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of Contents
ESF
acquires Hambey Ranch
ESF celebrates 21
years
New in the slough
Partner profile: Coastal
Conservancy
Stewardship report
New book on Elkhorn Slough
Slough Speak
Thank you!
Map: Recently protected lands
Some
of the 30,000 oaks on Hambey Ranch.
A
big piece of land in a small watershed
One
of the satisfying things about working to protect Elkhorn Slough
is that its scale makes it knowable. The entire watershed, all
the land draining into the slough, is 45,000 acres – about
one hundredth the size of the San Francisco Bay watershed, which
drains the entire Central Valley. The Elkhorn Slough Watershed
Conservation Plan, which guides our work, focuses on the western
half of the watershed (22,500 acres) and gives “highest
priority” to protecting 2000 more acres over the next few
years.
This is why the acquisition in May of the 540-acre Hambey Ranch
is so exciting. It’s a big piece of land in a small watershed
– and a big step toward our goal of protecting those 2000
“high priority” acres by 2005.
How big is 540 acres? About a mile and a half long and three-fourths
of a mile across. Big enough to cross three drainages. Big enough
for 27 houses under its rural density zoning (20 acres per unit).
Big enough for about 30,000 oak trees spread out over its 240
acres of oak woodland. Big, by Elkhorn Slough standards.
In fact, the Hambey property is the largest undeveloped single
ownership tract of land in the Elkhorn Highlands – and
now it is protected.
As important as its size is its location. Much of the oak woodlands
adjoin the 425 pristine acres of Long Valley, which we protected
five years ago. Taken together, the two properties form a thousand-acre
block of undeveloped land, protecting not only 80,000 oak trees,
but providing the roaming space needed by bobcats, foxes, and
other wildlife. Our other acquisitions this year also adjoin
previously protected properties, creating a 2700-acre arch of
protected lands stretching from Long Valley along Carneros Creek
and through Porter Marsh to the northern end of the slough.
“Creating these linkages, between
hills, valleys, creeks, and marshes is one of the most important
steps in sustaining a healthy community,” says Executive
Director Mark Silberstein.
Maritime
chaparral and oaks at Hambey –
Long Valley is just over the top ridgeline.
The
ranch also has 68 acres of maritime chaparral, a rare plant
community restricted to the sandy ridges above Elkhorn Slough.
Maritime chaparral once covered extensive areas of the Elkhorn
watershed, but has been reduced to less than 1700 acres. The
Foundation now protects over one quarter of this habitat remaining
in the Elkhorn Highlands, the sandy hills east of the slough.
In addition to unusual plant communities, the ranch also has
45 acres of productive farmland and 135 acres of fallow
ag fields. Most of the fallow fields are on steep sandy
hills that are notorious for easily eroding. The highest rates
of soil erosion west of the Mississippi have been measured in
the Elkhorn Hills. As we have done at the Blohm Ranch, we will
work to stabilize and restore these slopes. And, as on our other
ranches, we will continue farming on the gentler slopes.
The Watershed Conservation Plan identifies soil erosion and
runoff from farming as “the cause of the most serious stress”
to Elkhorn Slough. The Hambey purchase, along with our other
acquisitions this year, are major steps towards reducing that
stress. Another benefit of our work will be increases in the
amount of rainfall that is captured on the land and then returned
to the area’s depleted aquifers. As the amount of land
we protect continues to grow, so does the importance of our
contribution to solving North Monterey County’s groundwater
overdraft problem.
Funding for the $3.14 million purchase of the Hambey Ranch came
from the California State Coastal Conservancy and the David
& Lucile Packard Foundation. Funding for the hard work of
restoring the landscape comes from community donors and foundations
and hundreds of volunteers working to replant damaged hillsides.
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On
a clear day, you can see
protected lands forever
More
than 100 members of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation celebrated
its 21st anniversary on the first day of summer in the garden
of the historic Porter Ranch. It was a fitting location. The
Porter family lived here for six generations, pioneered land
protection in Elkhorn Slough in 1976, and willed the 335 acre
ranch to the Foundation in 2001.
From Porter Ranch you can see the marsh at the north end of
the slough and the ridge that runs along the west side of Carneros
Creek. More than two-thirds of the slough’s fresh water
comes from that creek and runs through that marsh. The Foundation
now owns or manages more than 1000 acres along two miles of
that ridge – forever protecting the water that is the lifeblood
of the slough.
More than half of ESF’s ridge lands were acquired during
the past year. A year ago the Foundation announced an ambitious
plan to double the amount of land it protects from 2000 to 4000
acres by 2005. ESF Board President Jerry Patrick told the membership
that ESF has acquired more than 1100 acres since their last
meeting – bringing us half way to our goal in less than
a year. Executive Director Mark Silberstein announced the largest
land acquisition in ESF history – the 540-acre Hambey Ranch.
