs show how steep the side of the wash is.) Bill mans the rope and Sue helps him untie a bag that reached the top of the hill.


An ill wind blows through Anza-Borrego Photo by Jason Duke Sand blows higher than the clouds during a windstorm in the desert April 8. This photograph was taken from the Crawford Overlook on the Montezuma Grade where District Mainte-nance Chief Ja-son Duke’s car was moved side-ways while he was stopped.

Reports on the windstorm April 8 varied from 83 to more than 90 miles per hour, but whatever the strength was, the winds damaged buildings, structures, downed trees, caused palm trees to lose their skirts and simply ravaged ABDSP and the town in its center, Borrego Springs.

The dust storm was so large it was visible from a NOAA satellite.

The Stout Paleontology laboratory lost about 800 square feet of roof (above).

Many trail and safety signs were uprooted and blown away.

Camp Borrego’s three remaining Mongolian gers

were flattened (lower right). The roof over the Sector Office’s

parking structure was damaged beyond repair (upper right).

Amazingly large rocks flew up and broke several windows in the ranger and maintenance staff vehicles.

The National Weather Service said the blasts were caused by a low-pressure system that swept into the mountains in the morning.

Photo by Jason Duke

Photo by Chris Rogowski

Photo by Chuck Bennett

Volunteers learn about CRSP Reforestation

Photos by Sam Webb Retired Annuitant and former District Superintendent Mike Wells (left) and Environmental Scientist Lisa Gonzales-Kramer present a program on the reforestation of Cuyamaca Ran-cho State Park to ABDSP volunteers at the Visitor Center’s Discovery Room. Mike and Lisa gave the history, purpose, methodology and goals of restoring the vanishing mixed conifer forest habitat devastated in the 2003 Cedar Fire.

CDAS members continue surveying in Culp Valley

Above photos by Alan Schmidt Members of the Colorado Desert Archaeology Society (CDAS) continue surveying in the Culp Valley burn area at the end of April. Photo-graphs above show the groups packing up (left) and coming back to the vehicles (right) after surveying. Volunteer participants were Eugenie Newton, Lisa Pridmore, Kathy Bryson, Susan Gilliland, Alan Schmidt, and Sam and Astrid Webb. The team was directed by District

Associate State Archaeologist Sue Wade. A large southern Pacific rattlesnake in this area shows that the reptiles can and do survive wildfires intact.

Photo by Sam Webb


Vallecito event celebrates life in the 1860s

District Services Manager Gail Sevrens (top left) talks to visitors at the seventh annual Vallecito Days in March. People in period attire, knitters (such as Associate State Archaeologist Sue Wade in the top right photo), displays of historic fire-arms and equipment as well as military reenact-ments all contributed to a successful event. Trail riders on horses and mules camped and hosted activities. The event celebrates life on the 1860’s frontier as well as the Southern Overland Trail.

Photos by Sam Webb

Associate State Archaeologist

Sue Wade

Library volunteers prepare for new software for us

Volunteer librarians are learning t There is a self-check out sheet on a shelf on

the west side of the library (619) 318-1126 or and instructions on how to use the computer if no one is there.

New members of the Botany Society’s steer-ing committee who will be serving two-year terms beginning in November are Paul Larson, Diana Lindsay, Jennifer Puel and Jary Riolo.

In March the Botany Certification course fo-cus shifted from perennials and the green parts of plants to flowers, cacti and blooming annuals.

Volunteer Kate Harper led the group on a field trip to the Yaqui Well area where she taught about phreatophytes, plants whose roots extend down into the water table such as mes-quite and smoke trees. This trip was followed by a visit to ABDSP’s Visitor Center garden. On another date, Chairperson Don Rideout led the class in a study of cacti.

