This hike will start with a brief introduction to grass and forb botany as well as the principles of holistic planned grazing. We will then walk through and around Pepperwood Preserve observing and discussing the effects of the grazing on vegetation patterns and wildlife. Special attention will be paid to the border areas of the preserve so as to compare land with and without cattle.

Meet @ The Barn @ Pepperwood Preserve

2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

$25 tickets - purchase onsite, no one turned away

Schedule - 11-11:30 am - Introduction

11:30-1 pm - Walk and Talk

1-2 pm - Lunch (bring your own!)

2-4 pm - Walk and Talk

The preserve is 3,200 acres and we hope to cover some ground, anticipate a moderate to strenuous hike circa 4 miles round trip.

Please bring: hat, sunscreen, water, lunch, snacks, comfortable shoes.

Claire Brown -Vegetative Propagation Specialist, A perpetual admirer of wild plants, Claire developed a taste for Restoration Ecology while earning a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee. Transplanting for the Watershed Nursery is a great opportunity to know the plants even better. When not at the nursery, Claire is busy studying botany with the California Native Grassland Association.

Joe Broberg is is a biologist/botanist specializing in ecological studies of natural and disturbed ecosystems, gathering floristic and ecological data, data analysis, visualization, rare plant surveys and monitoring, seed collection of native plants and GIS mapping. Joe currently works for AECOM

Nik Bertulis is a naturalist, designer and writer. He studied Ecological Design at Colorado College where he co-wrote an ecosystem management plan for the Catamount Watershed. His work focuses on the intrinsic regenerative ecological potential of humans which inform his designs of infrastructure that vitalize natural systems. Habitat restoration, bioremediation, citizen science and predator economics are the primary lenses he works with.