Doubling the Lands We Protect
The Meaning of Stewardship
Slough Speak
Who Does What at the Foundation
Land Purchase Criteria
Elkhorn Slough Protected Lands
Foundation Dedicates Porter Preserve
Burrel Leonard's Legacy

Doubling the Lands We Protect

The Porter Ranch is one of the most recent acquisitions of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation.

Visitors to our offices almost always find themselves looking at one of the many maps we have. The Foundation has all sorts of maps, ranging from old ones drawn by Spanish explorers to the latest high-tech versions based on satellite photography. Using sophisticated computer programs, we can produce maps that highlight special features of the landscape, such as the rare maritime chaparral habitats on many ridge tops in the Elkhorn Slough watershed.

There’s one map that is changing a lot these days: the map that shows the lands the Elkhorn Slough Foundation owns (see page five). In the past four years, the Foundation has acquired more than 1500 acres of land. The most recent addition was the purchase of the 200-acre El Chamisal Ranch, and we are purchasing several other properties.

“Acquisitions are occurring at a faster pace than we predicted,” says Executive Director Mark Silberstein. “Many local landowners have approached us with either gifts of land or an interest in a sale or a conservation easement. It is remarkable to me, the intense feelings many of the landowners have toward protecting their natural lands.”

The process begins, usually, with a phone call and a meeting, and pretty soon the maps come out. “People love seeing the satellite photos of their land,” Silberstein says.

“We use the maps to help us assess the natural resource value of the property,” says Kevin Contreras, the Foundation’s Land Acquisition Specialist. Kevin’s maps show, for example, riparian woodlands – the trees and brush along creeks that help trap eroding soil before it gets into the creeks and the slough. A property with healthy riparian woodlands would score high on Kevin’s list.

Besides mapping potential purchases, Kevin also completes a fact sheet to evaluate the parcels ecological importance. “We work hard to ensure that we are investing wisely in conservation,” says Kevin. Each property is evaluated according to criteria established in the Elkhorn Slough Watershed Conservation Plan, which the Foundation developed in 1999.

Part of evaluating property involves conducting an on-site inventory. “That’s the fun part,” Kevin said. “We get to tromp around some gorgeous property and notice things.”

At one recent inventory, half a dozen Foundation staff members fanned out over 400 acres looking for rare species, invasive non-natives, erosion problems, broken fences, and trash. The inventory crew stays in touch by walkie-talkie, and what you most often hear is someone’s excitement at finding a rare plant or a particularly fine stand of oaks.

“The first time I walked Long Valley,” Silberstein recalls, “we came on this little meadow surrounded by immense old oaks, with native bunch grasses blowing in the wind. It was the way it had been for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. If we hadn’t bought that property, it would have become someone’s driveway. The bulldozers were already on the site. That’s what we’re doing: we are saving something special and rare, and we’re going to ensure it persists.”

The Meaning of Stewardship

An interview with Land Manager Kim Hayes

Charismatic megafauna: This term is used to refer to large and appealing animals, e.g. otters, egrets, whales. Environmental groups often feature charismatic megafauna in their materials because, well, they’re more appealing to more people than what some might call the repulsive microfauna.

Charismatic megafauna (photo: Paul Zaretsky).

Maritime chaparral: A rare plant community that occurs within the central California coastal zone. The California Native Plant Society has designated over a dozen species in this habitat as “species of concern.” The plants of this community require cool, foggy summers and well-drained, sandy soils. Maritime chaparral occurs on ridges and south-facing slopes in the Elkhorn Highlands. At one time maritime chaparral covered extensive areas in the Elkhorn watershed. During the past forty years many south-facing chaparral slopes were converted to agriculture and housing. At the present time there are 1700 acres of maritime chaparral in the 45,000-acre Elkhorn Slough watershed.

Sediment Basin: A small dam which catches runoff water, allowing soil to settle to the bottom and cleaner water to flow into a nearby waterway, thereby reducing soil runoff. Later the sediment is removed from the basin. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation will spend $10,000 to $12,000 for sediment basins on its property this fall.

Who Does What at the Foundation

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation has changed a lot in the past few years. Here’s a brief explanation of who does what at the Foundation.

Land Acquisition
Five years ago our Board decided to take on the responsibilities of acquiring land in the Elkhorn Slough Watershed. Since then ESF has prepared a detailed conservation plan to guide our acquisitions, applied for and received major funding, and begun an ambitious program to double the lands we protect. The ESF staffers most involved in land acquisition are Executive Director Mark Silberstein and Land Acquisition Coordinator Kevin Contreras.

Land Stewardship
The Foundation has been managing lands in Elkhorn Slough since 1992, when we took on the management of 800 acres of land owned by The Nature Conservancy. In recent years we have added another 1500 acres of land owned by the Foundation, and we are rapidly expanding these holdings. The ESF staffers most involved in land management are Land Manager Kim Hayes and Assistant Land Steward Ken Collins.