Fourteen volunteers completed a compre-hensive course review then received their certif-icates of completion and Botany Society badges March 18. By the final field trip, annuals had fi-nally put in an appearance. Botanist Larry Hen-drickson led the group on a walk in Plum Can-yon where he instructed the group about the taxonomy of the plants they saw and where

Botany Society has 14 new members

Photo by Sally Thériault Botany Society 2013 class members are (back row) Carol Black, Mary Olson, Mike Bigelow, Steve Chaney, John Strong, Kurt Mengel, Tony De Lorenzo, Arie Korporaal, Karin Vickars and Staff Advisor Larry Hendrickson. In front, left to right, are Martha Ellul, Ruth Otis, Aleese Golding, Clair Burwell, Marilyn Dickson, Ruth Ehly, Kathy Bussey, Kris Brenner, Jennifer Puel, Volunteer Coordinator Judy Ramírez, Laura Webb, Mary Jo Churchwell, Julia Taylor and Susan Hancock. Not pictured are Chairperson Don Rideout, Jan Bigelow, Jo-anne Ingwall, Lou Bahar, Mary Ekelund, Myrl Beck, Paul Blake, Paul Larson and Roger Ri-olo.


Photo by Paul Blake Botany Society members (above) Kathy Bus-sey, Martha Ellul, Steve Chaney and Toni De-Lorenzo use their reference materials as the group matches plant family names to their key characteristics during the comprehen-sive course review.


Volunteers mount 440 specimens (cont.) (Continued from Page 18)

they could be found in the Park. Herbarium mounters continue to stack

mounted specimens ready to be accessioned into the collection with more than 440 speci-mens so far.

Photos by Sam Webb Botany Society members take a botanical trip into Plum Canyon. The top photo on the right features unusual orange chuparosa with the more common red blooms in the background.

Collecting and preserving plant specimens is one of the primary methods that botanists use to study plants. Both the San Diego Museum of Natural History (SDMNH) and ABDSP maintain large collections of dried plant specimens going back many decades.

SDNHM’s collection covers the entire county plus Baja and is available at www.sdnhm.org/science/botany/projects/plant-atlas/. The muse-um keeps track of collectors and first on that list is the District’s own Botanist Larry Hen-drickson. Larry, who also is the Botany Society’s

Staff, volunteers contribute to SDNHM Plant Atlas staff advisor, has collected 5,562 specimens for the SDNHM Plant Atlas.

Volunteers Mel Sweet and Bill Sullivan also are on the list with 1,155 plants for Mel and 1,065 for Bill. Kim Marsden, former Botany So-ciety staff advisor and District resource ecol-ogist, collected 656 specimens while working at the Park.

At the spot Number 17 is Volunteer Mary Jo Churchwell with 555 specimens. Rounding out the list is District Research Analyst II (GIS) L.Louise Jee with 294 specimens.




Jason Duke goes to Fresno School District

Photo by Jason Duke District Maintenance Chief III Jason Duke snaps his own photograph (above) at Palo-mar Mountain State Park. Jason has accept-ed a position with Fresno Unified School District so he can be closer to his children.

After nearly 13 years of working for State Parks, District Park Maintenance Chief III Jason Duke has announced that he has accepted the position of Maintenance and Operations Man-ager II at Fresno Unified School District.

Jason started his Parks career in October, 2000, as a heavy equipment operator at Mount Diablo State Park in the Bay Area District. He started in the Colorado Desert District at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area and became District maintenance chief about seven years ago.

“I have always said that Mount Diablo State Park was my home, but I have never felt more connected to a group of people as I have here at CDD,” he said. “When I first came here I was severely challenged by the nature of the desert, but soon after I was able to adjust and really embrace the beauty that I have already begun to miss. This District has so many dedi-cated individuals who truly love these parks and protect them as their own.”

Recently Jason helped facilitate the role of special programs manager at the Facility Man-agement Division where, he said, he was amazed by the sense of support and the devo-tion from Sacramento to keep all of us going in the field.

