Volunteers Needed: Seventh Annual Scotch Broom Bash in the Bald Hills, Saturday, March 8th, 2014

Date: March 5, 2014

USDA

Redwood National and State Parks seeks volunteers interested in helping the park remove Scotch Broom from the Bald Hills area of the park.

Become a steward of your national and state parks and join us on Saturday, March 8, 2014 for the seventh annual "Broom Bash in the Bald Hills". Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) is an aggressive and invasive exotic pest that displaces native plants, develops seed beds that can last for several decades, and is targeted for removal in the parks. It is particularly invasive of open grasslands in the Bald Hills. These small prairies provide habitat for migratory birds, deer, elk, a host of small mammals, and the terrestrial and avian predators that depend on them.

Volunteers will meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Kuchel Visitor Center, 1 mile south of Orick on Highway 101 where we'll share a snack, get organized and caravan up into the Bald Hills. The prairies of the Bald Hills are flush with a new carpet of green grasses in early spring, providing an emerald backdrop to the redwood high country. After a couple of hours of pulling scotch broom, we'll have lunch followed by an illustrated talk on the cultural history of the Bald Hills by Park Ranger Jim Wheeler.

Bring a bag lunch, drinking water, work clothes (with layers for changeable north coast weather conditions), and work gloves if you have them. Gloves and all other equipment needed will be provided by the parks.Heavy rain cancels the event.

For more information, please contact Renee Gibbs at [phone].

Download a your Broom Bash Flyer here.(PDF 3.62 MB)
Download this press release here (PDF 17 KB)