A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in removing flammable vegetation for SPRC’s Earth Day Broom Pull in the Glenwood neighborhood! We especially appreciated the amazing support from the San Rafael Fire Department, Friends of China Camp, and Glenwood Neighbors. As you can see in the photos below, invasive broom was crowding the social trail and growing densely along the fence lines of the adjacent homes on Beechwood and Heartwood Drives.
Scotch and French broom are invasive species that crowd out less flammable native plants, harm wildlife habitats, and change soil chemistry. When embers land on the broom’s oily leaves, they ignite quickly and burn intensely. The thick, impenetrable stands provide for a continuous fuel ladder from the ground up into tree canopies, allowing fires to spread vertically and horizontally and increasing the intensity and reach of wildfires.
Please be sure to clear your own property of Scotch and French broom (easy to see this time of year with the bright yellow flowers). Did you know that you can borrow weed wrenches from San Rafael Fire Department? Having these tools makes it easy to remove large plants.
Keep a look out for future broom pulls in our neighborhoods—or plan one with your neighbors!
Before we got started, the trail was thick with broom covered in bright yellow blossoms. 
By the time we finished, the area was cleared of broom! 
Joyce Abrams from Friends of China Camp held up QR codes for volunteers so they could easily goto websites showing French and Scotch Broom. 
The ground was soft from recent rains so pulling large broom plants out was easy. 
Freshly pulled broom was loaded onto tarps to carry it to the debris box. 
What follows are photos of the wonderful people who volunteered and the work that they accomplished. 
