May Plant Walk – Fairfield Osborn Preserve Sudden Oak Death Education
Sunday, May 11, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm | Attendance Limit: 20
Fairfield Osborn Preserve (see directions below)
Leader: Kerry Wininger, Sudden Oak Death Program Coordinator for UCCE Sonoma County
Meet at 6543 Lichau Road, Penngrove. Please be on time, as the gate will be locked at 10:15 am. Directions from Cotati: East on East Cotati Road, right on Petaluma Hill Road, left on Roberts Road, Right on Lichau, follow nearly to the end, please drive carefully, narrow bumpy roads. Turn right at the wooden Fairfield Osborn Preserve sign through the gate into the parking lot. You’ll see a water storage tower, shed, and bridge to the Learning Center.
Join us for a journey across this varied and abundant landscape while learning about Sudden Oak Death (SOD) biology and hosts, history, ecology, current state of the field and what you can do to help protect our native oaks, while also keeping an eye out for the abundance of striking wildflowers that appear at Osborn Preserve each spring. And new this year: the opportunity to take home supplies to test California Bay Laurel and tanoak trees in your own neighborhood for FREE as part of the SOD Blitz citizen science project!
Plan to hike moderate to strenuous steep trails, 1 mile with a 200-foot elevation gain, and up to 3.5 miles with 500-foot elevation gain. Prepare for an adventure through shady oak woodlands and sunny grasslands with ticks and insects, poison oak, and uneven terrain.
Sonoma County has more SOD than any other area in California, with new outbreaks still appearing. Osborn Preserve is home to majestic oak woodlands along with eight other plant communities, including dozens of native species that are susceptible to this devastating forest disease. Osborn Preserve is the location where SOD was first confirmed in the county in 2001, hosted the first fully bilingual (English and Spanish) SOD blitz citizen science event in the state in 2019, and continues to be a hot bed of SOD research and educational activities.
Please wear sturdy shoes, bring a snack, water, hat/sun protection, dress in layers. You will be asked to sign a liability waiver upon your arrival. Phone reception is poor on the mountain.
For a complete list of our plant walks, see our Plant Walk page.