This Saturday (4/26), the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve will be celebrating Earth Day by inviting the community of “Weed Warriors” to help tend the land or take a more leisurely stroll through the Preserve for a guided bird watch.
For those looking for an Earth Day project, the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve wants to meet you in their parking lot this Saturday at 8:00 a.m. with a choice to take a guided bird watching tour led Preserve Ranger Kaeleigh, Kurt Kosek, Kathy Snyder, and Sand to Snow National Monument Manager Jihadda Govan, or to help pull invasive weeds with the Preserve staff. I spoke to Executive Director Kevin Wong about the importance of eliminating these invasive plant species.
“Invasive non-native plants have different root structures and different growth structures that native plants don’t have. Since non-natives dry out faster, they’re more of an ignition point for fires, so we want to get those out. Luckily, we haven’t had a lot of them because we haven’t had a lot of rain but we’re going to do two hours of pulling out some weeds, bagging them, and Burrtek already donated a large roll off dumpster that they delivered this morning so we can get them all thrown in there,” said Wong.
Wong reminds us that fire season goes all year round in high fire risk areas like Morongo Valley. But beyond fire hazards, Wong says plants like the common stork’s-bill and mustard proliferate at a rapid pace, so it’s vital to remove them before they flower while they’re still manageable. Besides natural proliferation, Wong says the blame also goes to landscapers uneducated with native plants from the area as well as the nitrogen-rich air from our freeway exhaust.
“A lot of landscapers planted plants that they could find at Home Depot, and they weren’t correct for this area and their seeds just blow in. I know seeds blow into Joshua tree National Park as well, where they’re pulling up non-natives. The other issue is that the air that we’re surrounded with is charged with nitrogen coming from the carbon dioxide exhaustive cars and you know Hwy. 10 and blowing in from the Inland Empire and so that helps to generate more of these plants.”
For the guided bird walk, Wong says to keep an eye out for “neo-tropical birds” like Summer Taningers and Vermilion Flycatchers, both red birds that should stand out to those new to bird watching. Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is one of the country’s largest bird sanctuaries where one can spend hours tracking a variety of species either mid-migration or native to our area.
