News Release

For Release:  March 13, 2008         
Contact:  David Christy, (916) 985-4474
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BLM Offers Wildflower Tour at Fort Ord, Volunteer Event at Laguna Creek

The Bureau of Land Management will offer a tour to see wildflowers at their peak on April 12 and a volunteer service opportunity on April 26-27. Details are:

April 12. 2 p.m.-sunset. Peak of Season Wildflower Tour. Fort Ord Public Lands. 
BLM Botanist Bruce Delgado ((831) 394-8314 or bdelgado@blm.gov) and volunteer David Styer will lead this driving/hiking tour with a sheepherder and his 2,000 sheep. Total hiking will cover three to five miles, mostly very gentle climbs or flat. The tour will view vernal pools, a 2005 grassland/oak woodland wildfire area and a maritime chaparral prescribed fire area. There will be radically different, but all very special, wildflowers and vistas, rare plants and other native beauties.  Meet at 2 p.m. and carpool from Fort Ord’s Thrift Shop (formerly the Visitor Center) just inside (first parking lot on the right) Fort Ord’s main gate on Lightfighter Drive.  An optional dinner will follow in nearby Marina at My Thai Restaurant.

April 26-27. BLM Volunteer Service Trip to Laguna Creek and the Gorge, San Benito County.
If you enjoy a cool dip after a warm, moderate hike, join BLM staff and the Sierra Club on this volunteer service opportunity approximately a 1.5 hour drive from the Monterey Bay coast.  Participants will conduct minor trash pick up and develop a plant species list as they hike approximately 2 miles down to Laguna Creek and up to the Gorge.  Camping is primitive (e.g. no water or facilities).  This trip can be accomplished in one day if you prefer, but you don’t want to miss a fun evening under the stars and valley oaks.  Contact BLM Recreation Planner Lesly Smith (lesly_smith@blm.gov or (831) 630.5015) or Botanist Bruce Delgado (at bdelgado@blm.gov or (831) 394.8314) for more information.

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