Retired Marin Naturalist Turned Boyhood Curiosity Into Career

MARIN COUNTY, CA – Throughout his career, David Herlocker was a natural at nature. He taught kids how to lasso lizards. He turned preening for ticks after hikes into a fun game. He gently preached about the importance of being responsible stewards of the land. In reflection of Herlocker's recent retirement, the legacy he has left as an award-winning Marin County Open Space District naturalist over 19 years is as one of the county's all-time best public educators about Marin's world-class natural surroundings.

Rona Weintraub, a birder from Mill Valley, believes she was on the first outing Herlocker led after he was hired in 1999. She went back again and again, more times than she can count.

“His knowledge is equaled by his kindness and patience with everyone attending his outings, from beginners to experts,” she said. “He is a true treasure.”

Herlocker grew up as a treasure hunter in the Oakland hills. To him, the treasures were the fascinating critters living in the woods and in the creeks. He has vivid memories of visiting his grandmother in San Francisco where he often spent time peering into reptile and amphibian exhibits at museums. Back home, he was always searching for snakes, salamanders and the like.

After high school, he figured he was done with school forever. He moved to Hawaii, had a lot of fun and worked in restaurants, but he gradually realized he didn't want to wait tables for the rest of his days. After a year there, he decided to buckle down and was accepted into San Francisco State University, “going from sun every day to fog every day.” He picked a major: advertising.

Of course, he had to get a well-rounded education and take some science. In Professor John Hafernik's entomology class, it all clicked for Herlocker. The same inquisitive spirit from his childhood lizard hunting days began to blossom into a new career goal. In 1978, he changed his major to biology/ecology, with an emphasis in entomology. “That class changed the course of my life,” Herlocker said.

His first job after college was as an animal keeper in the children's area at the San Francisco Zoo. He had no formal training in public speaking, giving presentations, or being a docent, but he found out that relating to the visiting humans was just as important as relating to the sheep, horses, and monkeys. He got used to speaking to groups, getting interrupted and freeforming with his answers, and managing field trips. Visitors and friends kept telling him he had the best job in the world, so he stayed there for more than 10 years.

One day a friend ran down to him to share that the Marin County Open Space District had posted a job announcement for a naturalist. Bob Stewart was retiring. Ready for a change, Herlocker threw his pith hat in the ring and got the job in January 1999.

“Bob was an amazing biologist with a background in birds, so he had a huge following of avid birders,” Herlocker said. “I never really followed birds, so very quickly I had to learn. You know, for the first year I wanted to just put on a badge that said ‘I’M NOT BOB’ because they were such huge shoes to fill. I had to work overtime to catch up. It took me a while, but I became pretty good at birds. Thinking back, I realize that when I was younger I spent a lot of time with amazing birders and they were always looking up as they hiked. Meanwhile I was looking on the ground for snakes.”

Herlocker’s learning curve was about as steep as the notorious arduous Luiz Ranch Fire Road. For his first five years, he would study from the time his kids went to sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. “I was reading about things I was passionate about, so it was almost like it wasn’t work,” he said. “You can’t give the same talk every time you’re on a hike because you have repeat customers. You want your regulars to keep learning, too, so I did lots of homework.”

Herlocker, who lived mostly in Oakland until he moved to Marin in 2009, led all sorts of hikes, mostly for adults but some specifically for kids. Marin County has a lot of older people in good shape who love to soak in knowledge while they enjoy the local nature. His hikes were highly informative but also highly social.

“Watching parents and kids learning together on family hikes was one of the most satisfying parts of the job,” Herlocker said.

Herlocker said he has probably led more hikes on Mount Burdell in Novato than on all the other Open Space preserves in Marin. He said it’s special because of the excellent access to birds, ground-based animals, flowers, and plenty of parking (“which is a big deal for a lot of people”). But two other County open space preserves are his favorites: Cascade Canyon in Fairfax and the top of Indian Tree on the ridge between Novato and Lucas Valley.

“With Indian Tree, I can take people up there and there’s always somebody from Novato who has never been up there,” he said. “It’s a butt-kicker of a hike, but you’re in a redwood forest even on the hottest days of the year.”

For many years, Herlocker wrote a monthly nature column for the Marin Independent Journal. The Nature Almanac column gave him some name recognition and exposed his knowledge to people who, for various reasons, couldn’t get out and do the hiking. He also opened himself up to sticklers who loved to point out his rare mistakes.

“I would get comments back that I taught them a lot more about a subject but that I said there were four species of squirrel in Marin and there were actually five,” he said. “There are subject matter experts all around us.”

Readers and even the newspaper’s editors noticed that Herlocker mentioned animal or plant reproduction in almost every column, causing a few snickers.

“Well, the answer to virtually any question about nature is that point of everything is to reproduce,” he said. “When I took questions, a lot of the answers had something to do with sex. It’s a delicate line to walk when the audience is 6-year-olds. I would say something about this one being the boyfriend and this one being the girlfriend and they were making babies.”

