Diario del proyecto California Fire Followers 2020

Congratulations on completing Spring Training!

In case you missed it, check out these two training videos from our “coaching staff” for plant identification drills to sharpen your skills:

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As we approach the end of March and jump into April, we are excited to bring to you a few new challenges to start the new month! As our season is up to an early start, April 1st will be the start of our first monthly challenge of the year!

April Flowers Challenge
Dates: Apr 1, 2022 - Apr 30, 2022

© Stacie Wolny (@newtpatrol) (CC) BY-NC-SA
Napa Fawn Lily (Erythronium helenae)
LNU Lightning Complex

The April Flowers Challenge will start on Friday, April 1 and finish on Saturday, April 30. The person who makes the most plant observations in April will be rewarded with a Fire Follower Shirt! The winner will be announced the following week on May 7th, so don't forget to upload your observations by the end of the day on Saturday!

April Fools Challenge
Dates: Apr 1, 2022 - Apr 11, 2022

© Ixchel Gonzalez-Ramirez (@ixvagans) (CC) BY-NC
White Brodiaea/Fool's Onion (Triteleia hyacinthina)
North Complex

Additionally, starting April 1st, we will also be holding our April Fools challenge! A lot of us can be fooled by the good-looking computer-aided suggestions, but check again! Does it match the description in a flora? Is the plant suggested even found in that region? This challenge will reward the top 3 plant identifiers. Our April Fools challenge officially starts April 1st and will conclude on Sunday, April 11. Winners from this challenge will receive a Fire Follower Pin!

Check out this video that will present you with all the tips and tricks to get the best ID suggestion to your ability. Join us and learn how to identify plants on iNaturalist and how you can participate in our Fire Followers Campaign.

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© Kristen Nelson (@kristennelson)
California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Owens Fire 2021

While we are at it, let’s not forget about CA Poppy Day next Wednesday! It has been 119 years since the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, became the official State flower of California. April 6 is officially designated as California Poppy Day! Keep a lookout for these as you set to explore some of these burn areas. Learn more about it here: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48225-Eschscholzia-californica

We will add some redeemable bonus points to Eschscholzia californica observations for our April Flowers challenge. All Eschscholzia californica observations on April 6 will count for double the points!

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Save Mount Diablo Bioblitz
Dates: Apr 16, 2022- Apr 30, 2022

What better place to participate in the April Flowers Challenge than at the Diablo Range within the SCU Lightning Complex fire footprint!

Join Save Mount Diablo’s largest BioBlitz yet! SMD will be covering the SCU Lightning Complex fire footprint throughout a two-week period from April 16th to April 30th. With your help, we can monitor the plants, animals, and fungi, popping up throughout the burned sites. We encourage everyone to go and explore the Diablo Range and participate in monitoring post fire recovery.

Come and learn more during the upcoming info session on April 16: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bioblitz-infoinaturalist-training-tickets-252395139657

Also, be sure to join the CA Fire Followers: SCU Lightning Complex project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-fire-followers-2020-scu-lightning-complex

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You are tagged in this post because you were among the top observers this month and I hope you take part in this challenge!
@aigner @arvel @rmoger @lglevanik @wildmare64 @lorri-gong @evidusic @ekoberle @mreala @browntrekker @chrisdan @jandsluckenbill @scottcallow @cnddb_brian @opalsea @bexicle777 @julienpometta @leafybye @lgerstein78 @betweenthelyons @graham_coop @fowlivia @alexbinck @ranelson @connectacopia @charlottemiranda @simpylmare55 @thetorterra @bugzilla @garmonb0zia @hllrnnr @jzupan @nelruzam @snody @meandonlymelel @arboretum_amy @billjk @nickcecchi @rebada @newtpatrol @ryanphelansf @sapienshane @egates @fake_id @wild-by-nature-db @cassiemeganc @earth_tide @smfang @tiwane @arlenedevitt @fredwatson @melsocal @quiverquercus @woody54 @albuseb

