ArtPlantae Today

Plants, Life, Riverside is an ongoing interpretive project about plants in an urban setting. How are natural areas managed in the 12th largest city in California? Let’s find out.

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The City of Riverside has a new nature center!

The Ameal Moore Nature Center in Riverside’s Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park opened June 14, 2014. Named in honor of former councilman Ameal Moore, the nature center is a testament to Councilman Moore’s dedication to connecting Riverside residents with local natural resources.

Excited about the start of a new school year, the nature center’s five part-time educators are ready to welcome students, teachers, parents and the community.

Managed by the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, the Ameal Moore Nature Center will soon announce educational programs supporting its citizen science objectives and the use of the park as an outdoor research center. The park’s 1,500 acres makes Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park the second largest municipal park in the United States, second only to Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Among the educational programs planned at the new nature center are programs about Native American culture. The museum has been working with faculty in Native American Studies at UC Riverside, the Sherman Indian Museum and members of the local Cahuilla indian community. The first program to emerge from this exciting collaboration is Spring Break Camp 2015, an immersive experience in Cahuilla culture. Participants will learn about the Cahuilla language, basket weaving and storytelling, and will also learn about the plants, animals and ecology of Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park. This camp will be held March 30 – April 3, 2015 and will be open to students ages 6-12. Parents interested in enrolling their children in this fantastic opportunity are encouraged to contact the Riverside Metropolitan Museum at 951-826-5273.

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park is home to thirty-three plant families, four families of amphibians and reptiles, thirteen bird families and eight families of mammals.

Last year the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and its partners launched a citizen science project and a new app called Riverside Nature Spotter. The objective of the citizen science project is to document the plants and animals observed in Sycamore Canyon, as well as the plants and animals observed within the city. Riverside residents are invited to participate in this project. It is very easy to participate and regular trips to the museum or the nature center are not necessary.

To contribute to this exciting community project, Riverside residents only need to do the following:

1. Download the Riverside Nature Spotter app (available at the Apple App Store or the Google Store).
2. Use the Riverside Nature Spotter app to photograph the plants and wildlife they see in their neighborhoods while at home or while enjoying a leisurely walk, an urban hike or a bike ride.
3. Upload photos to the Riverside Citizen Science project page at iNaturalist.org.

What is iNaturalist?
The iNaturalist website is an online community where people can communicate with fellow naturalists and scientists. This interactive platform, originally created as a Master’s project at UC Berkeley in 2008, was acquired by the California Academy of Sciences earlier this year. This platform enables groups to form projects on the iNaturalist website and the Riverside Citizen Science project is one of thousands of projects at iNaturalist.

If you would like to participate in this project but are worried about not knowing the names of local plants or animals, set your concerns aside. When you submit photos to the Riverside Citizen Science page, you can ask the museum’s naturalist (Curator of Natural History, James Bryant), to identify the plant or animal for you. If you prefer to identify unknown specimens yourself, resources are available to help you with this task. The Riverside Citizen Science page features links to field guides about local plants, mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles and fish. These field guides can be viewed online or printed in a grid format, a book format or a journal format.

One of eight protected core reserves for the Federally-listed endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat, Sycamore Canyon is noticeably void of the anxiety and stress of our 24/7 instant-messaging 21st-century lifestyle. This has no doubt contributed to the park’s popularity with mountain bike riders and fitness enthusiasts. There is much to see and a lot to learn at Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park and the Ameal Moore Nature Center adds a new dimension to the park. Teresa Woodard, Curator of Education at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, says the new nature center affords residents the opportunity to experience nature in the city and to experience nature as a leisure activity. She hopes the programs offered at the new nature center encourages people to look at life in the park more closely and encourages conversation about how to manage our natural resources.

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park is open 1/2 hour before sunrise and closes 1/2 hour after sunset. The nature center is open to the public Saturday and Sunday from 9 am – 5 pm and starting October 8th, Wednesday through Sunday from 9 am – 5 pm.

Get Involved
Riverside residents are invited to help the Ameal Moore Nature Center plan its public programs. To offer your thoughts, complete the short three-question survey at MySycamoreCanyon.com, the official website of Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park. The survey is available in both English and Spanish.

