Hidden Waters of Mahon Creek, San Rafael, California

HIDDEN WATERS:

Uncovering Natural History and Cultural History through Urban Stream Restoration

FINAL REPORT SUBMITTED TO CUEREC

BY THE NORTHBAY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND RESTORATION GROUP

JANUARY 2001

Hidden Waters

A Comprehensive Program Dedicated to Environmental Restoration, Preservation, and Community Involvement:

Mahon Creek and the San Rafael Canal Watershed

The NorthBay Environmental Education and Restoration Group (NEER)

Principle Investigators

Sonoma State University's California Cultural Studies program

Robert Coleman-Senghor and Marilyn I. Cannon

The Bay Institute

Grant Davis

The World Education Web

Russell Tunder

Funded by a Grant from CUEREC

(California Urban Environmental Research and Education Center)

Hidden Waters Restoration Project

Students and leaders at Mahon Creek

January 2000

NEER Principle Investigators

Russell Tunder, Marilyn Cannon, Robert Coleman-Senghor and Grant Davis

Table of Contents

NEER Hidden Waters Project Investigators (Photographs) 3

Overview of the Hidden Waters Project 5

Goals of the Hidden Waters project 7

Hidden Waters Project Timeline 8

Accomplishments, Research, Presentations and Events 9

NEER Hidden Waters Project 10

Figure 1: GIS Map 16

Mahon Creek Sampling Sites for Student Research Projects

Sonoma State University Research Internship Program Overview 17

Synopsis of Student Research Objectives and Activities 18

California Cultural Studies at Sonoma State University Overview 21

The Bay Institute Mission and Overview 22

World Education Web Mission and Overview 23

NEER’s Future Plans 26

APPENDIX A 27

Levels of Coliform vs. Levels of Dissolved Oxygen,

and Biochemical Oxygen Demand in Mahon/San Rafael Creek

Claudia Sun, Redwood High School

APPENDIX B 31

Our Study Sites along Mahon Creek

APPENDIX C 33

Restoration Project and Community Celebration at Pickleweed Park

APPENDIX D 34

Public Recognition and News Articles

Overview of the Hidden Waters Project

The NorthBay Environmental and Restoration group (NEER), consisting of

Sonoma State University's California Cultural Studies program, The Bay Institute, and the World Education Web, conducted an educational outreach project centered on environmental training of students and teachers in waterway environmental cleanup and restoration. First, the World Education Web gathered students and teachers from local and international high schools, through the Student International Alliance, for environmental education and restoration training at Walker ranch in west Sonoma County. Students from Marin County high schools and from Russia, Kenya, Bolivia, and Australia engaged in lectures, workshops and field trips, including a canoe excursion on the San Rafael Canal, in order to enhance awareness of environmental issues and to better understand the way local issues relate to other localities, both in the United States and in other nations.

In conjunction with SSU's California Cultural Studies and Biology Departments, and The Bay Institute, students from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park (Sonoma County) and from Redwood High School in San Rafael (Marin County) conducted scientific research projects. These individualized ecological projects provide baseline studies of various aspects of the San Rafael watershed. We specifically studied Mahon Creek from its headwaters, which begin in the San Anselmo hills above San Rafael, to several downstream sites where it courses through the city as a channeled, urbanized stream. About three miles further, this stream becomes the San Rafael Aqueduct under Highway 101, and yet another mile downstream, the waters of Mahon Creek and the widened stream known as San Rafael Canal empty into San Francisco Bay. At the end of our funding year, we organized a cleanup and restoration project for Pickelweed Park, which is the San Rafael city park the mouth of the San Rafael Canal. This restoration project involved local elementary school students from San Miguel School, as well as Sonoma State University students, and community organizations such as the EcoLiteracy Project, who joined up in this work.

Our results have been entered into a GIS map site and posted on the Internet. Information will continue to be added as more data is received and compiled. We already have an extensive web site that was designed and maintained by the World Education Web, and which provides and ongoing history of the project throughout the period of our CUEREC funding. This is a place for graphically storing results of the restoration project efforts and provides the basis for developing and sharing environmental education and restoration curricula for localities nationally and internationally. While the partners in this Hidden Waters project have been independently engaged in similar efforts over the past years, we feel strongly that this collaboration has been very successful in enhancing our ability to contribute to local communities. NEER has also established a solid framework for future collaboration and expansion into international restoration efforts.

This exciting new direction for environmental study and restoration brings and international and intercultural perspective to our multicultural social environment of urbanized local communities. Bringing ideas of globalizatio0n of our local community in the North Bay stimulates students and teachers alike, and encourages them to think globally, realizing that we all live downstream, and need to bring new ideas and possibilities together for future restoration projects. Our goal to create this continually expanding partnership and collaboration through community involvement in a restoration project was very successful. The major outcomes of our Hidden Waters project are highlighted in the following pages.

GOALS OF THE Hidden Waters PROJECT

· Mahon Creek Assessment and Restoration

1. Student /Teacher Involvement (K-12)

2. High School Science Projects

3. Sonoma State University Research: (Special Studies in Biology) to provide

biological and ecological research opportunities, mentoring of high school students, and student leadership in clean-up efforts.

4. Community involvement (We ALL Live Downstream)

5. Initiate limited restoration projects for educators

· Documentation

Three Centuries of History : from Creek to Canal

(oral history recording; aerial photographs; maps; newspaper archives, etc.)

· Production of maps including Geographic Information Systems, to include aspects of Biology, Ecology, Water Chemistry, History, Local Culture, Population, Demographics, eventually to be posted on the Hidden Waters web site.

· Creation of a Hidden Waters web site with extensive information, images, and answers to questions. Allow viewers to pose questions and receive an answer via email. Could include sample curricula for various grade levels. Possible use of interactive program for real-time learning and discussion

· Propose future applications of our Hidden Waters Mahon Creek project as a model program for restoring other urban waterways, and as a way to connect a community through:

1. biological and ecological research and restoration;

2. historical context and exploration of cultural identity;

3. social justice issues that are noted along the course of the urban waterway.