Happy Native Plant Month! At CNPS, we are celebrating all month long, so come check out some of the event coming up: https://www.cnps.org/california-native-plant-week

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Native Plant Challenge:
April 16, 2022 – April 30, 2022

©Arvel Hernandez, some rights reserved (CC-BY)
@arvel

CA Native Plant Week started this past Saturday, and to celebrate, we will be adding to the April Challenges! Link journal from each project

Starting NOW, we encourage everyone to go out and make as many observations as possible! You will have until Saturday, April 30th to make as many Native Plants observations as possible. The top two naturalists with the most native plant observations will get a Fire Followers Pin!

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Quick Note

Our CA 2020 Fire Followers project is currently at around 85.6k observations! We are currently doing some preliminary data analysis and comparing pre and post fire observations in relation to fire intensity. Rare species represent unique diversity in a given area, and many of California’s rare plants emerge after fire. Observations of rare species are obscured automatically, and it would be helpful to know where these plants are so we can tell how they were affected by fire. If you would join and “trust” the project it would allow us to use the true coordinates for our data analysis but they would still remain hidden for everyone else.

We ask if you have not yet joined and trusted the project, that you would consider doing so. Thank you all for your contributions to the project so far and I can't wait to reach 100,000 observations soon!

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-fire-followers-2020

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April Events

Save Mount Diablo Bioblitz
April 16 - 30

HAPPENING NOW! What better place to participate in the Native Plant Challenge than at the Diablo Range within the SCU Lightning Complex fire footprint.

Join Save Mount Diablo’s (SMD) largest BioBlitz yet! SMD will be covering the SCU Lightning Complex fire footprint throughout a two-week period. With your help, we can monitor the plants, animals, and fungi, popping up throughout the burned sites. We encourage everyone to go and explore the Diablo Range and participate in monitoring post fire recovery.

Check out their Bioblitz info/iNat training video here:

City Nature Challenge Weekend at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
April 30

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park needs our help to catalog the thousands of plants, animals, and fungi that can be seen in the park. Join Sugarloaf docents on an easy walk along the Creekside Nature and Meadow trails.

1) Senderos: Reto NaturaLista Urbano en Sugarloaf | 9 - 11:30 am
2) Bioblitz Introductory Hike – CNC Weekend at Sugarloaf | 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
3) Sugarloaf Flora- CNC Weekend at Sugarloaf | 10 am - 12:00 pm
4) CNC Weekend at Sugarloaf: Butterfly Walk | 12 - 1:30 pm

Register for free to these events and more at Sugarloaf Ridge SP: https://sugarloafpark.org/events/

City Nature Challenge
April 29 - May 2

The California Academy of Sciences' City Nature Challenge is a world-wide bioblitz. Support their goal to collect as many iNaturalist observations as possible in one weekend in participating cities and surrounding areas! This is a fun and COVID-safe way to explore, learn about nature, and collect important data used by researchers and land managers. You can make observations of any species you encounter! Be sure to join your city and keep an eye out for events near you: https://www.calacademy.org/community-science/city-nature-challenge

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Burn Area Spotlight
Areas that re-opened this month:

Angeles National Forest: Bobcat Fire Closure https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/angeles/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1008625
Approximately 86,000 acres of the 143,000 acres closed for public safety and/or natural resource protection within the Angeles National Forest due to the 2020 Bobcat Fire reopened to the public on April 1.

Eldorado National Forest: Caldor Fire https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1008718.pdf
Beginning April 1, most of the Caldor fire area in the Eldorado National Forest is open for public access. Visitors are reminded to use extra caution when recreating in this part of the forest due the hazards in recently burned landscapes.

San Bernardino National Forest: El Dorado Fire https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sbnf/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1008965
San Bernardino National Forest managers reopened areas closed due to the 2020 El Dorado Fire