News Release

For Release:  February 13, 2007      
Contact:  Barbara Williams (916) 985-4474
CA-CC-07-20

Spring Wildflower Tours at Pine Hill Preserve

It’s field trip time again at the Pine Hill Preserve!

The Folsom Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, has scheduled six springtime guided field trips to view wildflowers and other features at the Pine Hill Preserve in western El Dorado County.  The Pine Hill Preserve is managed under a cooperative agreement among nine federal, state, and county agencies and a private non-profit organization.  The Preserve consists of 4,042 acres in five separate units to protect rare plants that grow in gabbro soils.

According to BLM Volunteer Coordinator Barbara Williams, the Pine Hill Preserve is one of the most botanically diverse areas in California with about 10 % of the California native flora represented in the Pine Hill area ecosystems.  In addition, five plant species occurring in the Preserve are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and three are found nowhere else in the world.

The guided field trips, all on Saturday, are scheduled as follows:

April 14:  Wildflowers at the Cameron Park unit
April 21:  Wildflowers at the Cameron Park unit
April 28:  Wildflowers at the Pine Hill unit
May 5:  Wildflowers at the Pine Hill unit
May 12:  Wildflowers at the Cameron Park unit
May 19:  Wildflowers at the Salmon Falls unit
 
Field trip participants will meet at designated areas at 8:30 AM and car pool to the different sites.  All are asked to bring a lunch or snacks, water, sturdy shoes, hats, sunscreen and insect repellant.

Tours are limited to 25 participants.  Participants must pre-register with the BLM.

Check out the Preserve websites at:  http://www.blm.gov/ca/folsom/pinehillpreserve.html or http://www.pinehillpreserve.org/tours/index.htm

For more information, please contact the Bureau of Land Management, Folsom Field Office, 63 Natoma Street, Folsom CA 95630, or call (916) 985-4474.  Barbara Williams can be contacted directly by e-mail at Barbara_Williams@ca.blm.gov.

-BLM-

Folsom Field Office - 63 Natoma Street - Folsom, CA  95630