Under the midday sun at the Palo Alto Baylands, volunteers hauled bags of invasive weeds toward the back of a red pickup truck while birds skimmed over the wetlands nearby.
Save The Bay volunteers gathered at the Baylands earlier this month to clear invasive plants and restore native habitat as part of the organization’s ongoing restoration efforts around the shoreline. The work supports Save The Bay’s broader mission of protecting wetlands while keeping the space open to wildlife and the community.
“This park is really special,” Restoration Engagement Specialist Daniela Perez Garcia said. “People are always out here either kayaking or biking or walking, and it just shows that it’s such a vital place for people to come and gather and connect and also to just like experience the outdoors.”
Save The Bay has worked with the City of Palo Alto for years, using the Baylands both as a restoration site and as the home of one of its native plant nurseries. According to Perez Garcia, the organization chose the Baylands for this round of volunteer work after an increase in invasive weeds across the area.
Volunteers spent the morning pulling plants, filling heavy-duty bags and learning about the wetlands around them.
“It’s our small contribution to the planet,” volunteer Alex Stagner said. “I find, in particular, pulling invasive plants is very meditative.”
Volunteer Danielle Stagner said preserving natural spaces is becoming increasingly important as people continue to reshape the environment around them.
“I think it’s the least that humans can do to just help to restore natural habitat,” Stagner said. “Given all the ways that we’ve kind of taken it for granted, and not been such good stewards of the earth, this is a good way to try to rectify that.”
Perez Garcia said the Baylands reflects decades of environmental change and environmental advocacy. Parts of the area were once landfill sites and yacht club property before later restoration efforts, signatures, and petitions transformed the space into public wetlands.
“Being able to host these programs is also really helpful for us to be able to accomplish our mission of habitat restoration and keep all these spaces really rich in vital habitats for wildlife and for people,” Perez Garcia said.