Table
of Contents
Restoration
is Not Landscaping
Farmers See Stewardship
Working
An Interview with
ESF Board President Jerry Patrick
Confessions of
a Docent Trainee
Slough Speak
One Truck, 2500 Acres
Sale Family Donates Key
Wetland
In
Memoriam - Louise Sandholdt Rubis
More Partners Needed
Map: ESF Protected Lands, North
Slough
Western
Bluebirds returned to Elkhorn Slough in February.
The birds tell us when restoration is working.
Land
restoration work can look a lot like a giant landscaping project.
Both involve truckloads of plants and lots of digging and planting.
And both can give you something pleasing to look at. The real
difference is that restoration is designed to make the landscape
work on a large scale – to provide habitat for animals,
to filter sediment out of the water, to create a healthy ecosystem.
Rob Burton of the Moss Landing Marine Labs recently touched
on this difference at a presentation at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve.
Rob has been doing restoration work on the Moro Cojo Slough
(more on that in a future issue).
He said that
birds were returning to Moro Cojo. “Birds tell you,”
he said, “whether it is really a wetland or just landscaping
that looks like a wetland.” In other words, restoration
isn’t about looks, like landscaping, it is about natural
use.
This winter the Elkhorn Slough Foundation staff (with plenty
of volunteer help) did a lot of what looked like landscaping,
but it was really part of our efforts to restore key parts of
the Elkhorn Slough watershed so that it works better for the
animals and plants here.
At Elzas Ranch we planted 200 one-gallon pots of mixed native
bunch grasses and perennial wildflowers along creeks and along
what used to be an old farm road. The unused road had become
a freeway for rainwater, leading to increased soil erosion and
runoff.
Land
Manager Kim Hayes prepares to plant an oak seedling
on the east side of Elkhorn Road at Blohm Ranch (see map).
Porter Marsh and Carneros Creek are visible at upper left.
On
the Blohm Ranch we planted native grasses and perennials (bee
plant, yarrow, and silverweed) near sediment basins and a pond
that are prime habitat for the endangered red-legged frog. We
also planted 50 coast live oaks between the two Blohm Ranch
gates along Elkhorn Road.
Along Carneros Creek, which feeds into the slough, we planted
freshwater species including Black cottonwood, California buckeye,
and Sycamore – the charismatic megaflora of riparian corridors
(you’ll need to keep up with our Slough
Speak feature to understand that).
And at Azevedo Ranch on Elkhorn Road we planted California poppies
in a grasslands restoration area where we previously had planted
60,000 plugs of native bunch grasses. We also planted oaks to
serve as raptor perches. The idea is to give the Red-tailed
Hawks, Northern Harriers, and other raptors prime locations
near the farm fields to reduce crop loss due to rodents. Along
the water’s edge we planted California wild roses, bee
plant, and creeping wild rye to help force out the poison hemlock.
(See pictures of Azevedo Ranch in the following story and the
restoration map.)
All this work was done by our land staff – Kim
Hayes and Ken Collins – with help
from a growing group of volunteers and the hardworking members
of California Conservation Corps. The results of their work
will surely be pretty, but the real goal of restoration is to
make Elkhorn Slough a healthier place. As they did at Moro Cojo,
the birds will tell us if it’s working.
Table
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Azevedo
Ranch, before and after
ten years of stewardship
Hundreds
of farmers, land managers, and conservationists from around
the country gathered in March at the Alisomar Center in Pacific
Grove for the American Farmland Trust annual conference. On
a fine spring day, fifty of them came for a brief tour of the
Reserve and of Azevedo Ranch. The birders among them were thrilled
by the kites hovering above the meadows. The farmers mostly
looked down at the ground and asked about the crops. Some of
them had never seen strawberries growing.
Their tour guides were ESF’s Executive Director Mark Silberstein,
Daniel Mountjoy of the Natural Resources Conservation Service,
and Sherwood Darrington of the Monterey County Agricultural
and Historical Land Conservancy. All three men know the ranch
well. Darrington’s group leases 70 of acres of land to
two farmers. ESF manages another 60 acres of land owned by The
Nature Conservancy.
