Colma Creek Restoration Project

(J. Cannon)

The Heart of the Mountain Program was initiated 2001 by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and was funded up to 2004 by numerous grants from foundations and individuals. This stewardship program was created to build a community stewardship program on San Bruno Mountain and to restore the native plant communities of the Colma Creek and the Bog Trail areas. 

In 2003, San Mateo County Parks applied for and was awarded $140,000 in Proposition 12 funds, under a category for local agencies managing State Park lands, to support the continuing efforts started by CNPS, to restore this important wetland area on San Bruno Mountain. The Watershed Project, which became a financial sponsor for the Heart of the Mountain Program, was hired by the County to facilitate and coordinate volunteers in clearing invasive weeds, grow and plant the native plants, assist with securing permits, and implementing permit requirements. It was determined early on that one of the main focuses of this grant project would be to continue and expand volunteer efforts as a site stewardship project. 

The headwaters area of Colma Creek was cleared of invasive weeds such as the removal of 50 large and 100 small eucalyptus and cypress trees and the removal of the associated invasive species like English and Cape ivy, and Himalayan blackberry. Erosion control was installed along 500 feet of the creek channel and 4-6 inches of mulch was spread across most of the site. The seed of 46 species of native riparian, coastal scrub and grassland plant communities was locally collected from San Bruno Mountain and 10,250 native plants of were propagated at the Watershed Project native plant nursery and 2,500 plants were grown at the Fort Funston Nursery. The propagation at both of these nurseries was done primarily with the help of volunteers. Volunteers helped to plant all of the native plants and have weeded the site during the last two seasons of establishment. This effort involved 127 community restoration workdays, 1,903 volunteer visits totaling more than 5,751 volunteer hours. 

To learn more, download the final project report here.