Learn More
View video about the Ameal Moore Nature Center

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Plants, Life, Riverside is an ongoing interpretive project about plants in an urban setting. Today we learn about the river flowing through this urban landscape.

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The city of Riverside has the name that it does because of its proximity to a river that flows through town. Unfortunately many area residents are unaware of the river’s presence and never linked the name of their city to this natural waterway.

Increasing public awareness about the river, increasing the public’s use of the river and increasing public stewardship of the river are the core objectives of the Santa Ana River Trust, an organization founded in 2011 under the fiscal sponsorship of the Riverside Land Conservancy. 

How did the Santa Ana River disappear from public view?

The river became invisible for a few reasons, explains Amber Dobson, Program Director. Dobson first cites a long period during which development turned its back on the river. She also explains that in the early 1800s, a waste dump was built adjacent to the river. Compounding the river’s visibility problem is the fact that the Santa Ana River doesn’t match the public’s idea of what a river should be. Lined with concrete in certain sections and planted with large concrete energy dissipaters, the Santa Ana River doesn’t look like a river one might see in a more natural open space area.

Traveling alongside the river is the Santa Ana River Trail, a soon-to-be 110-mile bike path and pedestrian trail. I asked Dobson if people were more aware of the trail than the river and she said a small part of the community is aware of the recreational trail. While it is popular with cyclists and some joggers, they do not seem to be aware that it serves as a backdrop to a wildlife corridor.

Determining what the public knows and does not know about the river is a task that Dobson and colleague Rachel Hamilton address each year in a public survey. Their annual survey is posted on the Trust’s website and Facebook page each August and remains up through the end of the year. During this survey period, Dobson and Hamilton bring paper surveys to the trail so that trail users can also participate. Two years’ worth of public comments have revealed that the top concern of trail users is the availability of restroom facilities and safety.

For those of you not familiar with the Santa Ana River, the river has a bit of a negative reputation. The Trust is addressing this by holding family events, nature walks and fundraisers to educate the public about all issues concerning this waterway. They also organize public clean-up days with the group Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful, an entity of the city’s Public Works department. The Trust is currently working with the Mission Inn Foundation to become involved in the construction of a soft trail, a trail for walkers and joggers that will be constructed along the paved trail. The soft trail will separate pedestrians and cyclists and is an effort to reduce the number of accidents that occur on the path.

Recently respondents have expressed interest in using the river for recreational purposes. Swimming is already a popular activity during spring and summer, as is fishing. Both activities have occurred for many years. There is new interest in kayaking, an activity that coincidentally, is a new recreational activity occurring in the Los Angeles River. 

Interestingly, Dobson says that when she speaks about the Santa Ana River in Los Angeles, she receives a more positive reaction from L.A. residents than she does from residents in the Inland Empire. She credits the river revitalization efforts in the L.A. area with establishing a more river-minded community.

I asked Dobson what the biggest misperception is of the river and she said the public holds two misconceptions. The first being the river’s existence and the second being the quality of the water in the river. She said people have the perception that the water is very dirty. However it is actually cleaner than most people think. The Trust has performed water quality tests with Pomona College and Inland Empire Waterkeeper and results show the water is clean and safe for body contact. 

Visit the River

Would you like to learn more about the Santa Ana River and visit it yourself? 

Residents of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties can access the trail at several locations. Visit the website of the Santa Ana River Trail & Parkway to view the location of each trailhead and to learn more about the river.

Riverside residents can view the trail from many locations in the city. Dobson recommends three easy-access viewing locations where residents can experience the river and its natural environment:

• Walk to the top of Mt. Rubidoux for a panoramic view of the river.
• Visit Martha McLean/Anza Narrows Park to see the river and to access the Santa Ana River Trail.
• Views of the lush landscape growing along the river can be enjoyed at Rancho Jurupa Park.

Get Involved

• Jurupa Valley Community Clean-up Event
  Go to the Santa Ana River Trust website and click on “Programs.”
• Help the Santa Ana River Trust Create the Santa Ana River Conservancy
  Supporting the creation of the Santa Ana River Conservancy will help preserve and restore the Santa Ana River. Use the sample letter or write your own explaining how important it is to you (a citizen living near the Santa Ana) to have state support for the longest river in Southern California. To learn more, see SB-1390 Santa Ana River Conservancy.