(See story, above.)
ESF members at the Annual Celebration in the Porter
Ranch garden, as seen from the water tower.
The
roots of that history are in science and education – and
each year the Foundation and the Reserve present awards to teachers
and researchers working at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine
Research Reserve. This year the Research Award was given to
UCSC Researcher Katherine Fenn, who recently conducted a study
documenting changes in the tide flats of Elkhorn Slough since
the 1970s. The 2003 Education Award was shared by two local
teachers: Anna Seliskar of Soquel Elementary School and Helene
Tick of Brook Knoll Elementary in Scotts Valley.
This year’s event was officially billed as a “celebration,”
not a meeting, in recognition of the membership’s overwhelming
vote this spring to change the Foundation’s bylaws. Under
the old bylaws, the members voted for a Board of Directors each
year. Under the new bylaws, the Board now determines its membership.
Former Board President Candy Ingram thanked the membership for
“moving us into compliance with the standard practices
of land trusts” and encouraged them to continue their contact
with the Foundation. “If you have a complaint,” she
said, “let us know. If you have ideas, pass them on. And,
if you think we’re on the right track, you can tell us
that, too.”
Judging from the mood of those in the Porter garden, we seem
to be on the right track. After the food and speeches, members
divided up, some walking down to the marsh, others going on
a tour of the Brothers Ranch, but most lingered in the garden.
No matter where our members went that afternoon – garden,
marsh, ranch – they were surrounded by a landscape that
has been protected by their own efforts. Thanks to the generosity
of all our partners and members, this landscape will not become
just a memory, but will live on for generation after generation
– vibrant, diverse, and healthy.
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New
in the slough
One
of the best ways to keep up with the latest developments
in the Elkhorn Slough watershed is, of course, to visit
our website. A new feature, the Photographer’s
Day Book, showcases photographs of the natural history
and daily life in Elkhorn Slough – the two photos
below are both from the Day Book.
The
first shows a tiny Bushtit chick being nursed back to
health by Reserve staffer Tricia Wilson, an expert in
wildlife rescue.
The second photo shows the hands of docent Shirley Murphy
holding a mirror up to nature and revealing a new clutch
of Chestnut-backed Chickadee eggs.
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When
the California
Coastal Conservancy put up more than $2 million to purchase
the Hambey Ranch, it was just the most recent in a long list
of contributions they’ve made to conservation in Elkhorn
Slough. This vital support for land acquisition is, in many
ways, a logical result of their equally vital support, over
17 years, for the development of a series of management and
conservation plans that guide our work and cement our partnerships
with others. In 1989, the Coastal Conservancy funded development
of the Elkhorn Slough Wetlands Management Plan. This document
became an element in the Local Coastal Plan for Monterey County
and has guided efforts here for more than a decade. In 1995
the Moro Cojo Slough Wetlands Management and Enhancement Plan
was completed. Most recently, in 1999, the Coastal Conservancy,
the Nature Conservancy, and the Elkhorn Slough Foundation
completed the Elkhorn
Slough Watershed Conservation Plan – the roadmap
for all our work.
The
Coastal Conservancy played a galvanizing role in developing
these plans – and then they played a lead role in funding
key land acquisitions and easements in the slough. The Conservancy
insured the protection and collaborative management of the
Blohm and Azevedo Ranches, provided guidance and matching
funds for conservation easements on Triple-M Ranch, Chamisal
Ranch, Brothers Ranch, and, most recently, Hambey Ranch. They
also supported construction of the only wheelchair-accessible
trail along the Elkhorn Slough shore at Kirby Park.
We are fortunate to have such a strong and valued partner
in the work of conserving and restoring Elkhorn Slough and
its watershed. They share, and helped shape, our vision of
a healthy watershed with economically viable agriculture that
is environmentally compatible. And what is so impressive is
that we are only one of the more than 100 local land trusts
that the Coastal Conservancy works with. The Coastal Conservancy
is a unique state agency with the mission of protecting, restoring,
and providing access to the California Coast through non-regulatory
means. They focus on building partnerships with local communities
to promote their work. Since its establishment in 1976, the
Coastal Conservancy and its local partners have protected
100,000 acres of coastal California, including several thousand
acres of key slough lands.
We are proud to be partners in this endeavor, and we salute
the dedicated men and women of the Coastal Conservancy and
thank them for their efforts on behalf of the coast and the
citizens of California.
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"The
land wants to heal."
Each
month, Land Manager Kim
Hayes writes a report for the Board Land Committee.