· Presentation of our findings and raising public awareness at scientific meetings and through public forums, including:

1. Redwood High School Science Fair, San Rafael, California

2. Marin County Science Fair

3. Sonoma State University 2000 Faculty Exposition of Scholarship and Sponsored Research

4. 20th Annual Meeting of the Association of North Bay Scientists Meeting, Chico, California

5. North Bay Watershed and Restoration Consortium, SSU, Rohnert Park, California

6. San Rafael Community Forum

7. Restoration Project at Pickleweed Park, San Rafael, California

Timeline: San Rafael HIDDEN WATERS Restoration Project (1999-2000)

(Revised Jan. 2000)

July-August

*Teachers and students gather at Walker Ranch

*Instruction in geography, history, culture, and biology of Northbay system of waterways and surrounding communities

*Field trips to Bodega Bay and the San Rafael Canal District

*Planning and development of restoration project for San Rafael Canal watershed

September

*Meetings with local teachers and students (Madrone and San Rafael high schools)

*Meetings with Canal District community leaders

*Begin construction of the NEER website

October

*Begin field survey of the San Rafael Canal and tributaries

*Meeting with local community college and high school teachers

*Classroom visits to local classrooms (Marin County) by restoration specialist

*Submission of initial proposal to city and local officials for restoration project

November

*NEER affiliates with other organizations (i.e. Legacy - The Landscape Connection)

*Design of Internships and Research Projects for SSU students (M.Cannon)

*Design of A Century of History: from Creek to Canal (oral history, aerial photos, archives, maps, etc.)

December

*SSU Biology Dept.& NEER form partnership (Biol. 495 units for student projects)

*Decide on GIS approach to include watershed, biological, ecological, historical, population demographics, etc.

January

* Meeting of principle investigators with SSU student researchers and h.s. students to survey creeks and Canal

*Planning for SSU semester research projects (to be completed by May 20, 2000)

*Begin videotaping for Hidden Waters of Marin County for classroom presentations

February

*Submission of International and Local Restoration Lesson Plan Unit

*Submission of International projects for review and analysis

*Cleaning and Planting Program begins

March

*Submission of Canal Clean-up project to city and local officials (Mar. 1)

*Testing of Environmental Education Lesson Plan

*preliminary Report of Activities of NEER members

April

*Madrone and San Rafael Students make visits to Walker Ranch and Fairfield Osborn Preserve

May

*Student Teacher Research/ Analysis of International Partners Restoration Project completed

June

*Submission of findings to Restoration Partners

*Community Celebration

July

*Posting of Curriculum, Video and Photographic Documentation of International and Local Restoration Projects

accomplishments, research FINDINGS, PUBLIC presentations and COMMUNITY events

AUGUST 1999 - JULY 2000

1. Hosted International- National Two Week Camp

· Teacher Development in Urban Restoration Projects

· Student Participation: Marin County High Schools

· Student Participation: Russian and Bolivian Schools

· Canoe Trip on the San Rafael Canal with teachers and students

2. Supervised Sonoma State University Student Research Projects

· Assessment of Native Plants Along the Mahon Creek Riparian Corridor LEITA ALLEN

· Rapid Assessment of Macroinvertebrate Abundance in Mahon Creek NICOLE KARRES

· Biological Data and GIS Map Development of Mahon Creek JEFFREY GERBIC

· Inventory and Relative Abundance of Exotic Plant Species Along Mahon Creek JANICE GILLIGAN

· How Water Quality Affects Plankton Populations in Mahon Creek STEVEN HERNANDEZ

· Historical Investigation of Mahon Creek: from Rural to Urban Stream RON MACKELLOR

3. Advised Redwood High School Students' Award-Winning Science Projects

· Effect of Polluted Runoff on Water Quality & the Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera Orders by FEDERICO BARRADELLO: Awarded Grand Prize at High School Science Fair; Awarded Third Place at Marin County Science Fair

· Levels of Coliform vs. Levels of Dissolved Oxygen and Biochemical Oxygen Demand in the Mahon/San Rafael Creek by CLAUDIA SUN: Awarded First Place at Redwood High School Science Fair (see her reprinted paper on pages 24 - 26 of this report)

4. Participation in Public Forums

· 2000 Faculty Exposition of Scholarship and Sponsored Research, April 26, 2000,

Sonoma State University (see Appendix B)

· Redwood High School Science Fair and Final Science Presentations, January 2000 and

May 31, 2000

· Association of North Bay Scientists Meeting, May 6, 2000, Chico State University

· North Bay Watershed and Restoration Consortium, May 12, 2000, Sonoma State University

· Community Celebration and Restoration Project, June 2, 2000, Pickleweed Park,

San Rafael, Marin County (see photos on page 30 of this report)

The Hidden Waters Project

NEER's Project Design for Natural and Cultural History Studies

Through Urban Stream Restoration in

Mahon Creek, Marin County, California

Our granting year began as an effort to “Think Globally and Act Locally” regarding urban stream clean-up and restoration projects, and we have expanded our scope as accomplishments have been realized. We began the year as a curriculum development project focused on the use and abuse of our precious San Francisco Bay watersheds and how they can be restored. Hidden Waters , through the auspices of NEER, is a collaboration involving Sonoma State University, The Bay Institute of San Francisco, and World Education Web. It is a model watershed analysis project involving high school students and teachers, university students and professors, Institute scientists, other nonprofits, local government, and community members. The process has thus far generated prize winning high school science projects guided by scientists at Sonoma State University (SSU) and The Bay Institute. It has also given birth to an SSU student internship program. The Hidden Waters project is active online as well.

Our concept for the Hidden Waters curriculum involves an array of different types of project-based activities and applied learning. Some of these areas are GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping, applied biology, ecology, water chemistry, history, local cultural studies, and population demographics as well as attention to issues of environmental justice. This collaboration furthers curriculum development for many levels of classroom work, not only in environmental science, but more broadly in teaching about the central position of local environments in our livelihood and in the inspiration of our imaginations. This partnership has also developed and compiled a database of various conditions in the Mahon Creek watershed (which feeds into the San Rafael Canal) for present and future restoration purposes. We project a replication and refinement of the process in other watersheds in California, and we will also encourage international applications of, and involvement in this process, in the future.