Mountjoy got knowing murmurs of alarm when he told the farmers
that the rate of soil erosion on steep hills in the watershed
was 33 tons per year per acre – the highest rate west of
the Mississippi.
Silberstein passed around the pair of photos
below, illustrating what ten years of stewardship looks like.
The photo on the top was taken about ten years ago; the one
on the bottom was taken in March.
Creating
buffer zones between fields and wetlands
helps reduce sedimentation into the slough.
Ten
years ago, strawberries were planted right down to the edge
of the water, with the rows draining directly into the pond
and the slough. Now the entire area, approximately 24 acres,
is in native vegetation. This pond provides a buffer between
fields and sensitive wetlands and effectively traps sediments
and nutrients. It also drains the Blohm Ranch, which ESF has
also managed for more than ten years.
The Azevedo Ranch illustrates more than just stewardship. It
is also a prime example of another one of our favorite words:
partnership. The Nature Conservancy jointly owns the land with
the Monterey County Agricultural and Historical Land Conservancy,
which leases the farm land to private farmers. The Elkhorn Slough
Foundation manages the land owned by Nature Conservancy. The
buffer zones were designed with the farmer and these organizations
working together. The result is a productive farm and a healthier
slough.
That message – that farming and a healthy environment go
together – is one that echoed through the conference and
is plainly on display at the Azevedo Ranch. ESF was proud to
be a supporter of the conference and to be working with local
farmers and ranchers to protect the rich working landscape of
Elkhorn Slough.
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"We
are not in the business of simply buying land
and putting fences around it."
We
sat down in March to talk to ESF’s new Board President, Jerry
Patrick.
In 1999 you retired after a distinguished career in business
and the nonprofit world and moved to Aptos. You could have put
your skills and energy to work for any number of groups. What
led you to choose the Elkhorn Slough Foundation?
I was involved in the Bay Area with The Nature Conservancy, doing
some work with them. Steve McCormick, who was the Northern California
director, and is now the national director for the Nature Conservancy,
introduced me to Mark Silberstein. When my wife, Robin, and I
moved to the area we both immediately got involved with Elkhorn
Slough. Robin is a volunteer at the Reserve. I approached Mark
about being on the Board. It seemed like a perfect fit, a great
opportunity for me to apply all I had learned professionally over
forty years.
You've
served on a number of other boards over those years. How does
the Foundation board compare?
I’ve served on more than a dozen boards over the years and
helped create one, the Valley Medical Center Foundation in Santa
Clara County. What distinguishes the Elkhorn Slough Foundation
board is the commitment of its members. I’ve never worked
with a group so unanimously committed to the cause. There’s
no dead wood on this board, no private agendas that come before
the common agenda of protecting Elkhorn Slough. As a result, I
think it’s as collegial a board as I’ve ever worked
with. There’s a great sense of respect and camaraderie that
makes it a true pleasure.
The Foundation – and its Board – have evolved a great
deal during the past several years as our “land trust”
responsibilities have grown. What goals do you have for the next
few years?
You’re right, there has been more change at the Foundation
and board level in the past two or three years than in the previous
17 or 18 years, and it’s been a fabulously successful change.
The opportunity and need is to consolidate and build on that change
and success, to get this under our belts and move to the next
plateau. That next plateau means growing professionalism, more
board members and more funding, but also a clear and expanding
vision of our future. We are not in the business of simply buying
land and putting fences around it. This is a living, evolving
landscape, and we need to define our future role in collaboration
with our neighbors and partners. You know, last year at the Board
retreat, we agreed that our outreach and visibility ought to be
increased — and we’ve been successful in doing that.
Now we are finding that more and more people want to be involved
with us; and we need to be ready to receive them, involve them,
and challenge them, as we figure out the appropriate use of this
very special piece of the earth.
The
Board President in his favorite habitat.
What’s
your personal connection to nature?
It’s about a commitment to serving the planet, but also about
a personal attraction to the sea. I got it from my parents. My
mother had a visual love of the sea and my dad was in the navy
and loved ships. I remember when I was ten years old my uncle
took me out on a sailboat off Long Island, and it was just amazing
– I fell immediately in love. As I’ve gotten older this
connection has gotten clearer and stronger – specifically
my passion for sailing – and through that my visceral affinity
for the sea. It gives my life meaning.
