Woodland Regional Park Preserve had several organizations and volunteers out this past week, helping out with a planting and mass weed removal project.

The Woodland Regional Park Preserve is a 160-acre park located at the site of the retired landfill located east of County Road 102 and south of County Road 25, which has been a longtime project for many collaborating Woodland organizations.

The Yolo County Resource Conservation District has been helping manage the planting project by assessing the planting zones, creating a planting plan, prepping the area, and coordinating all the on-the-ground volunteers conducting planting, weed removal, and mulching.

The California Waterfowl Association financed around 60% of the project, while the city of Woodland covered most of the remaining 40%.

California Waterfowl Association has also been a longtime and influential partner in helping secure financing for the 20-acre pond regrading back in 2020, transforming the 20-acre burrow pit into a seasonal and permanent wetland.

“I will say that this week, what’s been going on is planting of trees and shrubs using the help of the California Conservation Corps and other volunteers,” says Amy Williams, project manager at the Yolo County Resource Conservation District. “The goal is to enhance the habitat out here, around the pond, in an area where trees have naturally recruited, but it’s in an area where there aren’t a lot of trees that are supported on this type of landscape. So this type of solid is really difficult to establish riparian forests, like forests around ponds and rivers but we’re making an effort to do that and just increase, you know, its habitat value as much as possible by adding biodiversity.”

Jennifer Hogan is a city Woodland Regional Park Preserve weeding volunteer who has helped this past week, as well as with the overall restoration of the project.

“Over the last five years, I’ve just been collecting a group of volunteers who really like to get out here and see the rare plants that are here,” Hogan says.

She explained that the park’s land had been sitting there for a while in the early 2000s without any care. With the help of the city and city council members, they were able to find a new purpose for it.

“We knew from previous exploration that there were some rare plants out here and so we worked with the city, the city council, and also the city planners to say, ‘No, this is worth way more as a habitat reserve than it would be for sale as a mall or something,”’ Hogan says.

She also explains that the land has been in the works since 2016, and in 2020-2021, a trail was added to the park, as well as a kiosk at the front.

Hogan says that she got involved with the project when she saw activity going on in the area, as she lives in front of the preserve.

“Myself and a botanist who lives in the area as well,” Hogan says. “She and I walked around together looking for all of the plants, but what I just started seeing is, ok, that’s a really cool native plant, but there are all kinds of weeds around here. It was ridiculous. So I just said, ok, my little bit can be to start controlling the weeds.”

Williams explains that they have worked thoroughly with different help to help treat different weeds and plants in the area.

“The Yolo County RCD has been partnering with the Yolo Habitat Conservancy for the last several years as kind of the on-the-ground restoration and habitat management farm and for their reserve system sites, so areas where they have conservation easements that have been added into that system and that’s part of the Habitat Conservation Plan, Natural Community Conservation Plan that’s being implemented by them,” Williams says. “Their conservation easements were established here, and so we’ve been able to start providing an assisting role and utilizing all of the information that everybody who’s really knowledgable on the site already has to start treating invasive weeds and in this case, we were kind of providing the same function for the city of woodland as they wanted to complete this project.”

Hogan added that the Yolo RCD has been a big help to their group of volunteers, in helping with the caring of the weeds and how to remove them.

“There certain plants out here that the best way to manage them is through spraying them, you know, herbicide, and so that’s, our group does not do that,” Hogan says. “That’s they [Yolo RCD] have the expertise to know what chemicals to use on the right plants. So working together between our two groups is really making a difference out here in such a positive way.”

Other volunteers throughout the week included Chris Alford of Yolo Habitat Conservancy, Lars Anderson, a city regional preserve volunteer, and Travis McCleary of the California Conservation Corps. The California Waterfowl Association, California Conservation Corps, and Yolo Habitat Conservancy are some of the organizations involved in this project.

The plants have also been sourced from the Putah Creek Council before they closed down and local organization Tuleyome has been out there helping find grants for local elementary and high school students. The Woodland Sunrise Rotary Club will also be collaborating with the preserve to add a platform to overlook the pond.

Hogan says that UC Davis interns and the Boy Scouts have also helped and volunteered their time.

“So that’s what’s really happening is just all the people coming together at once, getting a bunch of this work done. But it didn’t just happen like this. It’s been a progression of work and effort and partners, and a lot of folks are out here,” Hogan says.

Woodland Regional Park Preserve is tentatively scheduled to open in March or April 2025, when there will be a functional crosswalk and traffic light in the area.