During our first month of funding, in August 1999, high school teachers and students from countries around the world, including Bolivia, Kenya and Australia met with San Rafael (California) teachers and students at Walker Ranch in Sonoma County. Together they participated in classroom and field trip activities, which were designed around an understanding of watershed ecology, and of waterway restoration. One highlight of the two weeks was a canoe trip down the San Rafael Canal with leaders of NEER. This learning adventure was covered in a front-page article and photo in the local newspaper.

From that initial event of bringing people together from around the globe, we sought to form interrelationships and partnerships with educational, nonprofit and community groups in the North Bay area. Some of the high school students from Marin County expressed interest in pursuing science projects related to the health and condition of the San Rafael Canal and its connecting waterways. They were eager to proceed, but needed questions answered about appropriate methodologies, experimentation, and procedures. In order to provide them guidance and mentoring, we decided to create a venue for cooperation with:

· access to faculty for questions the students had via email and phone;

· access to university science students for questions via email and in person;

· a larger scope joint science investigation involving students and faculty from Sonoma State University along with restoration experts from The Bay Institute.

These ideas then evolved into an Internship/Research Program involving senior Sonoma State University students from the departments of Biology and Environmental Studies, who earned Biology 495 Independent Research units for designing and investigating biological and ecological parameters of Mahon Creek, also known as San Rafael Creek. This is the stream that winds through the city of San Rafael, and then joins with another small stream far downstream and together they become the San Rafael Aqueduct/Canal as it flows underneath Highway 101 to San Francisco Bay (see map on page 14).

Each student involved in our project chose a particular aspect of Mahon Creek to investigate, so that we could provide a composite picture of the creek in terms of biology, ecology and water quality. Their results, both individually and combined, would offer evidence about the condition of the urban waterway, and enable us to characterize the relative health of the water flowing into the San Rafael Canal.

One other unexpected result was that we provided the city with information about Mahon Creek’s occurrence in parts of San Rafael, whereas on both USGS maps and a new map from city hall, it was mapped only partially, and discontinuously. Our first task was to walk the length of the creek as it meanders through the city, so we could map its path and choose sites for our studies. On February 11, 2000, the biological research group from Sonoma State University, including Marilyn Cannon, a Biology faculty member and the Hidden Waters Project Coordinator, along with SSU seniors (in Biology or Environmental Studies) Leita Allen, Steve Hernandez, Janice Gilligan, Nicole Karres and Jeff Gerbic, met in San Rafael. Robert Coleman-Senghor and Russell Tunder were also instrumental in this survey. Our purpose was to survey the upper stretch of Mahon Creek and locate the headwaters. Two weeks earlier all of us had also met with three of our Redwood High School students, Federico Baradello, Hillary Cock-Esteb, and Claudia Sun, to walk the downstream portions of Mahon Creek as we photographically documented the creekbed's path.

SSU Student Jeffrey Gerbic monitored (GPS) Geographic Positioning System readings for the satellite-based coordinates to be included in the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) map that is included here. We also chose our sampling sites, specific points along the creek where we tested for water quality and other biological and ecological parameters, such as plant and macroinvertebrate occurrence (see Figure 1 on page 14 of this report).

Results of these five to twelve month studies were used in correlating the possibility of creek degradation with progressive urbanization as it flows toward, and then through, the city of San Rafael. The complete studies are included in Appendix A.

As the creek is channeled under streets and buildings for blocks at a time, this became a detective story. Additionally, the water flow is shown discontinuously on the official USGS Quadrangle map and on the City of San Rafael map that was printed for us at City Hall in April 2000. The best maps available to us only represented the creek upstream from the lower part of San Rafael to the beginning of 5th Avenue. We followed it, as it flows behind houses, from the last mapped point to the end of 5th, but left it where it disappeared under a house deck and apparently into the hills above the Tamalpais Cemetery. Then we traced four separate rivulets that flowed together out of the hills and dropped under a fence at the edge of the property we had seen from the other side when it disappeared under the deck. It was raining, but not heavily yet, when we walked up into the hills to get as close to the source as possible. There was a mix of native and exotic herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees covering the hillside. Through a grove of Eucalyptus trees we came to a spring flowing over rocks and soon thereafter into a culvert under a hiking path.

From Tamalpais Cemetery, Mahon Creek flows down the hills into San Rafael near 5th Street, and winds its way through neighborhoods, the business district and then through the industrialized areas of San Rafael where it widens and becomes the San Rafael Canal. This section of San Rafael on the south side of the freeway (Highway 101) along the canal is known as “The Canal District.” At the mouth of the canal where it joins the San Francisco Bay is Pickelweed Park, which became the designated site for our clean-up and restoration efforts. It is Mahon Creek’s ultimate “downstream location” and we were able to involve a local elementary school, community organizations and community volunteers in the restoration day’s activities.

We established a connection with Dr. James Stewart, Chair of SSU's Environmental Studies Department, who attended the March 24th Hidden Waters meeting as Robert Coleman-Senghor's guest. Grant Davis, Marilyn Cannon, Russell Tunder and Roberta Harlan, a senior in California Cultural Studies with an extensive background as a research librarian, also attended. At the previous meeting we had initiated the idea of developing a collective institution to encourage educational involvement in watershed restoration (K through college), that would be centered at the SSU campus and largely directed toward the North Bay counties. We learned that Dr. Stewart had organized a watershed group in the Bay area a number of years ago, and with his help, we decided to organize a revival of this consortium as a regional institution for environmental study. Therefore, a first exploratory conference was scheduled for May 12th to include SSU and other university department chairs and any other interested parties from SSU, San Jose State, Stanford, etc. who had been involved in the earlier consortium. We also invited members of local community groups, and the First SSU California Cultural Studies Watershed Consortium was well-attended with much discussion and several presentations, and committees formed for further investigation and planning. Grant Davis (The Bay Institute) brought extensive school and environmental nonprofit associates into the mix. Russell Tunder (World Education Web) invited participants as well, including Wesley Young of Dominican College, a long time WEW supporter and collaborator.

The creation of such an organization, and the concepts intrinsic to Hidden Waters, as a center for cooperation, teacher training, student projects, research/internships, and as a repositry of expert information, is also the cornerstone on which to build future projects, both locally and internationally. Our now visible organization and the project curricula provide an avenue for positive, earth centered global cultural development. Here in the Bay Area it can also be an agency for social inclusion and an opportunity to pair the advantaged with the disadvantaged through school and community cooperation. We are engaging more and more people with energy and vision in the process.

