City Planting 440 Trees and Shrubs for Riparian Habitat Mitigation

The City of Santa Rosa is in the final stages of planting 200 oak trees, 2 non-native trees, and 240 shrubs for the restoration and enhancement of riparian areas along Peterson Creek in Youth Community Park and Gravenstein Creek in Brown Farm.

This project is a mitigation measure to compensate for impacts to the riparian areas along Forestville and Peterson Creeks as a result of the Fulton Road Widening and Improvements project. Mitigation will include restoration and enhancement of 500 linear feet of the southside of Peterson Creek in Youth Community Park and 2,500 linear feet of Gravenstein Creek in Brown Farm, within City-owned property.

The restoration and enhancement of Peterson Creek will include clearing nonnative aggressive understory weeds like blackberry bushes, where native shrubs and thrushes will be planted. The restoration enhancements along Gravenstein Creek will include the planting of native oak trees within the riparian area.

The stream banks will be seeded to re-establish native grasses to stabilize the banks and improve water quality by trapping sediment and nutrients. The tree and shrub plantings will provide shelter and food for birds and other animals and create shading along streams to help maintain water temperature for the fish habitat.

The planting plan will be installed under the Design-Build contract by a qualified native habitat restoration specialist with oversight by the City of Santa Rosa, as stated in the Riparian Habitat Mitigation Plan. The habitat restoration specialist determines the selection and spacing of the plants to optimize restoration efforts.

The Fulton Road Riparian Habitat Mitigation is expected to be completed in April 2024. All plants will be maintained and monitored for the five years following plant installation to meet survival criteria.

CIP Project Page and Map