“My first child, Caleb, was only six months old when we came to Parks and my daughter, Cheyenne, was born into the family where they have both had a tremendous amount of love given to them from so many of you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart as they will al-ways cherish those memories of Fifth Grade Camp and the Jr. Ranger Program,” he said.

Jason’s last day at the District was April 11. The following is a farewell he wrote for the

District staff and volunteers: It’s been an incredibly memorable journey! I still remember driving from Mt. Diablo to

the Salton Sea for an interview as the Sector Chief I with Kathy Dice and Ross Koonce. It

was the middle of January 2006 with some of the worst freezing events throughout the State. Borrego Springs was a whopping 18 degrees the night of my interview. I was coming from the bay area so the cold was inviting. I was not fully aware of what I was in for during the summer months!

Still I was intrigued by the desert and my fam-ily agreed to move. We quickly became Salton Sea fans as that year provided the best light show at night with the sea having a red tidal event for several months. My kids were mes-merized by how the water could “glow in the dark” and we had lots of fun bringing family and friends to show our new home in the desert.

My family had already been accustomed to riding quads and dirt bikes so this place was like Disneyland for us. We found a second home riding through the Bradshaw Trail and especially at Imperial Sand Dunes where it will always be a goal for me to return at least once a year for recreation time!

My adventure continued as the opportunity arose to fill in as the District Maintenance Chief for Mark Jorgensen and at the same time Mike



Shhh, don’t tell! The Library’s about to change

The library has more books than book-cases and still gets more every year.

If all goes as promised, the Stout Re-search Center Library will have additional bookcases and a thorough revamping by the time the season starts up again in the fall.

The goal is to have the work done after the end of May when the PORTS program will be over for its season. Hammering and sawing don’t mix well with broadcasting!

And many of our volunteer librarians are heading to cooler climates for the summer, but the Stout Research Center Library still is open during office hours. The library has a self-checkout book on the west side of the room.

District will always be in his heart (cont.)

Wells became the District Superintendent. I was completely over my head as the only chief in the District for nearly a year. Thanks to Chris Ruiz for stepping up as the acting supervisor for Montane as I would have never been able to keep up with the demand. Additionally, we have the most dedicated staff who know how to get the job done under very difficult times with no staff and no money. We all were able to get very creative and nothing kept us from getting the jobs completed!

We have gone through so many changes over the years some really good changes and some that I am still wondering what the heck hap-pened! I have really grown to love and appreci-ate this District and all who make it possible to keep the doors open, safe and protected.

I was very much in love with Mount Diablo State Park and the people I worked with but I

never had the kind of working relationships as I have here at CDD. I have learned so much from everyone, from volunteers to seasonal park aides to the rangers to the District special-ists. I have enjoyed growing in my career here and will always remember the wonderful times I’ve had with all of you.

I have only one regret during the time I spent here at CDD and that is that I never saw the entire District!! There are so many places that I haven’t seen yet and that will drive me to return during the cooler months at which time I will be sure to pop in and say hello.

Thank you so much for all your support and all that we shared in accomplishing over the years. The Colorado Desert District will forev-er be in my heart and I will always consider you as family.

I know that many of you get to Northern California for your vacations and should anyone get a chance to visit Shaver Lake, please don’t come without saying hello. I will leave my per-sonal contact information with Wendie.

Until we meet again, be well my friends! Warm regards, Jason


Photo by Jason Duke Having grown up in the State Park family, Caleb and Cheyenne Duke are quite comfort-able enjoying the outdoors.




