The quest to save a plant

While most people went out of their way to stay indoors and out of the rain Saturday, as many as 30 volunteers donned rubber boots and rain gear to try to save a tiny, little-known plant native only to Sonoma County.

Standing ankle deep in water much of the time and working through a pelting rain, volunteer crews at the Bouverie Preserve near Glen Ellen planted about 500 seedlings of the endangered Sonoma Sunshine plant found only in the Sonoma Valley and the Santa Rosa Plain.

Ecologist Sherry Adams organized the project for the Audubon Canyon Ranch, which manages 26 different preserves, including Bouverie, a 500-acre property off Highway 12 known for amazing spring wildflowers and a diverse mix of plants and animals.

The Sonoma Sunshine, she said, is one of several plant and animal species specially adapted to live in seasonal wetlands known as vernal pools, which last only through rainy season and are dry the rest of the year.

The endangered native grass planted Saturday is covered under a conservation plan for the Santa Rosa Plain, but survives in only one population in the Sonoma Valley -- where vast fields of non-native grasses have taken over as they have in most of California, Adams said.

Its normal habitat also is endangered, in that vernal pools exist in the flatlands, many of them destroyed through development over the years, she said.

"That's why our project is so exciting," Adams said. "We're making a new home for that plant, in a place very close to its current location. So we're very hopeful it will do well here."

Boy Scouts, regular preserve volunteer docents and other collaborators were among those who volunteered their time Saturday morning to the project, which is funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Private Stewardship Grant Program.

It wasn't all work: The crew enjoyed hot cocoa and chili by a fire afterward.

But reintroducing a species to its native land was the draw, Adams said.

"The habitat itself has been endangered. That's why we really need to be committed to taking care of the one we have left," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249

or mary.callahan@

pressdemocrat.com.