MENDOCINO CO., 5/27/25 — How do you bring a meadow back to life that’s been choked out by invasive nonnatives? One of the first steps is removing invasive species such as star thistle and bull thistle. Those two much-cursed thistles are the focus of a Saturday workshop and work party at Cahto Creek Ranch, led by Eel River Recovery Project’s Steve Brown, who has experience in restoring native grasses to meadows and grasslands.
The Red Bluff-based company Hybrid Indigenous Stewardship, or HIS, will be on hand to help guide volunteers on how to identify the thistles and get them out by the root (easier said than done). HIS has worked at the ranch in the past, helping to remove invasives.
HIS’s Rachel Campbell also will relay information on how Native Americans use fire to manage landscapes to help native grasses flourish and control undesirable species such as star thistle.
Volunteers will also learn about gully erosion control and hydrologic and native grass and plant restoration.
The Cahto Creek Ranch restoration is supported by the California State Coastal Conservancy and the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. A Community Foundation grant funded a Community Enrichment program so Laytonville High School students can participate in restoration and monitoring projects. LHS students from teacher Todd Adam’s science and natural resource classes have already been involved in a lower Ten Mile Creek watershed grass restoration project, where they planted 300 native grass plugs that were grown in the school’s greenhouse. LHS students will participate in Saturday’s workshop alongside volunteers.
During the workshop, attendees will learn about different aspects of native grass restoration at the workshop. ERRP wants to use this demonstration project to share knowledge with residents who can adopt similar techniques on their own meadows and grasslands.
The field trip is Saturday, May 31, at Cahto Creek Ranch, located off Branscomb Road not far from Laytonville.
See the ERRP Facebook page or call ERRP Outreach Coordinator Erin Neuroth at 707-272-0832 to pre-register or for more information. Pre-registration is appreciated. The group will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Eel River Recovery Project office in Laytonville at the Foster’s Market parking lot. Carpooling is encouraged.