Strange Things are Afoot!
Work Progresses at the Weller Natural Preserve
Published: Spring/Summer 2007

Since the very first day of 2007, small groups of volunteers have participated in frequent work trips at the Weller Natural Preserve. The following volunteers have been working on cave survey, property line survey, brush clearing for fire prevention, Scotch Broom control, and biological inventory: Rolf Aalbu, Denise Aalbu, Tracy Audisio, Kip Baumann, Scott Bellows, Ron Davis, Jeff Fitzwater, John Gardner, Tom Grundy, Dale Hartwig, Sherry Hartwig, Greg Wilson-Hartwig, Jerald Johnson, Matthew Leissring, Heather McDonald, Bill Papke, Marianne Russo, Rich Sundquist, and Cathy Weibel.

Cave Survey and Mapping

Volunteers have put in many hours working toward finishing the map of Rippled Cave. The first few trips of the year were primarily concerned with this task. Several areas had been inadequately sketched. They needed re-doing in order to complete the map. The first task was to relocate fifteen-year-old stations, followed by a trip throughout the cave to tackle minor discrepancies in the notes. The Breakdown Maze off the main passage, the Lower, Middle, and Upper Balconies, and the Confusion Room, a nasty bit of business on the way to Cinderella's Closet, all had to be resurveyed and sketched. These daunting tasks took several trips. New exploration, survey, and mapping included a high lead that the mapper, Rich Sundquist, had only recently learned about, and a tight lead that turned out to go back to a known area. Marianne and Rich have nearly completed a profile of the cave. Undoubtedly, there will be a few more areas of cleanup, but most of the important survey and sketching has been done now. Hopefully, we will soon see a published map of Rippled Cave.

Property Line Survey

Since the end of January, a concerted effort has been directed towards determining, clearing, and marking the western boundary of the Weller Natural Preserve. Preliminary work on determining the boundary included following an old barbed wire fence thought to be on the property line (completely inaccurate), and using a Suunto compass to survey through dense brush, and marking the line with flagging (surprisingly close). It turns out that the fence, probably installed by the people who owned the property before the Wellers, was lined up on magnetic north. The property line is on true north. The brush that impaired the Suunto surveyors had affected their morale more than the accuracy of their survey. Thus it was decided that since a firebreak needed to be cut along the property line anyway, clearing the brush would maximize line of sight, allowing the use of a surveyor's transit and stadia rod. This task ended up taking quite a few work days. Jerry, Heather, Matt, and Dale went back and forth several times surveying and clearing brush, narrowing the survey error each time until the line could be traced for hundreds of feet by eye and was as accurate as possible. The four of them, along with Sherry, Greg, Rolf, Rich, and Marianne cut the ever-widening firebreak along the route, burning the cuttings on days allowed. The western boundary is now within a few inches of being completely accurate, and is marked with 15 white-topped green T-posts, placed at 100-foot intervals, with small property boundary line signs attached to them.

Brush Clearing for Fire Prevention

WCC representatives had met with the CDF fire captain from the Sutter Hill station to find out how to reduce the fire hazard at the Weller Natural Preserve. After a walking tour of the property, the captain gave his recommendations for a fire safety plan. Certain areas of the property contained a dangerous amount of concentrated brush, especially Manzanita, which, on steep south-facing slopes and ridge-tops could create a lethal fire hazard. Reduction of these brush concentrations and the creation of good fuel breaks were the first priorities. The next most important area of concern is the corridor along Soke Springs Ranch Road. Heavy vegetation right along the road can become a death trap for residents trying to escape a fire (The worst portion of this corridor contained a dense concentration of Scotch Broom, a highly flammable species). While other areas of the property on north or east facing slopes and in drainage bottoms were less fire prone, the fire captain did recommend thinning of unhealthy, stunted trees and dead limbs. These "ladder fuels" can carry flames up into the canopies of mature trees, resulting in a total loss and presenting a hazard to homes and lives. Thus, a plan was laid out for selective brush removal. A burn permit for the year was secured, and work began on these areas.

