Chino Hills State Park Native Plant Nursery Open

The new Chino Hills State Park Native Plant Nursery, largely a project completed by a single volunteer, and which was completed shortly before this photo was taken on 20 September.  Click on the image to see it in an enlarged view in a separate window.

This is truly old news now, given that the above photo was taken almost two months ago, on 20 September and the work was finished a bit before then, but the Chino Hills State Park Native Plant Nursery is up and running.

Located in the unpaved parking area just east of the Discovery Center near the park entrance along the south side of Carbon Canyon Road in Brea, the facility offers an excellent work space for propagating native plants that can be introduced into the park.  This is especially important because of the devastation caused by the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008 (the fifth anniversary of which is this weekend), in which native plants were burned and the clearing of them allowed room for invasive non-native species.  This, in turn, could greatly change the nature of the park's plant palette and impact animal habitat, as well.

Supposedly, a great deal of the work done in the construction of the nursery was undertaken by one volunteer, who was sometimes observed laying the five courses of cement block, putting up the fencing and conducting other work.  Work tables, a storage shed, and a sign identifying the nursery are other main components of the facility.

This is a remarkable project, which provides an important place to do the work that will help keep native plants viable in the park and kudos to all who were involved in its concept, design, planning and construction and those rangers and volunteers who will be using the nursery for their good works.