Connect with the Santa Ana River Trust
Contact the Trust at membership@santaanarivertrust.org.

More About the Santa Ana Watershed
Learn about the Santa Ana Watershed Association

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Plants, Life, Riverside is an ongoing interpretive project about plants in an urban setting. Where do plants live in this city of concrete, asphalt and stucco? Let’s find out.

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Water is a precious commodity in southern California. It needs to be used wisely, managed wisely and conserved as much as possible. According to the Western Municipal Water District, 60% of all water used in a single family home is used to water its landscape. How can we manage this 60% as wisely as possible?

Riverside residents can find the answer to this question at the demonstration garden on the corner of Alessandro Blvd and Mission Grove Parkway. You may have seen this garden while traveling on Alessandro. More accurately, you may have seen the large banners hanging on the corner advertising community events such as Earth Night in the Garden, native plant sales or reminders to water less during a maintenance period.

If this is what you normally catch a glimpse of as you dart through the intersection, I invite you to explore what is behind these corner banners.

It’s official name is Landscapes Southern California Style. It is a demonstration garden managed by the Western Municipal Water District (WMWD), the water district that serves approximately 527 square miles of western Riverside County. Built in 1989, this garden is open to the public from 10 am – 4 pm daily (except holidays). Admission is free, as are the informational flyers in the garden’s Resource Patio. It only takes one visit to this informative garden to change your thinking about water conservation.

Upon entering the garden, visitors learn that early California settlers brought with them their taste for lush water-hungry plants. These were plants settlers grew at their previous homes located in high rainfall areas in the eastern United States. These types of plants were not practical choices then and they are not practical choices today, especially given the severe drought conditions in California. Fortunately, the WMWD demonstration garden presents homeowners with several water-wise alternatives.

Created by the WMWD with assistance and expertise provided by the University of California Cooperative Extension, the garden presents many ideas about how to create a California style garden that is beautiful, useful and healthy, while conserving water and saving homeowners time and money. Garden visitors can see examples of water-wise plants as they walk through the garden.

They can also learn about irrigation, learn about the water cycle, and see an example of how to place water-wise plants around a patio.

One visit to the garden is almost certain to lead to many more visits because of the range of learning opportunities provided by the water district and local organizations such as the Riverside County Master Gardeners, the California Native Plant Society, the Iris Society and many others.

The Riverside County Master Gardeners work closely with the water district and host most of the educational events in the garden. They teach nine workshops per year, each drawing about 70 people. On the days they teach, up to 200 people visit their information table. The Master Gardeners now lead tours of the garden Wednesday through Sunday. To schedule a tour, download a request form on the Master Gardener’s website or the WMWD website.

If you’re interested in attending one of the free garden workshops presented by the Riverside County Master Gardeners and WMWD, here is a schedule of upcoming workshops:

Creating a Pet Safe Garden
April 12, 2014 at 11 AM
Presented by Cathy Konyn, Master Gardener

Edible Flowers in Your Garden
April 12, 2014 at 11 AM
Grow edible flowers that can add unique touches and flavors to food and drink. Presented by Jean Weiss, Master Gardener and UCR Botanic Gardens lecturer.

Local residents can also look forward to events such as Experts in the Garden scheduled for June 14, 2014 and the California Friendly Landscape Training class that takes a watershed-sustainability approach to gardening. The WMWD recently received funding for a customer handbook about how to be water-wise while living in a watershed. The effort to create this handbook will be led by WMWD horticulturist, Pam Pavela, who explained that water districts are taking a very serious approach to water management in the Santa Ana Watershed. Local water districts are working with the Santa Ana Watershed Protection Agency in an integrated planning effort titled One Water, One Watershed that addresses the water management issues for this region of southern California.

Landscapes Southern California Style is not the only demonstration garden in the Inland Empire. Demonstration gardens can also be found in Chino, Claremont, Montclair, Perris and Rancho Cucamonga. The newest garden in the Inland Empire is the Cal State San Bernardino Water Conservation Garden featuring desert plants, native plants and plants from Mediterranean regions. Residents can learn more about each of these gardens at IEGardenFriendly.com.

