Lake County Land Trust board members Tom Smythe, left, and Jon Ambrose installed new curb stops around the parking lot at Boggs Lake Preserve. Photo by Susanne La Faver.

COBB – Nature lovers and admirers of Boggs Lake Preserve will appreciate the new cedar fence, pier planks, sign post and cleared trails completed recently by Lake County Land Trust (www.lakecountylandtrust.org) board members and volunteers.

Boggs Lake Preserve, a 117-acre northern volcanic vernal pool located on Harrington Flat Road off Bottle Rock Road, is owned by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

TNC, Lake County Land Trust, and Boggs Lake’s neighbors continue protection and maintenance of the Preserve, and together coordinated the recent work party.

Participants included Land Trust board members Jon Ambrose, Susanne La Faver, and Tom Smythe. Volunteers were Andrew Belschner, Susan and Jim Herrmann and Lyle La Faver.

Boggs Lake is one of the finest remaining examples of the vernal pool plant community. The lake bed was created by coalescing lava flows from Mt. Hannah one million years ago.

In addition to its unique size and location, the lake is home to one rare natural community, two rare aquatic invertebrates and five rare plant species.

Ringed by grassland and Ponderosa pine forest and bordering a wet meadow on one side, the lake also provides habitat to over 155 species of birds, including osprey, peregrine falcon, bald eagles, and golden eagles.

Amphibians and reptiles are also well represented, and mammals both large and small use the lake year-round. The preserve’s wetlands constitute a unique assemblage not duplicated elsewhere in California.

In fact, the preserve is an important Western Pond Turtle habitat, making it a research site for Sonoma State University biologists. The Western Pond Turtle is considered a species of special concern (see accompanying photos).

The Lake County Land Trust is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the county’s important land resources. Its stewardship includes Rodman Slough Preserve on Clear Lake and Rabbit Hill in Middletown.

The land trust spearheaded the preservation of Black Forest on Mt. Konocti and participated in the acquisition of Mt. Konocti by Lake County.

For membership in Lake County Land Trust, or to volunteer at a future work party, please see www.lakecountylandtrust.org or call 707-994-2024.

Planks were replaced on this pier jutting out into Boggs Lake. Photo by Susanne La Faver.

Sonoma State University research biologists study Western Pond Turtles at Boggs Lake Preserve. For more information on the species, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pond_turtle. Photo by Susanne La Faver.

A tracking devise is attached to the Western Pond Turtle

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