The Golden Gate National Parks are sponsoring a unique contest this year called the GGNP Endangered Species Big Year. The goal: spot as many of the 36 endangered and threatened species as you can, and take steps to help prevent them from going extinct.
Many of them, like the Snowy Plover and California Sea Otter, are right here at Land’s End and Ocean Beach.
A Big Year is a competitive event where people race to see the most species in a specified geographic area in a specific year. The GGNP event is unique in several ways. It focuses only on endangered species and it includes both endangered animals as well as flora and fauna.
In its third year, the compeition requires participants to not only compete to see the most species, but also to complete actions that help the species recover. And unlike other Big Year competitions, the geographic area of focus is the Golden Gate National Parks, our nation’s great urban national park experiment.
What do you win? The person who spots the most endangered species by the end of 2010 will win a $1,000 gift certificate to REI or Eagle Optics – your choice. In addition, over $1,000 of prizes will be given out over the year to competitors who meet certain milestones, like entering their first action item and sighting, or being the first to find a sea otter during the year.
To get started on your Big Year, visit the Wild Equity website for more information. The program is free and is a great chance to dive deeper into our local wildlife.
In addition, local naturalists will hold several Big Year events this month right here in the Richmond:
February 13: Sea Watch for Endangered Sea Creatures
February 20: California Coastal Ecosystem Restoration at Lands End
February 27: Coho Salmon Habitat Restoration
February 28: Snowy Plover Walk
All events meet at Louis’ Restaurant, 902 Point Lobos Ave, right near the Cliff House. Please RSVP to mbzlat@yahoo.com if you plan to attend (or if you have questions). Sorry, I could not find a meeting time.
Happy spotting!
Sarah B.
[via Funcheapsf.com]
Oddly enough, I recognize that photo of the Snowy Plover as Mike Baird’s from Flickr. . . because I used it myself once. He makes his images available under Creative Commons. But I don’t see a “Mike Baird” credit anywhere in this post. Thought I’d say so because I think photogs should get proper attribution.
Hi Figgis,
I used those photos from the event website. Unfortunately they did not credit anyone, hence I did not know who to credit. Thanks for the info.
Sarah B.