Chileno Valley Newt Brigade
Newsletter Archive

Chileno Valley Newt Brigade is awarded CA Fish and Wildlife Grant!
Our wonderful news is that the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade has been awarded a California State Fish and Wildlife Grant to study the newt crossing area of Chileno Valley Road in order to determine the best way to assist the newts in safely crossing the road. The grant of $77,800 will pay for the professional services of Dokken Engineering’s Charles Tognaci, and United States Geological Survey’s Cheryl Brehme. The two are credited with the latest research on amphibian road crossings. Cheryl is also consulting on the Lexington Reservoir amphibian crossing in Santa Clara County at the moment.

Once this feasibility study is complete (it will take about one year), Marin County‘s Department of Public Works will have a number of appropriate designs to choose from in order to provide safe passage for amphibians across Chileno Valley Road. Hopefully there will be other benefits as well, such as a safer road for humans.

We made the news again! (NorthBay Biz)
Q: Why did the salamander cross the road?
A: Because the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade helped them!
In a world where many species are rapidly going extinct, amphibians are at the greatest risk (read more ...)

Please check out Bo Kearn’s excellent article in NorthBay Biz. A number of promising Brigadiers have joined us as a result of this informative article:

Wildlife Connectivity Bill Becomes Law in California
On September 30, 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Safe Roads and Wildlife Protection Act (AB 2344) into law, paving the way for more wildlife crossings and road improvements across California. The provisions of this law will  facilitate implementation of critical crossing infrastructure and other important measures that will make our roads safer for wildlife and people.

Help!  We are looking for a Fundraising Coordinator
It is anticipated that Marin County will need the assistance of all of us to help fund the road improvements. While this is something we anticipated, at present we do not have a volunteer who can help us coordinate and maximize our fundraising efforts. If you have any suggestions, please let  Sally Gale know. Thank you!

2023-2024 Chileno Valley Newt Brigade Action Plan
As you can see from the above, the Newt Brigade will be in full rescue mode next season, just as we were this past season. There will be no change in our activities — only improvements. More Brigadiers will be involved in the training and planning for next year’s efforts. In fact, depending on the technical road improvements suggested in the upcoming feasibility study, we may be on the road each migration season for some time.

Anticipated Newt Activity 
As we saw last year, the baby newts appeared first, as soon as the weather triggered their migration from Laguna Lake, across the road to the hills. Very little rain seemed to be needed, unlike the adult newts coming the other way. Thousands of babies crossed the road before the adult males started coming down from the hills. Juvenile migration can start as soon as it rains. We will be on the lookout by mid October. Last year the first juveniles made their appearance  the second week of November.

Until then, we will be monitoring the feasibility study and planning for next year. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

On The Road – Which sections of Chileno Valley Road bear the most newt traffic?
We continue to work with the large amount of data our Newt Brigadiers have industriously collected over the last 4 migration seasons. We've noticed from early on (beginning with the 2019-2020 season) that the easternmost section of Chileno Valley Road is where most of the newts cross. The chart below displays this pattern over the four-year 2019-2023 time period. Newt counts are graphed according to "Road Section" (slices of longitude from west to east covering our patrol area), broken out by migration season:
— We see how the number of newts that Brigidiers have observed have increased greatly over time. This likely reflects the increased number volunteers participating in rescue activity and perhaps also the extended time Brigadiers are out on the road.
— The consistent bump in crossings attempted at the east end of our patrol area is not understood at this time and will be an important area of focus by the upcoming feasibility study to be conducted by United States Geological Survey’s Cheryl Brehme (see news item above).