Volunteers from the Yreka FWO work to remove invasive plants and plant native ones. Pictured: (from background to foreground) Juanita Quijada, Misty Bradford, Kirsten Underwood, and Jennifer Jones. (photo: USFWS)

By Noah Ellis, Yreka FWO

Staff from the Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office joined the local community's celebration of Earth Day April 22, 2009, by planting trees and removing invasive species at Greenhorn Park in Yreka, California.  The Siskiyou County Arboretum supplied the plants and Tom Hesseldenz of Tom Hesseldenz & Associates Ecological Landscape Architecture providing the layout for the planting. 

Volunteers from a variety of agencies were present, including the Siskiyou County Resource Conservation District (RCD), AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project, students from Gold Street Elementary School in Yreka.  From the Yreka FWO were administration staff Juanita Quijada, Misty Bradford, and Noah Ellis, as well as biologists Jennifer Jones and Mark Cookson. The Siskiyou County Office of Education contributed to the event by providing tools for volunteers to use.

By the end of the day, the volunteers planted nearly 40 native plants in the rocky soil.  The volunteers also removed the majority of the invasive species from the workspace on the Yreka Creek floodplain, removed garbage, and improved the general aesthetics of the area.