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Did you know…

• Lists of California water-wise plants are created by water districts and cities after referring to the Water Use Classification of Landscape Species, a resource containing information about the water needs of over 3,500 taxa in six different climate regions of California?
• The Western Municipal Water District has an incentive to help residents replace their grass lawn with a more climate-appropriate landscape?
  Learn more at WesternTurfReplacement.com.
• If you already have a water-wise landscape, you can show it off by entering Western’s regional landscape contest?

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Plants, Life, Riverside is an ongoing interpretive project about plants in an urban setting and expands ArtPlantae’s mission to encourage an interest in plants. Where do plants reside amidst miles of concrete, asphalt and stucco? Discoveries will be posted in this new column.

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Where can you find plants in the city?

Why in the fridge, of course. Open your refrigerator and you will find a selection of fruit, vegetables and plant-based food items such as tomato ketchup and mustard.

I am thrilled to launch this column by introducing you to an organization whose focus is to bring fresh, healthful food into the homes of Riverside residents.

The Riverside Food Cooperative (RFC) is a not-for-profit organization born out of the Occupy Movement. Founder William Cobb participated in Occupy Riverside and began the food cooperative because he wanted to establish a source of organic food available in bulk for local residents.

The Cooperative’s objective is to open a grocery store between Riverside’s historic downtown area and the University of California Riverside campus. The Cooperative is currently raising money to establish their store. The money to pay for the building, refrigerators and other construction expenses is being raised by selling lifetime memberships.

The Riverside Food Cooperative began as an idea and it was this idea I encountered when I visited their booth at the 2012 Riverside Neighborhood Conference in downtown Riverside. They weren’t selling memberships back then, they were only promoting their idea. Since this conference, they incorporated and became a not-for-profit organization in Spring 2013. Membership in the cooperative is a one-time fee of $300 that can be paid in installments of $10 per month. Currently the cooperative has 43 members. The RFC Board says they need 700-1000 memberships to move forward with the grocery store.

Because membership fees are dedicated to the establishment of the grocery store, the cooperative pays for its operational expenses in another way. They pay for these expenses by selling Crop Boxes to members.

For only $27 per month, members have the option of receiving a Crop Box filled with fresh locally grown fruit and vegetables. Each month the Crop Box contains 12-15 items. The day I visited the pick-up location, members were

being treated to sunflower sprouts, mandarin oranges, a Meyer lemon, a Zutano avocado, leeks, spinach, broccoli, garlic, red leaf lettuce, kale, radishes, cilantro, snap peas, Etta Mae Gourmet artisan jam and Whole Chinese 5-spice ingredients.

As I watched members come and go, I noticed that they arrived with a smile and were eager to trade the now-empty cardboard Crop Box they received last month for a new box filled with nutritious food.

The Riverside Food Cooperative sources their produce from local farmers. They try to get the best of local produce and aim to include 12 items in each box. The selection of produce changes with the seasons and the balance of the items comes from whatever crop is available.

I spoke with Treasurer Sue Struthers the day I visited the pick-up location. Sue is not only the Treasurer, she is also the author of the recipe booklet included in each Crop Box. She writes a new booklet each month. Sue says that eventually the cooperative plans to host cooking classes so they can teach people how to eat healthfully, inexpensively and creatively using the food they receive from local growers.

To encourage the recruitment of new members, the co-op offers special member promotions. This month Riverside Co-op members can receive a free crop box for every new member they bring to the co-op at the $100 or full membership level by February 16. Members can enjoy the crop box they receive, share it with a friend or donate it through the Riverside Food Co-op to Operation Safehouse.

Learn more about the Riverside Food Cooperative on their website and on Facebook. You can also speak with them in-person at the Grow Riverside conference, a conference for local businesses and residents exploring the economic feasibility of urban agriculture. This conference will be held at the Riverside Convention Center March 19-20, 2014.

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Related Resources

• Learn more about cooperatives at the Cooperative Development Institute
• Colorful Edibles Coloring Book
• Drawing Food by Claudia Pearson

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