As a result of this year’s funding, we have created a model and propose future applications of our Hidden Waters Mahon Creek program for educators and community members to join in restoring other urban waterways. We see this program as a way to connect a community’s schools, colleges and universities through biological and ecological research projects, to provide historical context, to explore the cultural identities of citizens living along the stream, and to examine social justice issues in connection with downstream locations along urban waterways. The ultimate goals, in addition to the implementation of cleanup and restoration activities, are instilling community pride, and citizen ownership around urban creeks that were previously viewed as city street drainage ditches.

To disseminate our curricular information as widely as possible, we have created an extensive Hidden Waters Internet site with various types of curriculum information, images and answers to questions about implementing the program we have designed. We plan to include sample curricula for various grade levels in coming months. We also have a GIS map that enhances our view of Mahon Creek by layering our research results. We include aspects of biology, ecology, water chemistry, native plant occurrence, alien plant occurrence, trees, and cultural features, which will be posted on our web site. http://www.sonoma.edu/English/calstudies/HiddenWaters This site will continue to grow as we gather more data and has links to The Bay Institute, to the World Education Web and other sources of watershed restoration information.

We have already had a web site in place for several months, hosted by the World Education Web, that has information about our Hidden Waters biweekly meetings and summaries of collaborations we initiated and continue to develop with individuals and groups around watershed issues. There are links to our high school and university students’ science research papers, an interactive bulletin board, a listserv register, highlights from the international student summer visits, and ideas for further opportunities for collaboration (http://www.wew.org/proj/waters).

Our year long efforts are documented in an extensive photographic record, including video footage, which we are editing and assembling into a compilation of still frames and film, The Last Hundred Years: From Creek to Canal. Our documentary follows the creek as a trickle, among rocky outcrops that form the headwaters in the hills above San Rafael, to the much wider mouth where it empties into San Francisco Bay. We also address historical components that bring the creek alive culturally. This will be available as a teaching tool for classroom use and initial orientation to the concepts of the Hidden Waters curriculum.

Mahon Creek field studies, research data, and preliminary conclusions have been presented at scientific meetings and public forums. Our high school students earned top honors at their Redwood High School Science Fair, with Federico Baradello being awarded Grand Prize for his study The Effect of Polluted Runoff on Water Quality and the Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera Orders. Claudia Sun’s Levels of Coliform versus Levels of Dissolved Oxygen, and Biochemical Oxygen was awarded First Prize in environmental studies and Hillary Cock-Esteb’s What Macroinvertebrates are Present in Mahon/SanRafael Creek and What is the Health of the Creek Based on the Macroinvertebrates’ Tolerance Levels won Second Prize. Federico Baradello was invited to participate in the Marin County Science Fair, where he was awarded Third Prize as well as a Special Recognition Award from Marin County Environmental Nonprofits. See pages 24-26 for Claudia Sun's research paper.

In May 2000, Sonoma State University Students presented their findings to both small and large audiences at The 20th Annual Meeting of the Association of North Bay Scientists at California State University, Chico, and at a Watershed and Resoration Consortium at Sonoma State University. In addition to publication of their abstracts in the Proceedings from the ANBS meeting, they also completed scientific. PowerPoint presentations were also used in disseminating our information at both gatherings. Another public outreach approach was preparation of a professional scientific and informational poster, highlighting various aspects of the Hidden Waters project, which was on display at the meetings.

On June 2, 2000 NEER organized community-based cleanup and restoration efforts at Pickelweed Park at the junction of the San Rafael Canal and San Francisco Bay. This was also a venue for community celebration as the park was cleaned and new playing fields were sodded. The children involved got a unique experience in pulling scotch broom with special implements and in cutting down pampas grass and other tenacious invasive plants that had take over a good portion of Pickelweed Park over the past twenty or so years.We have included some photos that demonstrtes the spirit of the day in Appendix F.

Our main goal in all of our endeavors is to nurture a association of interests and projects with San Francisco Bay and its watershed as the unifying center. Our Hidden Waters Project will be an important element in this very broad brush stroke that we intend to augment and fine-tune into useful instruments for as many people as possible. The power and inspiration of such a focus of institutions needs no explanation. Beyond the work produced, it will serve as a model, not only for environmental restoration and institutional cooperation, but as an integrative link for

project-based academic study in many areas. Examples include scientific research, social, cultural, and historical exploration, as well as esthetic expression. All are important aspects of our environmental knowledge and appreciation. Without a doubt, there will always be an activist approach to the issues after analyzing results of the academic studies.

We accomplished the majority of our goals, and in many cases were able to extend our original vision to include additional valuable pursuits, especially in enhancing experiences for students and in activities for increasing community involvement. In fact, more was accomplished than we had forseen as a possibility at the beginning of the project year. This grant from CUEREC made our dreams become a reality, and our expectations reachable, although we feel that this is only the beginning, and we intend to seek further opportunities to collaborate on other Hidden Waters projects in other watersheds.

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Figure 1. Hidden Waters Project Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Map showing student sampling sites along Mahon Creek (created by Jeffrey Gerbic).

Mahon Creek originates in the hills above Tamalpais Cemetery in San Anselmo, California in Marin County and flows through residential, urban and industrialized areas of the City of San Rafael before it joins with another small stream. South of this point, the waterway becomes the channelized San Rafael Canal with significant tidal influence. At Pickelweed Park in the Canal District of San Rafael, the waters of Mahon Creek, via the San Rafael Canal, empty into San Francisco Bay.

We chose six sampling sites (see yellow dots for recording stations on GIS map above) along Mahon Creek where Sonoma State University undergraduate science students and Redwood High School science students investigated a variety of biological and ecological parameters. The following pages summarize research techniques, findings and results.

Sonoma State University Hidden Waters

Student Research Projects

January - December 2000

· Research Internship Program Overview

We have been investigating biological and ecological parameters of Mahon Creek, which is the main waterway feeding into the San Rafael Aqueduct/Canal. Flowing through the city of San Rafael in a circuitous route, it is often channeled under buildings and streets, and has a wide range of habitat types. Relatively free-flowing in some areas, while constrained to cement channels in others, Mahon Creek provides stark contrasts between areas where plants and animals exist to industrialized sections void of living organisms. We have already contributed to the accurate mapping of this creek by tracing its course from the center of San Rafael to the headwaters above Tamalpais Cemetary in San Anselmo.

