Peninsula Open Space Trust names El Granada resident Volunteer of the Year
November 20, 2003
The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today that Neal Kramer of El Granada, San Mateo County, has been awarded Volunteer of the Year. POST's Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes substantial contributions made by individuals to the land conservancy's work.
Mr. Kramer has worked over the past three years to catalogue more than 400 plant species on POST-owned land and has developed an extensive natural resource database that documents the location and health of plant communities.
"Neal's work will allow us to better understand the resources we have in our ownership so that we can be sure we are indeed giving this special place true protection," said POST President Audrey Rust. "The Board of Directors and staff are deeply appreciative of Neal's work."
One of the plants tracked by Mr. Kramer is the invasive exotic pampas grass that is prominent throughout the San Mateo Coast. The plant can grow up to 8 feet wide and 8 feet tall – big enough to fill an average-sized office. Unchecked, the plant can overwhelm a landscape, squeezing out native plant communities and the native birds and insects that thrive on them.
Mr. Kramer's work will allow POST to monitor the spread of the invasive plant and has made possible POST's extensive pampas grass eradication project that is currently underway.
POST will recognize Mr. Kramer at an awards ceremony to be held Thursday night at Mid-Peninsula Bank in Palo Alto. The invitation only event is held annually to honor the more than 70 volunteers that generously contribute their time and energy to engage in restoration projects, to monitor open space lands and easements, and to provide significant legal and technical support.