Sisson Meadow: Boardwalk Repair & ‘Friends of the Meadow’ Launch
Thank you to all of you who have dedicated time and love to the Sisson Meadow! We are so grateful to you all. Recently, core volunteers have been tending to the restoration and repair of the boardwalk! A big thank you to the students from the MSHS Sustainability club for all their hard work eradicating invasive blackberries!
There is still much work to be done in the meadow – vegetation maintenance along the boardwalk and the implementation of our Pollinator Restoration grant! This project will include clearing invasive plants in the meadow and restoring them with monarch butterfly waystations. After planting, help is needed to monitor and tend to the new waystations.
We acknowledge the love and protection
of the meadow by local community which is why we are launching “Friends of the Meadow.” When you sign up to become a Friend of the Meadow, you are joining a core group of people who will work together to preserve the land we love.
Sisson meadow offers us many gifts; becoming a Friend of the Meadow is one way to give back to the land through an ongoing program, meeting once a month for stewardship volunteer days.
We are seeking support from community partners, volunteers and businesses to join the Friends of the Meadow group and the conservation efforts of Siskiyou Land Trust.
Sign up here: Friends of the Meadow Sign up – Google Forms
We ask all who sign up to please plan to attend at least 3 stewardship volunteer work days throughout the year. Friends of the Meadow will also receive swag!
For additional information contact Hannah Dykstra at sltcc23@gmail.com
Rainbow Ridge: Demonstration Forest & Neighborhood Stewards
Whenever SLT staff approach the Wherrit property, we are always in awe with immense gratitude for the opportunity to love and steward the land. We are so grateful to Thamar Wherrit for this gift and hold it deeply in our hearts. Please be mindful that this is private property and closed to the public for preservation of the land and wildlife.
SLT staff and volunteer stewards have been working hard tending the landscape. In April 2023, Wherrit property Neighborhood Steward volunteers began a big 
spring clean and cleared the property of weathered branches and brush. We hosted a community burn day to clear the piles which kicked off a series of workdays including hazard tree felling, cutting limbs, and bucking into firewood. Volunteers then stacked wood piles to be picked up and donated to the Community Resource Center. Leftover limb piles were chipped onsite by our volunteer tree service, Siskiyou Shasta Tree Pro. We thank all volunteers and community partners who showed up with their chainsaws and tools ready to work. As this is a working demonstration forest, projects and workdays are ongoing through the seasons.
Siskiyou Land Trust Garden: ‘a buzz!
Our garden share program is beginning to buzz! We are excited to see all our community members collaborating to grow beautiful food, flowers and herbs.
Cara Saunders with Bear Wallow Herbs is busy in the garden hosting volunteers as she tends to her herbs to provide herbal medicine for the community. Thank you Cara for creating beauty and education in the garden and throughout the community.
Mt. Shasta Community Resource Center staff have been actively preparing the garden for their Early Childhood family play groups which will meet weekly throughout the summer.
SLT and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Shasta have began their summer garden program. SLT staff member Hannah Dykstra will host weekly visits with the club kids throughout the summer.
SLT is seeking garden enthusiasts to join in on the garden stewardship fun including tending to native plants, veggies and herbs, hosting groups, tending the grass or fruit tree stewardship. If you are interested in sharing your time and love for the land, please contact Hannah Dykstra sltcc23@gmail.com.
Siskiyou Land Trust Volunteers Making an Impact
After a big snow year for California, SLT volunteers took advantage of snowmelt in more ways than one this year. Big thanks to our Neighborhood Stewards fuels reduction crews led by SLT stewardship staff members Pete Townley and Hannah Dykstra along with current SLT Board members Steve Bollock and Bruce Burlinger. Special thanks to John Kelly for supporting a fuels reduction workday around the residential structures at the Wherrit Forest property at the end of April, and to past SLT Board members John Brennan and Belinda Higuera.
It’s great to have past and present SLT Board represented as our neighborhood stewards group gets up and running there, and as our new Conservation Coordinator headed out for some hands-on orientation. The initial workday had been postponed a few times due to Spring snowstorms. We’re happy to have this challenge after the last few years of drought!
SLT Treasurer John Whitson does more than keep our finances in order…he has been our eyes on Sisson Meadow, thank you! After a long winter, John noticed our boardwalk rails falling off, knocked off, and downed limbs in all manner of disarray. With the help of stewardship staff and past Board member Rick Poore, the boardwalk is receiving some much needed TLC. The community thanks you!
Steve Bollock, thank you for bringing your love of rivers and white water rafting to SLT and connecting us and our community to these wild and scenic places. Steve’s ever vigilant eye of weather conditions and river flows to direct his next boating trip brought his attention to the Upper Sacramento last week, where he thoughtfully combined his passion with an impromptu SLT event. Kudos also to volunteer Marty Sochet, who is always up for this kind of volunteer day. Marty guided one of the rafts and coordinated with River Dancers for trip insurance coverage.