Our primary goal was to assess the relative health and natural diversity along Mahon Creek as it makes its way from its origins through urbanized areas. We aimed to establish a baseline study that would be a contribution to scientific knowledge about this watershed, and to provide scientific and ecological analysis to aid in the community's restoration and clean-up efforts. With this in mind, we put together a team of senior undergraduate researchers from Sonoma State University, who conducted extensive field research projects through a biology internship/research program that we have created especially for this CUEREC-funded project. The students were able to earn upper division research units (Biology 495) for their independent research projects. The students are all either trained as field and laboratory biologists or environmental scientists, and proved to be enthusiastic partners in this Hidden Waters project, committed to the topics of study that they had chosen. Five Sonoma State University Students were enrolled in Biology 495 Independent Research and Study to work on the Hidden Waters of Mahon Creek during Spring Semester 2000.

Synopsis of Student Research Objectives and Proposed Activities

· Leita Allen Assessment of Native Plant Species Along the Mahon Creek Riparian Corridor

Objectives: Assessment of the Mahon Creek Riparian Corridor for native plant species from its origins in Tamalpais Cemetary (within boundary of San Anselmo) through the city of San Rafael, along a length of approximately 3 miles, to where it joins the San Rafael Aqueduct/Canal. She will create a database and maps, as well as recommend restoration methods for reintroducing native plant species. Will survey the creek at 5 - 7 sites with line transects of lengths to be determined. Herb counts, shrub counts and tree counts will be made horizontally a meter on either side of the creek at plots (approx. 3) to be determined. Will assess their relative importance, cover value, biomass, and density, if appropriate. Field work every other Friday, with complete assessment of sites monthly from February – May 2000.

· Jeffrey Gerbic Biological Data Gathering and GIS Map Development for Mahon Creek

Objectives: There are two aspects to this study:

1. Take GPS readings for each of the 5-7 study sites that have been defined for Mahon Creek. Perform GIS data entry of spatial components gathered from three other Biology 495 research projects being conducted concurrently at the study sites. Produce an interactive GIS site that will contribute to an understanding of this waterway.

2. Assess shade characteristics along Mahon Creek from its source in Tamalpais Cemetary to where it joins the San Rafael Aqueduct, a distance of approximately 3 miles. Occurrence of megaflora will be documented and entered into a database, which will indicate, along with temperature data, to what degree shade is affecting temperature along the creek.

Janice Gilligan Inventory and Abundance of Exotic Plant Species Along the Mahon Creek Riparian Corridor

Objectives: Assessment and inventory of the relative abundance of exotic plant species along the Mahon Creek Riparian Corridor from its origins in Tamalpais Cemetary (within the boundary of the city of San Anselmo) through the city of San Rafael, along a length of approximately 3 miles, to where it joins the San Rafael Aqueduct/Canal. Will be investigating dispersion methods of the invasive plants, and will create a database and maps, and recommend methods of eradicating non-native species. Will survey the creek at 5 - 7 sites with line transect of lengths to be determined. Herb counts, shrub counts and tree counts will be made horizontally a meter on either side of the creek at plots (approx. 3) to be determined. Will assess their relative importance, cover value, biomass, and density, if appropriate.

Steven Hernandez How Water Quality Affects Plankton Populations in Mahon Creek

Objectives: Water testing and assessment of species occurrence and abundance at 5- 7 sites along Mahone Creek from its source near Tamalpais Cemetary to the point of entry into the San Rafael Aqueduct. Will conduct tests on temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen levels, and salinity. Will take water samples to assess the phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macroalgal populations at each site. He is also consulting county and city records for similar data.

Nicole Karres Investigation of Microbiotic Species in Sediments of Mahon Creek

Objectives: Some aquatic species are indicators of pollution and some are indicators of non-polluted waterways. This research will focus on identification of microinvertebrate species in sediments of Mahon Creek, Marin County, at 5-7 sites, beginning at its source in hills above Tamalpais Cemetary along the watercourse, to where it joins the San Rafael Aqueduct/Canal. Will quantify occurence, abundance and provide data that will help characterize the health of the creek, as well as identify anthropogenic impacts to downstream areas.

Sonoma State University's California Cultural Studies program was one member of the successful partnership in this CUEREC-funded project, along with The Bay Institute of San Francisco and The World Education Web, both located in San Rafael, Marin County, California. Summaries of their individual mission and goals appear in the next pages.

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California Cultural Studies Program at Sonoma State University

The California Cultural Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program that incorporates a range of different critical perspectives, pedagogies and resources. Most of the CCS faculty has pursued extensive work on some aspect of California's history, physical environment, society, arts, economics, politics, or ethnic and cultural groups. With the exception of select core courses, all CCS offerings are based in traditional disciplines and are cross-listed by the departments of Art History, American Multicultural Studies, Native American Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, Anthropology, History, Music, Film Studies, Geography, Geology, Biology, and Political Science.

Students complete their course of study in CCS through a capstone project or senior thesis, designed to encourage close collaboration between professors and student and allow for original research and scholarship. Both the student's course of study and thesis or project must be approved by two CCS advisors and the program coordinator.

CCS also offers an Internship Program.

CCS andVisions of California

Visions of California is an Upper-Division General.Education Thematic Block of Linked Courses (9 semester units). This program provides an historical, biological, environmental, geographical, literary and cinematic view of the relationship of California ethnic groups to the California landscape and cityscape, to formative regional experiences (i.e. the Watts Rebellion, the Japanese-American Internment, the Gold Rush), and to the production of a culture that is uniquely Californian.

A thematic focus course is taken in the first semester, choosing from: ENGL 315, Modern California Literature; ENGL 480, Studies in California Literature; HIST 472, California History. Two other courses from two concentrations should be chosen to complete the thematic block. All three courses must be completed within two semesters and/or the summer to meet the upper division General Education requirement.

Some of our students who participated in this thematic block were those who became deeply involved in the Hidden Waters Internship program, pursuing independent research projects on Mahon Creek.

