HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc.

Two Prop 68 funded grants are here - the Rural Recreation & Tourism Program Grant and the Regional Park Program Grant. If you have a rural or regional park project that needs up to $3 million in funding, learn more about these important sources. https://www.helixepi.com/two-park-program-grants-announced-

Photo Friday: Broom baccharis (Baccharis sarothroides) Broom baccharis is a California native shrub blooming late summer into early winter. Within California it is limited to the southern portions, growing in areas of coastal sage scrub and inland scrub plant communities, usually in dry canyons and valleys below 1000 feet.

Congratulations to Tammy Ching as she begins her long-awaited and well-deserved retirement after 28 remarkable years with us! We're also celebrating the promotions of Andrea Bitterling and Joanne Dramko, and the addition of Yara Fisher to the team. Learn more about these exciting leadership announcements from our Planning Division. https://www.helixepi.com/tammy-ching-retires-new-leadershi/

Photo Friday: Mule Fat (Baccharis salicifolia) This flowering shrub is a California native, though it is also found beyond the state. It is a large dicot bush that flowers year-round and has sticky foliage. Mule fat is an important plant for pollinators, birds, and caterpillars.

Photo Friday: Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) Also known commonly as Christmas berry or California holly, this California native shrub is a prominent component of coastal sage scrub plant communities. The berry-like fruit appear in abundance from November through winter and, while a favorite to many birds and mammals, they can be toxic to humans if not fully ripe.

NCTD and SANDAG recently announced the award of a grant request of $106 million to fund trade corridor enhancements in San Diego. HELIX has been integrally involved in working with SANDAG and the project design engineers on the Del Mar Bluff Stabilization projects and the San Dieguito River Bridge replacement.

HELIX offices will be closed from noon December 24th through January 1st so our staff can spend this special time with their loved ones. From our family to yours, we wish you a healthy and joyous holiday season, and a very prosperous new year. Here’s to 2021!

Photo Friday: Mission manzanita (Xylococcus bicolor) This perennial shrub, thought to be a very old species, is native to Southern California and northern Baja California. Currently, populations do not seem to be producing young individuals, which is concerning to plant ecologists. The slow-growing shrub blooms from December to February. Its flowers resemble hanging bells, and can range from white to pink or yellow-ish in color.

Photo Friday: Parry's jepsonia (Jepsonia parryi) This small perennial herb is native to the coast and inland hills of Southern California and just beyond into Baja California. Following winter rains, it sprouts a single leaf which dries up and disappears in the summer, lying dormant. The plant flowers in fall, producing a naked brown stem with a small head of 1 to 4 flowers.

Last Friday we dropped off 15 boxes of diapers to Lennar in support of the Orange County Builders 4 Babies Diaper Drive supporting 28 non-profits for families experiencing hard times in Southern California. We hear over 700,000 diapers were collected!

During this time of gratitude, we give thanks to you! We wish our clients, business partners, and community a relaxing and wonderful Thanksgiving! In honor of this special time, HELIX will be closed Thursday and Friday, and reopening Monday, November 30.

Congratulations to HELIX landscape architect, Jessamyn Lett, on being presented with the 2020 President’s Award by the Sierra Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)!

Photo Friday: Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni) Frequently perched on fence posts or utility poles, the Swainson’s hawk is found in grasslands and plains. During fall migration, the hawks set out for Argentina with one of the longest migrations of any American raptor. Their flocks called kettles number in the tens of thousands.

Photo Friday: possible sleeping circle HELIX’s cultural resources team working in Borrego Springs had another interesting find. Sleeping circles are cleared areas outlined with stones to create a defined space for a group to rest. This feature was found with a hearth along with stone tools and flakes, and the site is an elevated surface on an alluvial fan. #archaeologymonth

Photo Friday: Coastal agave (Agave shawii) Coastal agave is one of two rare agave species occurring in San Diego County. This monocot shrub is native to Southern California and Baja California. The individual rosettes flower after 20-30 years of growth, after which that rosette dies.

Photo Friday: projectile point Our archeology team working in Borrego Springs for a Cultural Resources Technical Study recently found this quartz projectile point, which has characteristics of an Elko point for hunting large game such as deer. The point is generally consistent with the period between 1,500 and 2,500 years ago. #ArchaeologyMonth

California Clean Air Day is October 7! Join us in taking the pledge and helping to clean the air. Try walking, cycling, or other forms of alternate transportation to reduce your carbon footprint. Visit https://www.cleanairday.org/ind/HELIXEnvironmentalPlanning/ to pledge today and learn more. #CleanAirDayCA iCommute San Diego SANDAG - San Diego Association of Governments

Photo Friday: Tarantula Several species of tarantula are native to California. They live in dry habitats, in underground burrows that they line with silk. Tarantulas are typically nocturnal, but males can be seen during the day in the fall breeding season, when they head out to seek females.

Photo Friday: Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) Happy Fall! This photo was captured by one of our biologists in the Eastern Sierras. Quaking aspens regularly grow in dense stands and produce beautiful golden hues when their leaves change color in autumn.

Photo Friday: blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila) This lizard is listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as endangered and can only be found in the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills, as well as the Carrizo Plain and Cuyama Valley. Being carnivorous, they feed primarily on insects and other lizards. The blunt-nosed leopard lizard often uses abandoned burrows to shelter from predators and extreme heat.

Photo Friday: American badger (Taxidea taxus) One of the wildlife cams used by our biologists recently caught a pair of badgers at a habitat restoration site in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. American badgers have long curved claws on partially webbed front feet and shovel-like back claws to help dig into burrows for prey and to excavate dens. They also have poor eyesight, instead relying more on their keen sense of smell and hearing to navigate and hunt.

Photo Friday: Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassazii) The desert tortoises living in California are found in the Mojave and Colorado deserts and are generally found below 4,000 feet in yucca tree communities (Joshua tree and Mojave yucca), creosote bush and saltbush scrub habitats, and in some ocotillo-creosote habitats. They are one of most elusive inhabitants of the desert, spending up to 95% of their life underground. We are unsure why this tortoise crossed the road.

Photo Friday: Desert Onion (Allium fimbriatum) This herbaceous perennial is part of the onion family, and like cultivated onions this has a bulb. It has one, round leaf that sprouts from the bulb. This leaf withers under the summer sun and the plant is dormant during the summer and fall. The flowers can number between 6 and 75 and are often dark red-purple. There are 500 Allium species worldwide.

Photo Friday: Coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) This federally threatened species inhabits coastal sage scrub in southern California and Baja California. During the summer, males have a visible black cap. It is later absent during the winter.

Photo Friday: smokey mariposa or Leichtlin’s mariposa lily (Calochortus leichtlinii) This perennial herb is native to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, but is also found outside of California in western North America. The elevational range of this species is between 4,200 feet to over 13,000 feet. This monocot is part of the lily family, and blooms in the summertime. The plant’s small underground bulbs were eaten by Native Americans.

Round four of the Statewide Park Program (SPP) grants, funded by Prop 68, was recently announced with $395.3 million of funding available and applications due December 14th. Now is the time to get started! Learn more about this important funding source for park projects. http://www.helixepi.com/round-four-of-statewide-park-progr/

Photo Friday: Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus) The satyr anglewing butterfly is named after the angular notches on the outer edges of their wings. It can be found along streams and in riparian woods and fields, from the southern Yukon south through western Canada and U.S. to Baja California. The yellow-orange butterfly can be spotted on the Pacific coast from February through November. It feeds mostly on tree sap and rotting fruit, as well as flower nectar.