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–
– – – – – – –
BY GREG HOFMANN
Have
you ever considered volunteering at Elkhorn Slough? The Volunteer
Training Program begins in June of each year, and I can assure
you from my own experience that it is a terrific opportunity
for personal enrichment. There is no better survey course
in the natural history of the slough than this training, which
includes nine two-hour classes on Wednesday evenings and several
field trips on Saturdays.
The program is administered by the Department of Fish and
Game, and more specifically by Volunteer Coordinator Jackie
Kourassis, who handles her role as classroom emcee and host
with energy and good humor. The purpose of the training is
to produce knowledgeable volunteers who can contribute in
a variety of ways: as docents – leading tours of the
slough or answering questions at the Visitor Center; as research
volunteers – counting shorebirds, measuring crabs, or
monitoring raptor nests; as restoration volunteers –
working in the greenhouse or planting native grasses and shrubs....
There are opportunities for all tastes and talents.
I took the training in 2002. The first evening was a get-acquainted
affair where we introduced ourselves and Jackie outlined the
ground rules for the classes and fieldtrips to come. The very
next Saturday we were given a “docent-led tour”
of the slough by none other than ESNERR Manager Becky Christensen.
This showed us green recruits what a knowledgeable docent
brings to a walk, and, needless to say, Becky gave a stellar
tour. We learned a number of the signature plants – Sticky
Monkey Flower, Harding Grass, Dodder – and several interpretive
techniques. We examined the contents of owl pellets in the
big barn. We saw raccoon, heron, and deer tracks in the slough
mud, and dusky-footed wood rat nests in the treetops. My brain
was full by noon – and this was our first field trip!
The next class was led by Reserve Education Coordinator Kenton
Parker, who introduced us to the Visitor Center exhibits and
then showed us microscope views of tiny slough critters, weird
and wonderful.
ESNERR
Research Coordinator Kerstin Wasson illuminated
the mudflats, which she likened to the "roof" of
the habitat beneath.
The
following weekend we visited (and probed) the mudflats with
Reserve Research Coordinator Kerstin Wasson. We found moon
snails, a huge decorator crab, ghost shrimp, and learned the
hallmarks of the local mollusk species.
Trainees
explored the mudflats...
In subsequent classes, Becky returned to outline the nexus
of government agencies and private organizations that work
together to manage and preserve the slough; Jim Covel of the
Monterey Aquarium led a class in “interpretation,”
which is the term of art for “an approach to communicating
which stresses the transfer of ideas and relationships rather
than isolated facts and figures.”
...and
found treasures like this amazing moon snail!
ESF
Land Manager Kim Hayes gave a lecture and slide show on plant
communities, and we learned, or began to learn, dozens of
endemic species. The following weekend we were given a tour
of slough plants by Reserve Stewardship Coordinator Andrea
Woolfolk, where we learned some ID tricks (“rushes are
round, sedges have edges”).
For the next class we were again joined by Kerstin, who gave
a fascinating overview of the ecology of the slough, including
the various environments – saltwater, freshwater, estuarine,
coastal, benthic (bottom, i.e. mud) – as well as the
related communities of organisms and their survival strategies.
Then ESF Director Mark Silberstein led a field trip called
“The Circumnavigation of the Slough.” We drove to
various locations in the watershed, where Mark held forth
on the local lore and history. If you know Mark, you know
what a font of slough knowledge he is. This was a special
treat!
Speaking of treats, I should mention that between the DFG
and the volunteer trainees, we were never short of goodies
before, during, and after the classroom sessions. I never
cooked a dinner for nine Wednesdays in a row.
Back to class: Cabrillo College Professor David Schwarz presented
the fascinating geological history of the Monterey Bay area.