The Bay Institute of San Francisco Mission and Overview

The Bay Institute was founded in 1981 by pioneers of a new advocacy approach that viewed the entire Bay-Delta ecosystem as a single, interdependent watershed. They claimed that environmental reform benefiting the Bay must recognize the importance of events in the farthest reaches of the watershed just as urgently as those along the Bay shoreline, and that reduced freshwater flow was the biggest factor in the decline of the estuary's fish and wildlife resources.

Today, this approach is accepted wisdom. Tragically, it is also widely recognized that the water quality of the Bay and its river Delta is unacceptable, and that species and habitats are in danger. The Institute uses a combination of scientific research and political advocacy to work toward the environmental restoration of the entire watershed, which drains into San Francisco Bay. This watershed includes the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River as well as their tributaries, Suisan Marsh, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay. The land area covers 40 percent of California. Nearly half of the surface water in California starts as rain or snow that falls in this area, and about half of that is diverted for use on farms, in homes, and in factories.

The remaining water flows downstream through the largest inland delta, the largest brackish water marsh, and the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas. You could say as well that our work encompasses the centers of political and economic power, from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Washington DC., where we fight to place long-term environmental needs on equal footing with other priorities in the formation of the area's environmental and economic policies.

The Bay Institute currently has three principal program areas:

· Bay Restoration

· Rivers and Delta

· Watershed Education

See The Bay Institute’s web site: http://www.bay.org

World Education Web is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to developing global strategies for education in the Twenty-First Century.

Mission

The world is now undergoing the most profound social transformation in human history.

With the tremendous advances in the technology of travel and communications, its many and diverse peoples are accelerating toward economic and social integration. There is increasing impetus on nations and cultures to seek common ground, to reconcile differences without losing individuality, and to work together to ensure a prosperous, peaceful, and fulfilling future.

World Education Web's goals are to become a channel for free and open communication concerning educational organization, styles, and methods and to generate global classrooms for international and cross-cultural student involvements. It engages worldwide economic, scientific, political, artistic and community forces within an integrated educational process to help prepare the student generation for their task of building this dynamic new world.

World Education Web is committed to the advancement of globally oriented education in the cause of world peace.

Overview

World Education Web (WEW) believes that new educational strategies are needed to prepare our students for the dramatic changes of the 21st century. Traditional models of schooling by themselves are simply inadequate to present, access and manage the barrage of information overtaking us from all media sources and all parts of the world. Comprehension and positive use of this new, multicultural, information-rich environment requires instruction and exercise in the process of selection, analysis, appraisal, and then reassembly of multiple inputs. Additionally, this must be done within real intercultural situations and within a framework of real-world methods of utility and action in order to avoid the dead-ends of the purely theoretical. WEW programs share ideas internationally on educational structures and on integrated, interactive learning techniques that serve to cultivate 21st Century skills. WEW also generates global classrooms in which to put these ideas into practice.

The primary purpose for education remains to prepare young people to become responsible, compassionate and successful adults, but today this must take place in a world struggling with the problems, reactions to, and implications of unity. In order to achieve these traditional goals in such a new context, our students must now be directed to recognize and pursue opportunities for their personal, artistic, and career contributions within a global millieu. Understanding other cultures, therefore, is no longer the exotic educational specialty it has been in the past.

Clearly this understanding is best achieved through direct communication across cultures. Yet even simple communication does not come easily. Unless guidance and experience are provided it can be fraught with pitfalls. History is littered with examples of such catastrophic misunderstandings. Minimizing these pitfalls becomes more and more critical as international economic cooperation and resolutions to the major social and environmental problems of the United States and the world are becoming contingent on such communication. Indeed, throughout the next century, the political and economic effectiveness of any country will depend on individual and collective abilities to communicate competently with people from other cultures. Meeting the great challenges of the next generation will center on this competence.

Since 1993, World Education Web has worked with all constituents of the educational system: administrators, teachers, and students. As a result of that experience we have concluded that the overall educational process, in addition to boosting competitive abilities, must also recognize the profound importance of win-win, cooperative strategizing in approaching lasting solutions to the social and environmental problems that are already upon us. These problems will only deepen into the next century. This means that our students must learn to replace cultural stereotypes with open-minded understanding; they must develop the intercultural communication skills with which to reach consensus; they must utilize democratic techniques to resolve group conflicts; and they must come to think in radically new ways about global responsibilities. In order for human society to survive and thrive in the Global Century, it must not only learn to compete for jobs, but must get to know and respect each other as peers, learn to work together towards improved and more equitable universal living standards, and protect its planet as birthright to future generations.

The global orientation of World Education Web in all its educational activities promotes increased intercultural competence, strong personal ties across cultures, and the long-lasting interest in each other's communities that move us toward a better world.

World Education Web Programs

1) The Student International Alliance Leadership Project

The SIALP began in June of 1995, when students, aged 12 - 17, from Russia and the United States convened at the Headlands Institute in Marin County, California for an eight-day, intensive session built on themes of world peace and democratic action. During this time they took part in the United Nation's 50th Anniversary Celebration in San Francisco. The second enhanced Project took place at Walker Creek Ranch in West Marin during July and August of 1997 with high school students from The People's Republic of China, Austria, and the USA. The third evolved into an International Teen Summit of a full two weeks in July and August of 1998, and now continues through the year over the Internet via our interactive Web Site at http://www.wew.org/. The 1998 Summer Session included students from The People's Republic of China, Russia and the USA. The fourth, to assemble students from China, Russia, Kenya, and the USA, is currently in planning.

The purpose of this leadership training is to foster competence in intercultural communication and understanding, to help forge a universal culture as a growing common reference for the Twenty-First Century, and to promote the essential concepts of sustainable development and democratic problem-solving at the high school level. The communication skills they develop emerge through exercises in cultural awareness, group creativity in the open languages of the arts, and intercultural teamwork in a wide variety of situations. The SIA dialogue focuses these enhanced communication skills on social and environmental issues of high relevance for their generation. Among the many outcomes of the SIALP is the student organization of the first recycling project on Sakhalin Island in Russia.

