Rivers & Lands Conservancy

Mark your calendar to come visit RLC staff at this exciting new "Sustainable Summer" community event on Saturday, July 17th from 9am-3pm. We will be showcasing how litter impacts our conservation properties, such as the Cienega Canyon Preserve, and how how you can help make a positive difference. There will even be chances to win FREE eco-friendly prizes, such as RLC branded reusable tote bags and California native plant seeds! Check out the flyer below for more details. Hope to see you out there! #Conservation

Last week, RLC Stewardship Staff spent a day cleaning up one of our Delhi Sand Dunes conservation properties to improve the habitat for the animals that call the sandy environment home. Almost 1 ton of trash was removed! We also surveyed for the endangered Delhi Sands Flower-Loving Fly. For more on our Delhi Sand Dunes Conservation Program, check us out at: https://riversandlands.org/delhi-sands-conservation-program/ #Conservation #DelhiSandDunes

A primary goal of our Delhi Sand Dunes Conservation program is to provide meaningful educational resources and outreach materials for the community in order to raise positive awareness on the ecological value of the dunes. Please join us in thanking Meg Studer of Siteations Studio, our latest Delhi Sand Dunes hero, for generously donating her time to create beautifully informative handouts that highlight some of the unique plants and animals that call the dunes home! Check ou...t the images below for a sneak peak of the graphics and keep an eye out for upcoming community events where these materials will be featured and shared. For more of Meg's work, check out https://www.siteations.com/ Thanks to the Union Pacific Foundation for supporting our 2020-2021 Delhi Sand Dunes Conservation Program. Click here to learn more about our efforts to conserve these rare and important landscapes in our community: https://riversandlands.org/delhi-sands-conservation-program/ #Conservation

Perhaps, in trying to ‘heal the world’ through restoration, we end up healing ourselves. Here's to restoring and conserving the natural world, for many, many reasons. #Conservation

Check out this fun holiday opportunity from our friends at the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District!

We successfully spent the morning improving habitat at our Jurupa Hills - Mary Vagle conservation property by picking up trash and dumped debris. This area is conserved for the super rare and endangered Delhi sands flower-loving fly. #ConservationContinues

Check out our December newsletter for the latest scoop on Rivers & Lands Conservancy and our conservation work in the community! #ConservationContinues

At Rivers & Lands Conservancy, your gift on #GivingTuesday can ensure that the natural, wild and open spaces that support native plants, wildlife, and scenic views remain for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come! Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible gift that will help afford meaningful opportunities for the community to connect with, care for, and enjoy nature. Click here to give today: https://riversandlands.org/givingtuesday/

We are super excited to announce we've successfully launched the initial phase of our newly created virtual Acorns to Oaks education program! Last month, RLC staff provided the first virtual presentation to over 300 science students at Banning High School via Zoom. We then organized a contactless pickup event for participating students to receive a "Grow Your Own Oak Kit". Moving forward, students will now track the growth of their seedlings and observe the natural world around their homes through nature journaling. RLC staff will continue providing monthly presentations and virtual interactions through April 2021. Our efforts are made possible by grant funding through Inland Empire Resource Conservation District's (IERCD) Special Project Fund. Thanks again to IERCD for their generous support! #ConservationContinues

Check out our November newsletter for the latest scoop on Rivers & Lands Conservancy! #ConservationContinues

Turn your Halloween pumpkins into something positive for wildlife! https://blog.nwf.org//how-to-recycle-halloween-pumpkins-/

With the extra craziness and stress of 2020, we are feeling doubly grateful today for the peace and calm of Southern California's natural, wild, and open spaces! Sending wishes for a beautiful day of thanks to our Rivers & Lands Conservancy community. #GratefulForOpenSpace #Conservation

Leave the leaves this fall to help create valuable habitat! They provide food and shelter for butterflies, moths, bees and other important pollinators we depend on. https://xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves

We can't get enough of California buckwheat at the moment -those fall colors are so stunning! Check out this video from our recent seed collection efforts showcasing the beautiful California native. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-shJvjIpvZc&feature=youtu.be

Bats are frequently associated with Halloween, but the real spooky news would be a world without bats. About one third of the world's bats are pollinators, which are vital to the production of healthy crops for food and other products! Check out this short article for more on this important species that is critical to local ecosystems.

RLC staff Michael, Denis, Ryan, and Rachael accomplished the goal of collecting another 60 pounds of California Buckwheat seed this morning! This time we collected from a different variety of buckwheat at one of our conservation properties located in Rialto. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming restoration work. #ConservationContinues

If you’ve been outside on a hike lately, you may have noticed that some acorns have already started to fall to the ground. If you are a fan of oak trees like we are, you stop and pick one up. If you look more closely at the acorn, you might find that it has a tiny hole in it, feels light to the touch, or perhaps it’s a bit discolored. The ones that are dropping right now are actually the duds that the oaks release as the remaining viable acorns mature on the tree. Viable acor...ns on a coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), the most prominent species at our Cienega Canyon Preserve, are typically ready for collection around the end of October. RLC staff actively collects viable acorns as part of our Acorns to Oaks program and to support oak woodland restoration within Cienega Canyon. How do you know if an acorn is viable? Look for holes and discoloration first. Weigh it in your hand. Does it feel heavy for its size? If not, it is probably dried out and won’t grow. Viable, healthy acorns are plump, heavy, and of uniform color. The area near the cap of a fresh, healthy acorn tend to be yellowish color grading into green towards the end. Keep your eyes out for acorns as you explore your neighborhood and the great outdoors this fall! Consider planting oaks in your own yard or in the community alongside native plants to help boost habitat for native species. Oaks play an incredibly important role in our local ecosystems. We know they can be slow to grow, but remember, if someone had planted an oak thirty years ago it would be a large tree today! A good resource for learning more about our local oaks can be found here: https://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/oak_tree_help.html #ConservationContinues #Acorns #Oaks

Calling local high school students! Check out details for IERCD's annual Speak-Off Competition! Participants will prepare a 3-5 minute speech on the annual prompt and compete for cash prizes!!! This year, students can submit a 3-5 minute video of themselves performing their speech and addressing this year's prompt: How should Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) serve and engage the entire community in conservation work? Videos are due on Wednesday, October 28th! For more information and registration forms, please contact Jasmine Clark at [email protected] or (909) 520-4147, or visit iercd.org/speak-off-2020

In case you missed our virtual gala, check out the video recording of the event here! #conservationcontinues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5zZbA93VIw&feature=youtu.be

We had a very successful seed collection morning at our Jurupa Valley Mary Vagle conservation property over the weekend. Over 60 pounds of seed from local California Buckwheat was collected! The seed will be used for upcoming restoration projects. #ConservationContinues

Thanks to everyone who supported our 7th Annual Fundraising Gala and first ever virtual gala! It was a wonderful success, thanks to YOU - our awesome community who helped by purchasing dinner boxes, general admission tickets, and memberships. Here's to taking care of our natural, wild, and open spaces! #conservationcontinues

Only 1 day left until our 7th Annual Fundraising Gala! You can still buy general admission tickets, gather your own ingredients and download recipes for a delicious meal at home. Watch Rivers & Lands Conservancy staff as they take off their field hat, don a pretend chef hat, and demonstrate how to turn your ingredients into a delicious meal! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rivers-lands-conservancys-7th-

Check out details for this year's online California Native Plant Sale, organized by our friends at California Native Plant Society, Riverside - San Bernardino Chapter. There will be a contactless pickup in Redlands, either November 7th or 8th. Follow the link for all of the details http://bit.ly/RSBwebsale