Martha Nitzberg of Natural Bridges State Park deepened our
understanding of interpretation. Mark Silberstein returned
to survey the history of the slough. Master birder Clay Kempf
explained the fine points of birding, and Todd Newberry then
led a birding fieldtrip that was an education in itself, not
just for the birding lore he taught us, but also for the insights
he brought along, including a great Proust quote: “The
true voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes,
but in seeing with new eyes.” For the final class, Christine
Amarillas gave a lecture and slideshow on the fish and shark
species of the region.
I came away from the training with 13 pages of my own notes,
a fat binder of readings that had been distributed during
the classes, a much deeper understanding of the slough, and
a new set of like-minded friends. Talk about a win-win situation!
Table of Contents
Restore:
To
bring back into existence or use, to return to a previous
condition. Restoring land in the Elkhorn Slough watershed
means planting native vegetation, opening up streams and
ponds filled with eroded soil, and returning the land to
its natural ecological complexity as a habitat for animals
and plants.
Native
bunch grass:
Generally, the perennial grasses which have grown here for
tens of thousands of years. Native grass grows in clumps
or bunches, providing a rich habitat for animals and wildflowers.
Imported European grasses are more evenly spread, choking
out native wildflowers and providing a less hospitable habitat
for small animals. Elkhorn Slough’s best stand of native
bunch grasses is on the Porter Preserve. ESF has extensively
planted native bunch grass at Azevedo and Blohm Ranches.
Restored
habitats with native bunch grasses are
ideal habitats for raptors like this Red-tailed Hawk.
Raptor:
A bird of prey, characterized by a hooked bill and strong
talons. Raptor species that have been sighted in the Elkhorn
Slough watershed include Osprey, White-tailed Kite, Northern
Harrier (or Marsh Hawk), Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel, Merlin, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged
Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Sharp-shinned
Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, and Golden Eagle.
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ESF’s
land staff, Kim Hayes and Ken Collins, are responsible for
taking care of 2500 acres of land. Building sediment basins,
restoration work, weed control, putting up gates, meeting
with farmers who lease our land – their to-do list
is a long one and it includes deciding every day how our
one truck will be used. ESF purchased the 1983 Chevy at
auction from the North Monterey County Fire Department in
1999. It has been a rugged, hardworking truck, earning the
spunky nickname “Red Pony” from our Assistant
Land Manger Ken Collins (aka “the Land Dude”)
– who is pretty spunky and hardworking himself.
Land
Dude and Red Pony, which celebrates
its 20th anniversary this year.
We’re
not planning to put Red Pony out to pasture until she’s
ready, but we do need another truck. If you have a four-wheel
drive truck with plenty of hard work left in it, and you
would like to donate it, please give the Elkhorn Slough Foundation a call (831-728-5939). We could also put an SUV
to good use. If you don’t have a truck or SUV to donate
and just want to help us buy one, please make a contribution
today.
Table of Contents
Everett
Sale moved to Elkhorn Slough in 1927 when he was 18. He
lived here the rest of his life, farming in the area and
raising his sons Larry and Frank. He died in 1992 at 83.
This winter, Larry and Frank Sale donated five acres along
Carneros Creek (map) to the Elkhorn
Slough Foundation in his memory.
“Farming was in his blood,” says his son Frank.
“His father owned 40 head of mules in Kansas, and
he grew up walking behind them.” Later in life, Frank
says, his father was proud of an Army Caterpillar tractor
he bought at auction after World War II. “They brought
three of them into Watsonville on the train in 1947 or
1948, and he got one to plow his fields with. He always
bragged about it.”
Everett
Sale.
Everett
Sale grew tomatoes, alfalfa, corn, and other crops. Young
Frank remembers going with his brother Larry to chase
the raccoons out of the corn fields. He also remembers
seeing salmon swimming in creek channels. “Dad brought
one home one night on a pitchfork.”
Frank and Larry went to the elementary school on Hall
Road and lived on Elkhorn Road. Everett worked at various
times at the Elkhorn Dairy — now the Elkhorn Slough
Reserve. He also worked on Tony Azevedo’s ranch on
Elkhorn Road (story).
The property donated in his memory is along Carneros Creek
between Las Lomas and El Chamisal Ranch, which ESF protected
last year. This is a productive wetland area in the creek
floodplain.
The
Sale family donated lands along upper Carneros Creek.
ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein says the Foundation
will restore the area, which flows into Porter Marsh,
to wetland habitat. “We will honor this generous
gift in memory of Everett Sale,” Silberstein says.
“It will be a lasting legacy to a man who lived and
worked here and who loved this corner of the world."!
Louise Sandholdt Rubis
It
is with sadness that we note the passing of Louise
Sandholdt Rubis. Louise was one of the guiding spirits
of Moss Landing during her long tenure there. Her
family owned much of the land along the lower slough
channel in Moss Landing. Sandholdt Road bears the
family name. Louise was very community-minded and
regularly hosted community gatherings at her lovely
home.
Louise and her family launched ESF on its conservation
path with the first gift of land to the Foundation.
In 1986, the Sandholdts deeded 15 acres of land along
Moro Cojo Slough to the newly formed Foundation. This
was followed in 1992 by another gift of 15 acres of
prime land in Moss Landing. Louise and her family’s
confidence in this fledgling organization became a
motivating force for transforming the Elkhorn Slough
Foundation into a land trust. We are pleased to sustain
her legacy.
A
Lasting Legacy
A
legacy of protected lands and water – could there
be a more lasting way to make a difference? By including
the Elkhorn Slough Foundation in your will or estate
plan, you are helping to leave a legacy for future
generations.
For more information about estate planning, please
contact The Elkhorn Slough Foundation at 831-728-5939.
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Table of Contents
The
locations of recent restoration projects (story)
are shown with green dots; the Sale property (story)
is above El Chamisal at center; the middle pond at Azevedo
(story) is at lower left. Click
here
for a larger view of this map in a new window. Click here
to see all the lands now protected by ESF.
Table of Contents
From
its beginning 21 years ago, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation
has been all about partnerships, starting with the then-new
Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Read through this newsletter and you’ll
see that we are working every day with a wide array of partners
to protect Elkhorn Slough. The National Resource Conservation
Service, the Agricultural Land Based Training Association
(ALBA), the Monterey County Agricultural and Historical Land
Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, Moss Landing Marine Lab…the
list is long and the partnerships are vital.
One of our most powerful partnerships is with our volunteers.
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the creation of the
Reserve’s Docent Training Program (story).
The Reserve docents have introduced hundreds of thousands
of people to Elkhorn Slough. Many of them also have joined
in volunteering to do restoration work both at the Reserve
and on Foundation lands.
A permanent partnership is formed when land is given to the
Elkhorn Slough Foundation for perpetual protection. The Sale
Family’s donation of land in memory of their father is
a lasting legacy.
You too can join this thriving partnership. If you are not
a member, please join us. If you are a member, we hope you’ll
consider making an additional gift to support our Stewardship
Fund. As a member, we also hope you will help recruit others
to join this partnership. You can pass along the envelope
in this newsletter to a friend — or send us a name of
someone who you think might be interested in our work.
As we continue to protect more land, we are also facing rising
costs of caring for and restoring the land. No matter how
many partners we have, we will need more in the years ahead.
Table
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Tidal
Exchange is written and edited by ESF and ESNERR staff.
To receive a copy or send one to a friend, email
us.
Board
of Directors
Frank Capurro
Diane Cooley
Dick Hammond
Candace Ingram
Paul Irwin
Sue Lewis
Dick Nutter
Anne Olsen
Jerry Patrick
Wil Smith
Jack Taylor
Jim Van Houten
John Warriner
Board
of Advisors
Alan Baldridge
Mark Blum
Nancy Burnett
Louis Calcagno
Robert Davidson
Lisa Dobbins
William Doolittle
Mike Foster
Nancy Giberson
Sally Sousa
Robert Stephens
Mark Verbonich
Lydia Villarreal
Mary Yoklavich
ESF
Staff
Mark Silberstein, Executive Director
Kris Beall, Administrative Director
Stephen Slade, Director of Communications and Development
Kim Hayes, Land Manager
Ken Collins, Assistant Land Steward
Kevin Contreras, Land Acquisition Coordinator
Greg Hofmann, Webmaster/Development Associate
Susan Burgess, Bookstore Manager
Kelly Palacios, Administration
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