2) ShareSearch

This school year ShareSearch begins an Internet communication process between classes at "sister schools". The students, themselves, determine the research projects they want to pursue. These are designed to be simple and complementary, with the aim to generate interest in, and understanding of, the different geographical, historical, and cultural assets of the countries and communities involved. For example, this might entail research into the history of their cities, the operation of local government, local landmarks, the lay of the land (mountains, rivers, coastline), works of art, sports events, or anything they devise that holds their interest. The classes or groups research the same topic simultaneously and exchange papers. The immediate comparisons stimulate discussions and raise questions for future research. Doing one project a month, they compare and contrast a great deal of cultural information and come to know the participants in their sister schools in the process.

3) Roundtable Dialogues

These take the form of intensive three to five day international seminars or roundtable discussions for educators. The first of these, developed in cooperation with Zienau Consulting, London, was held at Dominican College in San Rafael, California under the name Dialogues in International Education and was attended by educators from Europe, Russia, Asia, Canada, Central America, and the United States, and also by a representative from the United Nations. Program directors included Nick Zienau, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, and Don Thomas, a leading consultant in statewide educational improvement programs in the United States. A number of different teaching systems were presented as philosophical systems, and then extensively modeled, borrowing students from Cascade Canyon School. Strengths and weaknesses of the systems were assessed. Results of this conference included grading system changes made in one of the largest high schools in Moscow and integrated learning models adapted for use in schools in Costa Rica, The Netherlands, and the USA.

4) Internship and Research Project

Developed in cooperation with Eureka Educational Center, Moscow, this program began with two eight-day conferences in 1995 through which Russian educational and government administrators from Sakhalin, Tomsk, and Yakutia, met with their counterparts in Marin County, California. Discussions including Marin Superintendent of Schools, Mary Jane Burke, and Marin County Supervisor, Harold Brown, Jr. were arranged to explore a Western "liberal arts" style education and American "local control" finance and administrative techniques and how these might be adapted to the gradual decentralization of the Russian educational system. Seminars with faculty members from JFK University, Sonoma State University, and Dominican College centered on both philosophical and practical aspects of this enormous social transformation. These meetings with high-ranking officials have had a significant effect on Russia1s emerging new educational system and afforded local American educators, scholars, and politicians an inside view of the process of social change underway in one of the world's largest societies.

NEER'S FUTURE PLANS

The success we have experienced from developing and implementing this CUEREC-funded Hidden Waters project has given us the confidence and inspiration to develop additional community partnerships. We plan to replicate and refine our project's goals in other watersheds in the San Francisco bay area, as well as in northern counties along the California coast. We are beginning a partnership with Legacy -- The Landscape Connection in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties, and with The EcoLiteracy Project in Berkeley.

· Legacy -- The Landscape Connection is a community-based non-profit organization that is establishing wildlife corridors from the ocean to the Sierra Nevada, from the Oregon border south to southern Sonoma County, and is eager to collaborate with us in Sonoma County and Marin County. Board members Linda Gray and Steven Day are our primary contacts at this time.

· The EcoLiteracy Project shares our concerns for education and restoration, with emphasis on environmental literacy throughout the academic curriculum.

We are also in the process of organizing a core group of specialists from a variety if disciplines in order to continue our interdisciplinary approach to watershed projects. These include cartographers (primarily for Geographic Information System maps and computer displayed information), biologists, geographers, geologists, and cultural anthropologists, as well as writers and artists, who could, together, contribute a comprehensive view of each watershed studied. These contributors come from universities, colleges, high schools and local community-based organizations.

We have already identified the following urban streams as potential watershed areas in need of documentation, preservation, and restoration:

1. San Antonio Creek forms the natural border between northern Marin County and southern Sonoma County, and empties into San Francisco Bay.

2. Santa Rosa Creek runs right through the center of the city of Santa Rosa. One stretch is confined to a tunnel under the Courthouse at Courthouse Square.

3. Copeland Creek runs through southern Sonoma County and passes through the Sonoma State University campus. This creek has been severely impacted by development in Rohnert Park. It is also one of the primary reasons that Fairfield Osborn Preserve, on Sonoma Mountain, 7 miles from the Sonoma State University campus, was purchased by the Nature Conservancy in the 1970s.

APPENDIX A

Claudia Sun, one of our Redwood High School researchers was presented with the First Place Award at the Redwood High School Science Fair in San Rafael, California.

Levels of Coliform vs. Levels of Dissolved Oxygen, and Biochemical Oxygen Demand in Mahon/San Rafael Creek.

Background:

San Rafael/Mahon Creek is a fresh water creek one that has succumbed to much human interaction over the years, and many sources of pollution. The Creek is one of the few that runs through the heart of a California city. Connected with the San Rafael Canal, which is popular with boaters, the creek drains into the San Francisco Bay. It is independent of any other creeks, and runs from Irwin Street near Highway 101 to the mouth of the Bay. The Canal was used for freight transportation, carrying daily commodities, and building materials in the earlier part of the century. Later on, it was used for recreation purposes, until a ban was put on swimming in the canal. A suspect cause was pointed at broken sewer lines. The canal is also lined with wharves, warehouses, apartment complexes and businesses. The creek runs under a building, and is lined by concrete walls in some areas. Gas stations also add to the problem of disposing solvents into the storm drains which could lead to runoff in the canal.

The creek is not devoid of life however. There are many types of fresh water insects, and striped bass have been discovered in the canal after big rains. Marin County has many beautifully preserved watersheds. This creek is one of the few waterways that has been neglected over the years.

Water quality tests are being done to see what effects these pollution has had on wildlife by the dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand test. Aerobic bacteria is known to consume dissolved oxygen, coliform is mostly made up of anaerobic bacteria, and is a good indicator of pollution from street runoff and sewers. This experiment will test to see whether there is a relationship between levels of DO, BOD and levels of coliform bacteria up and down the stream.

Coliform

The total coliform is a group of indicator bacteria that consists of many common bacteria. Coliform bacteria are widely distributed in the environment in soil, on plants, on animals and in very large numbers in the feces of warm blooded animals. They are also present in the human digestive tract, to aid in the digestion of food. By themselves, fecal coliform is not harmful, but pathogenic organisms are usually found with fecal coliform. Common problem sources are faulty septic systems and run off from feed lots.