Retired ABDSP Ranger Bob Thé-riault reported a sighting of a banded turkey vulture and re-ceived a certificate of apprecia-tion from U.S.G.S. (left). Bob said the vulture was spotted March 8 and the British visitor who photographed the bird re-ported it at a Hawkwatch Bob was attending. The bands have numbers that are unique to the bird they are attached to so when they are reported the indi-vidual bird is identified. Some-times they are color coded as well. This vulture had 56 on a yellow tag. The photograph of turkey vultures was taken by Park Maintenance Worker II Scot Martin who was working at Pica-cho State Recreation Area in March when hundreds of turkey vultures were seen migrating. The turkey vultures spent eve-nings at the river park then left in the mornings to continue their migration. The vultures are the most widely distributed and most abundant of all scavenging birds of prey. The species can ben seen from southern Canada to as far south as Tierra del Fue-go at the tip of South America.

Volunteers patrol again at Cuyamaca

Photo by Heidi Addison-Bier With a snake book in one hand and a snake in the other, Lorne Bier stands next to yet another snake in the CRSPIA gift shop as he models the new Park T-shirt. Kelley Jorgensen designed the shirt which comes in several colors. Lorne is the son of CRSP Ranger Heidi Addison-Bier and ABDSP Ranger Steve Bier. (No animals were harmed in the taking of this photograph which features stuffed toy snakes.)

CRSP’s Mounted Assistance Unit After a long, wet winter, CRSP’s Mounted

Assistance Unit (MAU) can plan on regular pa-trols again. MAU Member Bonnie Slager said she was pleasantly surprised at how much green is popping up already. She also reports that the trails are in good shape, thanks to the Trails Maintenance Unit (TMU).

Mountain Bike Assistance Unit Member Steve Boland has been organizing work parties to cre-ate the new reroute of the Cold Spring Trail. The new trail will be a multi-use trail for every-one to enjoy. Steve partnered with Barcy Baca-ni from the San Diego Mountain Bike Associa-tion (SDMBA) to bring workers up to the Park to clear brush and make the trail bed as well as getting sponsors.

A large portion the trail bed has been cut and established and less than 1,200 feet needs to be brushed. This trail is no longer just a dream of Boland’s but it is becoming a reality.

The goal was to get the Cold Spring reroute totally brushed during the April 20 REI work day which was followed by a leisure day to enjoy the Park. Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Interpretive Association and SDMBA supplied tools. Friends of PMSP

Palomar Mountain State Park joined some other parks in celebrating Earth Day April 13. The official date is April 22. Instead of having the

usual restoration and clean up day, this year Friends of Palomar invited people to come and enjoy the Park and celebrate its beauty through three guided hikes.

Palomar's Pioneer Heritage described the settlers and how they lived; Edible Mountain Plants showed how Native Americans got food and medicine from local plants and Mountain Vistas not only explored the areas where the views are magnificent, but also took visitors to the Boucher Fire Tower.

The Anza-Borrego Foundation In response to the windstorm that wrecked

havoc in ABDSP April 8, the Anza-Borrego Foundation sent out a request for support the next day. Gusts were close to 90 miles per hour (see page 13) and the Park suffered seri-ous damage.

The Stout Paleontology laboratory lost a large piece of its roof; many safety and direc-tional signs were blown away; three gers were



flattened; the roof over the Sector Office’s parking structure was damaged be-yond repair, and several windows in ranger and maintenance staff vehicles were broken.

ABF said at this time the full extent of the damage is not known, but the cost will likely be thousands of dollars.

“ABF is accepting donations to help repair and replace these items and more,” the appeal said. “If you would like to help, you can make an immediate impact. Donations may be di-rected to the Park so they can put the funds to use right away ...” California State Parks Foundation

California State Parks Foundation's (CSPF)16th annual Earth Day Restoration and Clean-up event was held April 13 at Picacho State

ABF asks for help for ABDSP (continued)

(Continued from Page 22) Recreation Area (see page 4). Currently PSRA provides the only shore access for day use and camping in the area. During the cleanup, volun-teers refurbished three campsites and installed new shade ramadas, picnic tables and fire rings throughout the Park.

In addition to a $5,100 grant, CSPF provided snacks and beverages as it did for other clean-ups around the state. The foundation hosted 23 other cleanup days during Earth Day.

