Friends of Los Gatos Creek Involve Youth in Waterway's Restoration

The Friends of Los Gatos Creek group, formed last summer, held its first youth cleanup and nature talk at Los Gatos Creek County Park Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013.

Nearly 50 of Saratoga's Saint Andrews Episcopal School students and local volunteers participated in the event, said head organizer and group founder Steve Holmes.

The event's guest speaker was Bill Leikam, who has been studying Grey Fox living along Los Gatos Creek and marsh areas along the Bay, Holmes said.

The group's education program will be rolled out this year with additional academic components and vegetation management work, Holmes added.

"Friends of Los Gatos Creek’s goal is to develop young conservationists who will appreciate and protect this wonderful resource," Holmes said, adding that the group is actively seeking volunteers to help with additional projects beyond its bi-monthly cleanups.

Holmes urged residents who have between two and three hours to spare every other month to join the group to continue to restore the local waterway.

Friends of Los Gatos Creek conducted 18 cleanups in 2013, Holmes said.

"We have started the reclamation effort to restore this local creek to a natural setting. Even in the face of extreme drought conditions, the creek is showing its resilience with the return of Chinook salmon," he noted.

The group is planning another Los Gatos Creek cleanup at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 meeting on Creekside Way in Campbell in the parking lot on the southwest side of the creek next to the PG&E substation.

Details: friendslgcreek@yahoo.com, or https://www.facebook.com/FriendsLGCreek.

ALSO ON LOS GATOS PATCH:

• Friends of Los Gatos Creek Begin Effort To Restore Waterway