The San Mateo County Arts Commission, which views the arts as an essential part of a healthy and vibrant community, champions policies and practices that promote social and cultural equity. We strive to promote inclusive and diverse programming and to ensure equitable access to arts and culture for all, with consideration for race, ability, sexual orientation, age, gender, economic status, and cultural background. We also commit to partnering with artists and arts organizations that represent and celebrate the diversity of our county, through the fair and equitable distribution of programmatic and financial support. Through these actions, arts are a vehicle for social change.
We're excited to introduce our new Natural Resource Management interns. Meet Johanna, Alissa, and Aidan!
Our task was to level and install seed beds for the Green Grass Project at Edgewood Farms —an amazing project spearheaded by the Friends of Edgewood group, which has been helping steward the park and its incredible diversity of plant life for over 25 years.
Every other year the Natural Resource Management team does a survey of San Bruno Elfin, an endangered species on San Bruno Mountain. Their larva, or caterpillars, feed an attractive native succulent that grows on rocky outcrops.
It is quite common to mistake a lizard that has just lost its tail for dead! While unfortunately the lizard is now tail-less, it isn't dying, far from it actually. It is very much still alive. Lizards utilize caudal autotomy (tail dropping) as a survival strategy for predatory response! When being chased or spotted by a predator a lizard may drop his or her tail and speed away while the piece of tail continues to wriggle and squirm, mimicking another lizard. If a lizard is bit by a venomous snake it may drop its tail as well, to ensure that the toxin does not reach the rest of the lizard’s body. In some cases, the tail will even grow back, however the regenerated tail does have less function.
As a Natural Resource Management Intern I visit many of the parks to analyze different habitats and support vegetation management activities.
A few feet farther up the slope I saw the telltale yellow flowers, looking like a garden “pansy,” peaking out of the mass of green. It was California Golden Violet, Viola pedunculata
In January of 2020 San Mateo County Parks Natural Resource Management was excited to welcome our first intern team. Meet Alex Wilbanks, Johanna Harrison, and Olivia Kurz.
The federal government has continued to increase the extent of immigration enforcement in San Mateo County, continuing a trend of more immigrant residents of the County being placed in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Many immigrants in such proceedings lack the resources to secure legal representation in such proceedings.
Multiple accounts have surfaced regarding the conditions of detained families along the U.S. and Mexico border, but Professor Bill Ong Hing's detailed testimonial from his visit to the border patrol processing facility in Clint, Texas has truly highlighted the dire conditions in which these children are being held in as well as the urgency for services and resources for our immigrant community.
As reported by various news sources, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to initiate nationwide raids this weekend. The Office of Community Affairs encourages everyone to become aware of their rights and to share important resources with everyone in the community.
With support from the Board of Supervisors, all County staff now have access to interpretation services for over 200 unique languages. Residents can visit any County department and be helped with the language of their choice. Look for a language idenitification card or ask for interpretation services. The new service is easy, quick and efficient!