President Elizabeth Goldstein said the im-portance of Earth Day activities has never been greater and that it also brings communities to-gether. She added that the foundation could not do it without the support of sponsors, partners and volunteers.

There were 29 volunteers plus Picacho and District staff who participated in that event. Snack bars and boxes of fruit were by the Fruit Guys and a barbecue lunch was provided by

Photos by Sue Barney Before and after is amazing in these photographs of Campsite 8 at Picacho State Recrea-tion Area. At left is the site full of non-native tamarisk trees and there was nothing but a space between the trees that might be the correct campsite. At right, after District and Park staff removed non-native vegetation, leveled the ground and placed a concrete picnic table at the site, volunteers and staff built the ramada and parking bumpers on Earth Day 2013. Friends4Picacho organized a volunteer group who planted 230 native mesquite trees and installed a drip irrigation system on Earth Day 2012. The 2013 project was funded by a grant from the California State Parks Foundation.


ironmental Scientist When desert tortoises, who are not native here, are encountered in ABDSP they should not be touched or hindered in their travel unless they are found on a road and are in imminent danger of being run over. In that case, they can be gently picked up and moved to the side of the road where they were headed. When lifting a tortoise, always support all four feet to avoid stressing the animal. If tags or numbers are found on the animal they should be reported. If possible, photos should be taken and emailed to District environmental staff and GPS or other coordinates taken so we can keep a log of all tortoises found in the Park. Tortoises known to have been kept in captivity of any kind should never be released back into the wild. District environmental staff can be consulted about what to do with any tortoises

CSPF, Friends4Picacho really help the Park Page 24

Friends4Picacho. PSRA Ranger Sue Barney said there was so much going on she wasn’t able to get photographs of it all.

“We can't believe how much they got done in four hours. They almost finished the last ramada; we just have about 30 minutes more to finish it and we have parking bumpers to fin-ish in one and a half sites. We got lucky with some really hard working volunteers!”

(Continued from Page 23) Photos by Sue Barney An energetic and enthusiastic group of vol-unteers and State Parks staff (above) gathers under a new ramada they just built at PSRA on Earth Day 2013. After four hours of hard work, the group enjoys a barbecue provided by Friends4Picacho (below, right). Park Maintenance Assistant Georgia Schneider, Margret and Joe Reap (below, left) look hap-py and proud about what has been achieved in just one day.

We’re looking for District staff members who will share their ten favorite books to be published in TRACKS.

Please send your book list with short reviews to [email protected].

USGS thanks Bob Thériault for report

Photo by Scot Martin

Hawkwatch was five out of ten, but season ended early The average number of Swainson's Hawks

observed during the past ten spring Hawkwatch counts is 3,161. With 3,070 this year at the end of March, the migration is just under the aver-age.

There were very few hawks in April and hawk watchers feel the migration ended earlier than usual.

This year is ranked five out of the ten years as follows.

Year Swainson's Hawks Numbers 2004 3909 2005 2191 2006 1096 2007 2113 2008 4683 2009 1552 2010 2601 2011 6252 2012 4147 2013 3070

Retired ABDSP Ranger Bob Theriault received a certificate of appreciation (right) from the Unit-ed States Geological Survey for reporting a banded turkey vulture that was spotted in Borrego Valley March 8.

The bands have numbers on them unique to the bird that they are attached to, so people report the number they see and the color if they are color-coded. In this case, there was a yellow tag with the number 56 on it attached to the left wing. A British visitor pho-tographed the bird and reported it at the Hawkwatch.

Turkey vultures migrate at the same time as the Swainson’s hawks and when the District Re-source crew members were working at PSRA in March, they saw hundreds of vultures coming in to roost at night then resume their migration in the morning, according to Park Maintenance Worker II Scot Martin. Scot took this photo (right) that only shows part of the large group that came in that day.

