 |
|||
|
• Petaluma Public Wetlands are: Shollenberger Park, Alman Marsh and Ellis Creek • • Shollenberger Park named after Richard Shollenberger, former Parks chief • • Shollenberger has two purposes - dredge spoils site and park trail • • Shollenberger was opened in 1995 • • Location has been used as dredge spoils site since the 1970’s • • Last dredging of Petaluma River channel was in 2003 • • Dredging of Marina also uses the site for spoils • • Shollenberger loop trail is 2.1 miles • • Trail from Petaluma Sheraton to Shollenberger proper is .9 miles • • Ellis Creek trail, open in June, will be over 2 miles long and connect to Shollenberger • • The expanded trail system should draw thousands of nature lovers to Petaluma • • Habitats – seasonal pond, freshwater channels, upland, salt marsh and riparian • • 195 bird species have been identified at Shollenberger/Alman Marsh • • Over 100 plant species have been identified at Shollenberger/Alman Marsh • • This website has several hundreds photos of birds and plants found in the wetlands • • On an average day over 400 people walk the 2.1 loop trail • • The public uses the park to enjoy nature, walk their dogs, picnic, photograph, jog, etc. • • Point Reyes Bird Observatory is located opposite the SE corner of Shollenberger • • There are over 40 volunteer park docents • • Docents provided about 5,000 hours of service last year • • Park docents provide educational service to 900-1,000 local schoolchildren each year • • Educational services are provided at no expense to the schools • • Park docents provide tours for hundreds of adults each year • • Park docents do research on Tree Swallows, the heron/egret colony and monthly bird counts • • Park docents remove non-native plants and introduce native species • • Thousands of native plants have been introduced as part of a Habitat Restoration Program • • Written information on the trail and bird species is available at the front park kiosk • • The Petaluma Wetlands Alliance helped educate the city on the benefits of the Ellis Creek site • • The PWA is a committee of Madrone Audubon • |
|||
 |
|
||