Outreach and Membership
The Foundation’s outreach efforts include a website, newsletter, a bookstore at the Reserve, and various events. We currently have 600 active members and growing. The ESF staffers most involved in outreach and membership are Development Director Stephen Slade, Webmaster and Membership Associate Greg Hofmann, and Bookstore Manager Susan Burgess, all of them new to ESF this year.

Support for the Reserve
The Foundation administers grants which fund seven positions — in research, monitoring, restoration and public education — at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. The ESF staffers most involved in writing, tracking, and reporting on these grants are Administrative Director Kris Beall, and Bookkeeper Bonnie Pepper.

Land Purchase Criteria

When the Foundation considers buying land, we evaluate the property according to the criteria in the following checklist:

1. Will the purchase protect critical resources or ecological linkages? (Rank 1-5 with 5 the highest)
___ Coastal marsh
___ Riparian or freshwater wetland
___ Maritime chaparral and/or associated oak woodlands
___ Rare species
___ Productive agricultural lands
___ Scenic viewshed of Elkhorn Slough

2. Will purchase eliminate or reduce major stresses on the environment?
___ Reduces sediment movement and/or damaging run-off into slough
___ Prevents destruction/fragmentation of critical habitat
___ Reduces depletion of groundwater

3. Will purchase restore or enhance biological functions?
___ Land has high restoration potential
___ Land can provide habitat for rare species or wildlife
___ Land can provide linkage to other habitat areas

4. Are there potential management issues?
___ Invasive weeds
___ Soil erosion
___ Existing trash
___ Potentially high level of trespass
___ Structures to maintain
___ Roads/trails to maintain
___ Other

Table of Contents

Foundation Dedicates Porter Preserve

"My family has placed trust in the Elkhorn Slough Foundation..."

The historic Las Lomas Ranch, after six generations of ownership by the pioneer Porter family, will stay just the way Diane Porter Cooley remembers it as a child. In August, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and the Porter family dedicated the Porter Preserve in the upper Elkhorn Slough, to continue as permanent open space and a working ranch.

“I grew up on this land,” Cooley told 70 guests at the dedication. “I’ve been affected by its beauty and by the people, plants, and animals that share the land with us.”

Tom and Bernice Porter, Cooley’s parents, donated a portion of the property in 1976 and willed the balance of the 335 acre ranch and marsh to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation last year. Cooley said that her parents confidence grew as “they watched an environmentally responsible organization manage a working ranch.”

“My parents wishes were to preserve the natural and agricultural heritage of Elkhorn Slough and the Pajaro Valley for the benefit of future generations,” Cooley said. “My family has placed trust in the Elkhorn Slough Foundation to carry out these wishes and to be good stewards of the land.”

Members of the Porter family gather to dedicate the Porter Preserve.
Left to right: Anne Cooley Youngblood, Don Cooley, Mary June Porter Lion, Florence Porter Smith, Diane Porter Cooley, and ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein.

ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein promised to “honor the trust placed in us by the Porter family.” He said the dedication of the Porter Preserve completed a circle that began when the Porters protected the first land in the Elkhorn Slough. “Now with this dedication we have a continuous corridor of protected land that stretches from the Pajaro Valley, through Elkhorn Slough, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.”

Silberstein called the rolling grass lands dotted with coast live oaks “a signature California landscape.” He said the Elkhorn Slough Foundation would continue cattle grazing and a wide array of research on the land. He noted that, during the past 20 years of the Foundation’s collaboration with the Porter family, the ranch has hosted significant scientific research carried out by researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the Department of Fish and Game, California State University Monterey Bay, and the Native Plant Society.

The Las Lomas Ranch was acquired in 1864, when John T. and Fannie Porter purchased a portion of the Mexican land grant Rancho Bolsa de San Cayetano from General Mariano Vallejo. The house on the ranch was built in 1870. The ranch has remained in the family’s hands since the original purchase and was once a thriving dairy, as were many of the properties adjacent to Elkhorn Slough.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation was one of more than two dozen groups to receive generous bequests from the estate of Burrel Leonard. The $90,000 bequest will become part of the Foundation’s stewardship endowment, assuring that the Foundation can continue to care for its growing land holdings in perpetuity.

Leonard was a descendant of a pioneering farming family that settled in the Santa Clara Valley in 1850. Leonard grew up on the family farm and kept a collection of old farm machinery and tools throughout his life. He was one of the leaders in incorporating the city of Cupertino and developing the Vallco Park complex of offices and stores.

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Burrel Leonard.

“He was a shy gentleman, very reserved,” said friend Bill Hyland, who served as co-executor of the estate. Leonard left bequests to numerous historical and conservation organizations. “He never sought the limelight,” Hyland noted, “but his influence over the years was profound.”

His influence will continue to be felt at Elkhorn Slough. The Foundation’s Board of Directors designated the bequest as an endowment to provide permanent support for ESF’s stewardship program. “As we acquire land, we are also acquiring the obligation to take care of it in perpetuity,” said Executive Director Mark Silberstein. “Gifts like Mr. Leonard’s provide us with the means to do that. They are literally a living legacy.”

For more information on how to include the Elkhorn Slough Foundation in your will, contact your attorney or Elkhorn Slough Foundation.