The first priority was the western boundary of the preserve, which was being cleared for survey anyway. A firebreak needed to be cut along that boundary line. The Weller Preserve is some fifteen acres in an irregular and elongated configuration. The western and northern boundaries, in particular, extend for more than a thousand feet each, and were not marked or fenced. The neighbors to the north had partially cleared their land, so there a fire break exists, but to the west was an uninterrupted area of Manzanita, Madrone, oak, pine, Toyon, and Poison Oak, much of which was small, unthinned, and partially dead.

Brush clearing has taken several trips, and there is still a lot more to do. Thanks to the efforts of our volunteers, it is now very easy to walk from one end of the property to the other without crawling or getting poison oak. Fire control clearing has begun in other high priority areas as well: near the building, along the southern slope near the cave, and in the creek bed to the north. In the clearings, individual trees and shrubs have been set aside for protection and there are many young specimens that will now thrive in the sun.

WCC volunteer John Gardner has a heavy-duty chipper shredder, and in April of this year, a group of volunteers helped him try it out. It should be an effective way to dispose of cuttings once it is too hot and dry to burn.

While our concerns about fire safety are certainly valid, it is important to note here that the WCC has no intention of removing all brush everywhere on the property. Our goal is to balance fire prevention efforts with the maintenance of good habitat for wildlife and our desire to foster native plant species. Ultimately, we would like to bring the property back to a condition that would have been common for the area before the effects of farming, mining, logging, and other historic activities occurred.

Scotch Broom Control

Volunteers discovered an infestation of Scotch Broom, an invasive non-native shrub that spreads aggressively, crowds out native plants, forms dense stands that pose a fire hazard, and makes poor forage for deer. Once the western property line had been cleared and surveyed, work began to stamp out this invader, a pest in California since the early 20th century.

Because Scotch Broom, a legume, spreads seeds ballistically in the summertime, the goal was to remove as many plants as possible before they could go to seed. Fortunately, plants do not flower until they are two or three years old. Wherever possible, small plants have been uprooted by hand and larger ones cut to about a foot above ground level. Burning is the most effective disposal method for Scotch Broom, as it is very fibrous, and has a tendency to jam a chipper-shredder. Volunteers have used a device called a weed wrench to uproot the stumps of large broom plants, which can get to be over two inches in diameter, with multiple trunks. Fortunately, these plants do not have taproots like those of oak trees.

Though Scotch Broom is somewhat pesticide resistant, concentrated Roundup® has proven effective on dense groupings of young broom seedlings where uprooting has been an impossible task.

Though there is still a lot of work to do, and a huge stand of broom plants on another property across the road from the Weller Natural Preserve, volunteers have succeeded in removing or cutting down nearly all the mature Scotch Broom plants on the property. Many stumps will need to remain in the ground until the first rains of the fall soften the soil, however, and stumps can resprout. Seeds of Scotch Broom can last up to 80 years, so while much of the source of seeds has been removed, constant followup and removal must continue for many years in order to completely eradicate this noxious weed. To that end, before removal began, volunteers flagged the perimeter of the infestation and mapped it.

WCC volunteers have met with several of the neighbors to discuss the Scotch Broom infestation, and plan on working with them to eradicate it. In the future, we hope to secure permission to remove all the Scotch Broom from the property across the road.

Biological Inventory

While all of these activities have been going on, work has begun assembling a plant and animal inventory of the preserve. The biodiversity on the preserve is impressive. Plants on the preserve include some really nice pines, canyon live oaks, and some large Madrones. With volunteer effort, a very detailed description of the plant and animal resources of the Weller Natural Preserve can be assembled. Volunteers Jerry Johnson and Bill Papke have been photographing as many different plants as possible. On at least two occasions, cougar tracks have been found and photographed. Any visitor to the preserve who has photographed plants or animals there is invited to contribute their images to the inventory. Volunteers with knowledge of plant, fungi, lichen, and animal characteristics are needed to assist with the identifications.

These volunteers have put in many long days, surveying--both under and above ground, clearing and burning brush, and gathering data, often working in groups of four people or fewer. With more manpower, a lot more could be accomplished. Now, who else out there would like to help?