Archaeology Weekend is a great success

Spring break contributed to the high attend-ance at the tenth annual Archaeology Weekend April 6 and 7. The event is coordinated by the Colorado Desert Archaeology Society (CDAS).

There were lots of parents with their chil-dren in attendance, which resulted in a constant gathering of kids at the pottery making table and kids’ activities table.

Each child made his or her own pot using the Native American technique of paddle and anvil pottery and the group used 70 pounds of clay.

They also enjoyed other hands-on crafts at the activity table, grinding pods and seeds with a metate and pounder at the Native American plant use table.

The display of plants used by Native Ameri-cans also was well received and the Native American crafts table had a very successful sales weekend.

Many guided tours were led across to the Begole Archaeological Research Center where the silent auction fund-raiser was a huge suc-cess with $4,100 in bids.

There also was a long line at the free ice cream social where 120 dishes of ice cream and 90 root beer floats were served.

Photos by Sam Webb Imperial Valley Desert Museum staff ran a pottery demonstration table during the Ar-chaeology Weekend April 6 and 7.

Stewardship . . . Caring for our Cultural Heritage was the theme of this year’s event. Lecture presenters were Carol Black, Sam Webb, Sue Wade, Roger Riolo, Bonnie Bruce, Jessica Bro-dy and Steve Bier.

The purpose of CDAS is to assist Park staff with documentation, preservation and protec-tion of the Colorado Desert District’s prehis-toric and historic cultural resources.

The group wanted to thank the following for making Archaeology Weekend such a success:

CDAS members Carol Black, Virginia Per-rine, Chuck Bennett, Roger Riolo, Kris Brenner, Dave Otis, Susan Gilliland, Lisa Pridmore, Eu-genie Newton, Kathy Bryson, Bill Parker, Julie Nyssen, Alan Schmidt, Danny Guerrero, Sam and Astrid Webb, Joan Schneider, Sue Wade and Bonnie Bruce.

Site Stewards Mel Sweet, Denise Zuranski, Jim and Deanne Carl, Karen and Tony De Lo-renzo, Claire Didion, Joanna Collier and Arthur Ramcharan.

Additional Assistance from Bob Blum, Jessica and Allison Brody, Susan and Bob Emery, Chris Rogowski, Mike Wilken, ABDSP Ranger Steve Bier, Visitor Center staff and volunteers.

Site stewards staffed a table where they ex-plained how they monitor and protect sites as well as explaining the importance of pre-serving our archaeological artifacts and sites.

SSSRA always has plenty of activities

Photos by Larry Brauer Volunteers Rosa and Tom Bethurum help with palm braiding (above, left) and a beautiful picture of a bird and the Salton Sea (above, right) is one of the scenes drawn for the chalk art contest.

Photos by Fredda Stephens ABDSP volunteers enjoy an outing on kay-aks at the Salton Sea and others got up early to be at SSSRA for a sunrise kayak

tour March 31. Kayakers had to arrive at 5:30 a.m. to be on the Sea in time for sunrise. There always seems to be something wonderful happening at the SSSRA.

Colorado Desert District 200 Palm Canyon Drive Borrego Springs, CA 92004

TRACKS

TRACKS Colorado Desert District Newsletter

Dan Falat, District Superintendent Colorado Desert District Leslie Bellah, TRACKS Editor Borrego Springs, CA 92004 (760) 767-4037 Fax: (760) 767-3427 E-mail: [email protected] Anza-Borrego Sector……………………………………….....…….....Kathy Dice, Superintendent Anza-Borrego Desert State Park® Montane Sector…………..……………..……..Ray Lennox and Kent Miller, Management Team Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Palomar Mountain State Park Salton Sea Sector…………………………………………..…...………Kathy Dice, Superintendent Indio Hills Palms Picacho State Recreation Area Salton Sea State Recreation Area

ABF celebrates Opening issue R Night at the Desert Club the historic building is an important part...

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