BioBlitz – A Community Unites in Nature

On Sunday, May 6, 20 community members and volunteers gathered at the Cascade Canal trail head on a beautiful, sunny, spring morning with a common purpose: to document as many different species as possible.

The BioBlitz, a joint event organized by SYRCL and BYLT, was a culminating activity for Know Your Watershed Week, coordinated by the Wolf Creek Community Alliance. Individuals from the California Native Plant Society, Sierra Streams Institute, and the Audubon Society also participated in the experience. Educators, farmers, grandparents, parents, children, and non-profit organizations all joined together in the spirit of conservation, education, and citizen science.

Around 100 different plant, animal, and fungi species were tallied – most of them recorded in the user-friendly iNaturalist app. Data collected will be cataloged by BYLT and used to track species diversity and distribution over time. In addition to producing an inventory of locally found organisms, the afternoon formed a kinship of motivated and passionate individuals with a collective desire for collaboration and continued discovery of the flora and fauna living in our watershed.