Friends of Sausal Creek Annual Report
FISCAL YEAR 2025
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Mission and Vision
Friends of Sausal Creek works to protect, conserve, and restore the Sausal Creek Watershed in Oakland, California.
With the help of thousands of volunteers, students, and supporters, FOSC has improved the ecological health of the watershed, spread awareness about the environment, and contributed to urban greening and climate resilience in Oakland.
See below for a roundup of our work and wins from this past year.
From the Executive Director
This coming year marks three decades since our organization started working to protect and restore the Sausal Creek watershed. Thirty years! We have weathered boom times and recessions, droughts and storms, and countless changes in Oakland and beyond. We are still here because this work doesn't have an endpoint—it's a commitment that spans generations.
This past year, community support allowed us to expand our work in significant ways. We kicked off a three-year project to restore 50 acres of coast redwood forest at Sausal Creek's headwaters. We added two new staff positions, bolstering our capacity for larger projects and stronger partnerships across Oakland. We educated nearly 2,000 students about our environment and enhanced our classroom offerings so that even when school budgets tighten, we can still engage Oakland youth.
Our community-centered approach continues to prove its power. None of our success is realized without community support. Every habitat restored, every student reached, every native plant in the ground is possible because people believe this work matters. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our first 30 years—we invite you to join us as we build the next 30!
Sincerely,
Nicki Alexander
Executive Director | Friends of Sausal Creek
2025 Impact + Progress
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CONSERVATION
We kicked off a 50-acre redwood restoration project at the headwaters, expanding on our work at Fern Ravine and taking a major step towards revitalizing this critical habitat. Vegetation monitoring within restoration plots in the lower watershed at Wood Park, Barry Place, and Austin Square has shown we’re making strong progress , with invasive plant coverage reduced by half and native vegetation tripling.
3,494 native plants outplanted across 17 restoration sites
25 endangered pallid manzanitas propagated
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EDUCATION
We quadrupled our environmental education reach from last year, offering more Oakland students opportunities to explore and engage with the watershed. Through these hands-on experiences, we aim to nurture students’ confidence, curiosity, and sense of agency, helping them understand that they can make a difference in the world around them.
1,963 students on field trips and classroom visits
1,694 additional youth engaged in the watershed
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SERVICE
Volunteers brought incredible energy across the watershed this year, with especially strong turnout at our three lower-watershed sites. Community members, corporate groups, scouts, youth organizations, and other partners all rolled up their sleeves to restore native habitat in the Sausal Creek Watershed.
8,102 service hours
570 cubic yards of invasive plants removed
OUTREACH
FOSC engaged community members through a range of events, hikes, workshops, and outreach activities, strengthened by new collaborations with organizations like the California Academy of Sciences, Salted Roots Surf, Bay Nature, Outdoor Afro, and El Tímpano. These connections expanded our citizen science offerings and deepened engagement with BIPOC communities.
17 community events hosted
9% growth in subscribers and followers across digital platforms
Stories That Inspired
We served 1,963 students from 32 schools across diverse neighborhoods through field trips and classroom visits, quadrupling our reach from FY2024.
The growth of our education program was driven by increasing school outreach, aligning our curriculum with the Full Option Science System (FOSS), and creating new in-class lessons to better serve schools facing transportation barriers.
This map displays CalEnviroScreen 4.0 scores showing pollution burden and environmental exposures across the region. Many of the students we serve live in communities experiencing high environmental burdens. Through field trips to Sausal Creek and in-class lessons that bring watershed science into their schools, students gain access to environmental education, outdoor learning opportunities, and hands-on experience with ecosystem restoration.
Justin Tungate | FOSC Volunteer
“Every time I volunteer with Friends of Sausal Creek, I feel gratitude for being able to spend a few hours of my week giving my effort to an organization that I can put my full trust in; I know the mission is sound, the people running the organization have integrity, and my neighbors are full of heart. Donating my time to such a wonderful organization has blessed me with the joy of seeing my favorite parts of Oakland improve over time and reminds me that even small efforts can radically transform the experience of the places we live in.”
Laila Robinson | FOSC Student Board Member / Student Ambassador
“Through my time with Friends of Sausal Creek, I’ve been able to see the restoration and conservation practices I’ve learned about come to life in the field. From helping expand the pollinator garden at Bridgeview Trailhead to participating in long-term watershed projects, I’ve witnessed how hands-on stewardship can strengthen both ecosystems and community connections. Serving as a student Board Member and now as an ambassador has shown me the impact of collaboration between volunteers, staff, and neighbors in creating lasting environmental change. These experiences have deepened my passion for restoration ecology and inspired me to continue this work in the future.”
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Kristy Brady | FOSC Board Member
“Volunteering with Friends of Sausal Creek and serving on its Board with committed and talented professionals brings me so much joy. We are so fortunate to have a beautiful creek and the surrounding parks and green spaces right here in our urban city. I’m continually inspired by our community’s dedication to partnering with FOSC in caring for and restoring these special places. And it's especially fulfilling when people are inspired to bring that same stewardship home—creating habitat for birds and pollinators by planting natives from our plant sale in their own gardens. I’m looking forward to celebrating FOSC’s 30th anniversary in the coming year!”
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Ruben Leal Jr | City of Oakland Park Supervisor I
“Working with Friends of Sausal Creek in my role as Park Supervisor has been truly inspiring. FOSC is a real community treasure and an important partner to the City of Oakland. Their approach to restoration, education, and advocacy for watershed health is powerful and effective, and is a model that should be replicated in every urban watershed. Fern Ravine is a true Oakland success story. Caring for and protecting public spaces like Fern Ravine benefits the entire ecosystem, especially people. Joaquin Miller Park is a unique place, and protecting its ancient redwoods and endangered species like the pallid manzanita is essential to preserving its natural beauty and history.”
Program Highlight | Environmental Education
2025 Financials
Program Highlight | Restoration + Monitoring
We work at over 20 restoration sites throughout the 2,600-acre Sausal Creek Watershed from the Oakland hills to the estuary where the creek flows into San Francisco Bay, partnering with volunteer site leaders from each local neighborhood.
Community participation grew by nearly a quarter this year, with 2,849 volunteer visits and 8,102 service hours. This growth was driven by onboarding new site leaders, expanding partnerships—especially with youth organizations—and securing increased funding that allowed us to offer more volunteer events throughout the year.
Site leaders are requesting nearly twice as many native plants as last year, showing how invested communities have become in this work. To support this growing enthusiasm, we are ramping up our nursery production with a goal of planting 10,000 native plants in 2026!
30 Years Strong, Ready for the Next 30
From grassroots beginnings, we have become an organization Oakland relies on for science-based habitat restoration and community-centered environmental stewardship.
Looking ahead, you can help fund ambitious projects like expanding our native plant nursery and scaling our bilingual education and green workforce development programs. You can strengthen our core operations—the staff, equipment, and capacity that allow us to take on larger restoration projects and serve more students. And you can help us build our endowment to ensure Friends of Sausal Creek protects this watershed for decades to come.
We invite you to partner with us as we build the next 30 years.
Friends of Sausal Creek is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by U.S. law.
Our tax identification number is 91-2147216
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Thank You For Partnering With Us
We are so grateful for every volunteer hour, every native plant carefully tended, and every donation that helps us protect and restore the Sausal Creek Watershed. Whether you've joined us for a workday, attended an event, or supported us from afar, you are part of this community of stewards who make Oakland's green spaces thrive.
Come celebrate with us in 2026 as we look back at what we have accomplished and ahead to what's possible.
The creek that connects us all is in good hands—yours and ours, working together.
With gratitude,
Friends of Sausal Creek