If fecal coliform counts are high (over 200 colonies/100ml of water sample) in the river, there’s a greater chance that pathogenic organisms are present. A person swimming in that water could come in contact with a variety of health risks, but some of the diseases include diarrhea, dysentery, salmonellosis, hepatitis and giardiasis. Symptoms vary, but nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, with or without fever are most common.

Coliform Standards (in colonies/100ml)

Drinking water..................................................1 TC

Total body contact (swimming)........................200 FC

Partial body contact (boating)..........................1000 FC

Treated sewage effluent....................................Not to exceed 200 FC

Dissolved Oxygen

Dissolved Oxygen is essential to maintain the health of lakes and rivers, their presence is an indicator of positive water quality. Polluted waterways often have very low levels of dissolved oxygen, in some cases, DO levels are so low, that they are practically devoid of aquatic life. The build up of organic wastes contributes to the depletion of dissolved oxygen. Also thermal pollution lowers the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, since gases are more likely to dissolve in colder temperatures. Depletion in dissolved oxygen can cause major shifts in the kinds of aquatic organisms found in water bodies. Species that cannot tolerate low levels of dissolved oxygen---mayfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs, caddisfly larvae, and beetle larvae---will be replaced by a few kinds of pollution-tolerant organisms, such as worms and fly larvae. Anaerobic organisms may also become abundant in waters with low levels of DO.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand

Biochemical Oxygen Demand is the measure of the quantity of oxygen used by these microorganisms in the aerobic oxidation of organic matter. When organic matter decomposes, it is fed upon by aerobic bacteria. In this process, organic matter is broken sown and oxidized. In creeks with high BOD levels, much of the available dissolved oxygen is consumed by aerobic bacteria, robbing other aquatic organisms of the oxygen they need to live. It is very similar to the Dissolved Oxygen test, but it is the amount of oxygen consumed by organic matter and associated microorganisms in the water over a five day period. It is determined by subtracting the DO level after bacteria has consumed the oxygen over five days from the original sample.

Another student is also testing at San Rafael Creek, for the diversity and abundance of water insects. Ones that are sensitive to changes in the environment. This will serve also as data that could correlate to the results from this project to show the overall health of the San Rafael Creek.

Hypothesis: high levels of coliform, anaerobic organisms, will indicate high levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand, and low levels of Dissolved Oxygen. Showing an environment that is deplorable for the habitat of water insects and other living organisms.

Null hypothesis 1: High levels of coliform will not indicate a significant correlation with high levels of Dissolved Oxygen.

Null hypothesis 2: High levels of coliform will not indicate a significant correlation with low levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand.

Independent Variable: levels of coliform.

Levels of Independent Variable:

Date: Temperature:

Site1 Site 2 Site 3

Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD

1 1 1

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2 2 2

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Date: Temperature:

Site1 Site 2 Site 3

Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD

1 1 1

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2 2 2

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Date: Temperature:

Site1 Site 2 Site 3

Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD Trials Coliform DO BOD

1 1 1

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2 2 2

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dependent Variable: levels of DO, and BOD.

Constants: Locations of collections, time of day of collections, methods of collections, instruments used in collections, amount of sample collections.

Experimental Procedure

Materials

Waste Water Bottle, Dissolved Oxygen kit, Thermometer, Sample bottles for coliform test, Airtight bottles for BOD test, Gloves

Procedure:

Take note of weather conditions in journal, and take temperature reading of the water. At the same locations during the same approximate time of day, three sites will be sampled, and two trials will be performed at each location. This will be done over a three week period. The Dissolved Oxygen test is done first. The dissolved oxygen kit has explicit instructions and equipment to perform the test, record result in data table. Carry a waste water disposal bottle to dispose of chemicals. Percent saturation can also be found by simply measuring the temperature of the water, and comparing it to DO levels, using a special diagram called the Rawson’s nomogram.

Then the coliform samples will be taken. A labeled collection bottle is be used to obtain approximately 100ml. of water sample. It is then is brought back to a laboratory, and put into an incubator for a period of 48 hours, to let the coliform grow. Then sample is brought out to count using the quantitray method. Record the coliform count in the data table.

The B.O.D. sample is taken in a bottle specifically made for airtight purposes, the sample is brought back to a ‘light tight’ area such as a dark cabinet or incubator at about room temperature. After five days, then the same dissolved oxygen test is performed.

In waters suspected of carrying large amounts of organic waste/sewage, the oxygen demand may be so great that all oxygen is consumed before the 5-day period. The results would consequently not show the true oxygen demand. Alternative approaches require diluting the sample with deionized or distilled water.

Equation of calculations:

BOD (ppm) = DO1-DO2 where

DF

DO1 = dissolved oxygen in sample measured minutes after dilution

DO2 = dissolved oxygen in sample measured after incubation

DF = decimal fraction of sample used

Example: 3-1 (10% sample) = 2 - 20 ppm

10 .10

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C: PICKELWEED PARK CLEANUP AND RESTORATION PROJECT, JUNE 4, 2000

APPENDIX D

Forums and Newspaper Articles Highlighting Our Hidden Waters Project

We raised public awareness through a number of different sources during the funding period.

· In recognition of funding from CUEREC, NEER was invited to participate in the Sonoma State University 2000 Faculty Exposition of Scholarship and sponsored Research on April 26, 2000. The objective was to "share the results of our research and scholarly pursuits," as part of a professional poster session and a reception with the SSU President, administrators and faculty. Accordingly, Marilyn Cannon, of the SSU Biology Department, and SSU Senior Biology Student researcher Nicole Karres, prepared a poster on our Hidden Waters project for the Exposition.

· Poster presentation of Hidden Waters Project at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Association of North Bay Scientists, California State University, Chico, California on May 6, 2000. Students also presented their research findings on Mahon Creek.

· Poster display and two PowerPoint Presentations on Hidden Waters at North Bay Watershed and Restoration Consortium on May 12, 2000.

· Recognition from the Sonoma State University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in NewsBytes, a weekly paper distributed to the Sonoma State University academic community:

· Highlighting NEER activities, "Environmental Group Paves the Way for Canal Cleanup," by Beth Winegarner, was published, with a photograph of participants paddling canoes. It appeared on the front page as lead article in the San Rafael/Terra Linda News Pointer, Aug 11-18, 1999.