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Audrey Swope is just 5 years old, but thanks to Herlocker she knows that all branches lifted or stones turned over need to be put gently back in place because they might be part of a critter’s habitat. With encouragement from Herlocker, Audrey is confident enough to seek out lizards, millipedes and tadpoles on her own. Her older brother, 15-year-old Ethan Swope, has become an adventurer and nature photographer who wants to backpack around the world, no doubt inspired by Herlocker.

“We have enjoyed David’s camaraderie, storytelling, and informative talks,” wrote father David Swope and mother Jennifer Diessel, veterans of Herlocker outings. “He is a gentle soul, amazing with children, and a very kind and quiet leader.”

Dedicated fan Andrew Kives recalled a time at an evening nature talk when one enthusiastic and talkative sixth-grader dominated the questioning, prompting others to grow impatient. Kives watched Herlocker mix in humor with valuable information, and “By the end of every answer, I ended up being really glad that the question had been asked. … David created an atmosphere of wonder and joy, with extraordinary tales about impossibly obscure critters, and a lot of laughs.”

Another revered local naturalist, Meryl Sundove, remembered one Herlocker nature walk he gave for kids through the nonprofit WildCare. “He was like a pied piper because he has such interesting tales to tell in ways that make it fun,” Sundove said. “The children followed David especially closely so they would not miss the exciting things he was finding and saying.”

Feedback and compliments from adults meant a lot of Herlocker as well.

Attorney Frank Cox, a retired former County of Marin public defender, started taking notes on 3-by-5 cards during hikes and ended up with a 50-page diary. Without once sounding professorial, Herlocker would exult and exclaim over the beauty of the smallest part of a belly flower, or hold a lizard or snake in just the right way that the scales would glisten in the sun.

“I saw people of all ages and backgrounds passing these small treasures from hand to hand, and into mine,” Cox said. “David helped us all to see life in every form woven together as a seamless, beautiful whole. Thank you, David, for helping us see who we are.”

Following the same theme, Sharon Barnett of Marin Nature Adventures said Herlocker “weaves a story so that the learner understands how each species is connected to a greater whole, the importance of biodiversity is explained, then understood and marveled at.”

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The folks at Marin County Parks, which includes personnel from the Marin County Open Space District, downloaded as much institutional knowledge from Herlocker as they could before he officially left in late April. He still has to clean out his office in a small building at Deer Island Open Space Preserve in Novato, so he’s not 100 percent out the door yet, and his former co-workers are thankful for that.

“David has extensive knowledge not only of the ecology of many species but where on our lands those species are located,” said Lisa Michl, a resource specialist. “Coming in as one of the first wildlife biologists for Marin County Parks, David has been invaluable in sharing his knowledge of what species we have from his years of roaming the lands and taking careful note of the areas species use, breed, or need to live. Despite all his knowledge, he welcomed me and my different experiences, and always deferred to me when it came to best protecting our wildlife species. Though, I would still ask him for his opinion and advice. Even though he is retired, I still plan on reaching out to him and pulling out all that knowledge of his.”

Herlocker said he’s thrilled that his replacement is Shannon Burke, a 10-year county open space ranger/assistant naturalist and experienced docent. She spent several years as a landscape gardener and has been involved with many local environmental organizations. Herlocker met her when he conducted some docent training at Audubon Canyon Ranch at Bouverie Preserve in Sonoma County. At Audubon Canyon, Burke was conducting classroom presentations, leading school trips and naturalist walks, and studying natural history.

“She took one of my classes and I realized that she was a very accomplished biologist with a knack as an interpreter,” Herlocker said. “When we recruited for an assistant naturalist, she got the job and she’s been doing that for eight years. She has huge range of knowledge and is a great communicator, so I’m just really happy for her and for the people who will enjoy her walks.”

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Now retired in Petaluma, his home of four years, Herlocker has no plans to bronze his boots and plant his backside in a hammock. He feels lucky that he never suffered a significant injury on the job and never got involved on any sort of confrontation on a trail. “My job kept me in incredible shape,” he said. “I got paid to hike around Marin. No complaints.”

Because of that nimbleness, Herlocker was moving too quickly to pause and bask in the compliments he has received through the years. That’s not his nature anyway. One particularly heartwarming highlight was being the recipient of Wildcare’s 2016 Terwilliger Environmental Award, named after another legendary public educator in Marin. Named after Elizabeth Terwilliger, otherwise known as Mrs. T, the award honors Bay Area environmental educators who have “made a significant difference and a real impact” while demonstrating new insights and methods for environmental education. Only 23 people have been honored with the Terwilliger Award.

“It’s a great honor to know that my name will always be on that list with so many people I admire,” Herlocker said.

What’s next? Herlocker said he believes there is enough part-time and seasonal work out there for a freelance naturalist with his experience.

“One of my first targets is Costa Rica,” he said. “I’ve had many offers to do that in the past, but my answer was no because I always wanted to be home with the kids. Now that they’re grown, I’m keeping my eyes open.”

STORY AND PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY MARIN COUNTY PARKS