About the Friends About Sausal Creek Program Areas Volunteer Donate Contact Photos Links Website Index Home		Program Areas :: Municipal Programs Overview Conservation & Restoration Research & Monitoring Community Development Municipal Programs Related Links Bylaws/Action Plan Volunteer! The work of the Friends takes place in a larger arena. Watershed awareness is not a concept promoted solely by the FOSC in the Sausal Creek watershed, but by the City of Oakland, the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Friends are part of a large network of local agencies, regional regulatory bodies, and state and federal offices that are all dedicated to protecting water quality. The Friends are also one amongst many grassroots groups doing creek restoration and promoting environmental stewardship. The work of Susan Schwartz and the Friends of Five Creeks stands out in particular as an example of how we are all linked; Susan has played an active role in tracking the Regional Water Quality Control Board's permitting process, and she has been advocating the Dept. of Fish and Game for regulations to better protect urban trout populations, including those in Sausal. So, while the Municipal Programs does describe the Friends' advocacy work such as attending to public meetings to protect the creek ordinance or actively working to educate the planning commission, this area is meant to encompass more. Municipal Programs the relationships the Friends have throughout Oakland, the East Bay, and beyond. And, last but not least, it is also meant to specifically point out our partnership with the City of Oakland in carrying out almost all our projects. Our largest restoration projects so far-Dimond Park and Dimond Canyon-were both city-sponsored projects; likewise the Joaquin Miller Park Nursery would not have gotten started without the support of Councilmember Dick Spees's office, the staff of the Environmental Services Division, and Martin Matarrese, Jim Ryugo, and others in the Department of Parks and Rec. In similar way, the annual support we receive from the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District is essentially municipal funding, and it carries with it the obligation do education and outreach to protect water quality. To put it plainly, without our municipal partnerships, the Friends would not exist. In planning, fund-raising, and program development, the Friends should always have this bigger picture in mind-that is, we should be asking ourselves what groups are making similar efforts, how can we contribute to or advance the Bay Area watershed movement, and what we can learn from others about public-private partnerships? While the Friends builds its own organizational capacity this year, we should also be looking ahead. Where do the Friends want to be five years from now? What programs do we need to build now to ensure the FOSC is still a vital, relevant organization in the long term? Looking at the larger arena in which our work takes place, what does it make sense for the Friends to become?
			Friends of Sausal Creek :: (510) 501-FOSC (3672) Email: coordinator@sausalcreek.org