Her report is a shorthand list of the details involved
in caring for the rapidly expanding landscape under
ESF’s management. Her headings give some idea
of the scope of the work: erosion control, habitat
restoration, weed abatement, property management.
In the fall and winter, most of the work focused on
erosion control and habitat restoration. Every farmer
or gardener can tell you what the focus was this spring.
As Kim’s land report in April put it, “Weeds,
weeds, weeds!”
Weeds are mowed, weed-whacked, grazed, treated with
herbicides, or pulled up by hand. During the past
three months this work has been done on every property
we manage, with priority going to areas where restoration
work will begin in the fall. If you don’t get
and keep the weeds under control, restoration is doomed.
The
endangered Monterey Spine Flower
finds habitat on Hambey Ranch.
Our
staff, workers from the California Conservation Corp,
and a growing group of volunteers put in long hours
on the weed detail the past few months. They removed
veldt grass at the Brothers Ranch. (Veldt grass is
an invasive species that has
the local weed abatement people worried.) At Elzas,
the California Conservation Corps workers pulled jubata
(pampas grass) by hand. There was so much of it at
El Chamisal that we spent $15,000 to have it removed
from areas adjacent to maritime chaparral.
The spread of pampas grass is a serious threat to
maritime chaparral habitat, especially in areas with
lots of disturbance, as on El Chamisal and Hambey
Ranch. Pampas grass will establish itself in even
small animal trails and then begin its drive for dominance
over native species.
ESF
Acquisitions Manager Kevin Contreras
talks to a motorcyclist on Hambey Ranch.
Property
management is Kim’s term for a vast body of work
that comes with acquiring and managing property. Removing
trash, fixing fences, putting up gates and signs –
these are all part of cleaning up the land and working
to keep it clean. On Brothers Ranch, our Assistant
Land Steward Ken Collins spent two days with eight
workers just clearing a nine-acre field of years of
drip irrigation tape. Restoration on that field will
begin in the fall.
During the past few months we’ve installed a
growing number of signs and gates on our newly acquired
lands as part of our efforts to reduce trash dumping,
motorbike riding, and other destructive activities.
Within a month after acquiring the Hambey Ranch, we
had put up two new gates, more than 30 “no trespassing”
signs, and over 100 feet of fences – all at strategic
locations where there was evidence of heavy use. Our
simple presence on the land has reduced some uses,
like motorbike riding, that are particularly destructive
to the fragile sandy hills.
As we’re out doing all this work, our staff is
also talking to neighbors and “visitors”
who walk, ride horses and motorbikes, and drive up
with truck-loads of trash. We explain what we’re
doing and why there are new gates and signs, and we
hope that slowly we can restore not only the vegetation
on the land, but people’s respect for the land.
Signs
like this one at the Long Valley gate
are one way we are protecting the land.
All
this work is just beginning on the thousand acres
we’ve acquired this year, but it has been going
on for four years in Long Valley. We removed hundreds
of acacia trees, built gates and fences, talked to
neighbors, and rehabilitated bike-scarred hillsides.
Assistant Land Steward Ken Collins has spent more
time in Long Valley over these years than anyone else,
and he’s proud of what he sees. “Long Valley
looks better than it has in fifty years. The trails
are sealing up. The land wants to heal. That’s
the rewarding part of the job.”
Another rewarding part of working the land is simply
being there and seeing things. Rare plants like the
Monterey Spine Flower on the Hambey property or the
endangered red legged frog on the Blohm Ranch. You
see or hear coyote, owls, deer, turkeys – the
land-based counterparts of the egrets, herons, and
white pelicans we see in the waters of Elkhorn Slough.
Six times in the last year Ken has seen elusive bobcats
on four different ranches. Each sighting is rewarding
– and it’s why we’re pulling the weeds
and putting up gates.
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New
book on Elkhorn Slough
Everything
you always wanted to know about Elkhorn Slough
is included in the just published Changes
in a California Estuary, which summarizes
80 years of scientific research. Topics include
geology, climate, hydrography, soils, human
prehistory, invertebrates, fishes, birds,
mammals, chemical cycling, land use, contaminants,
and management issues. The book is for sale
in the Visitor Center Book Store and online.
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Fallow
ag: Farm
land not currently in cultivation. ESF has acquired 271
acres of fallow agricultural land this year, almost all
of it on steep slopes not suitable for sustainable, environmentally
sensitive farming. These lands could also be called “restorable
hillsides,” because that is what we will do with them.
Linkage:
Interconnected elements. ESF uses the term to refer to the
stitching together of parcels of land to create large blocks
that will help sustain a greater diversity of species. Some
animals, like bobcats, need room to roam, which can be provided
by linked lands.
Bobcats,
like this one in Long Valley, benefit from
a healthy environment of linked lands, including restored
hillsides
(often fallow ag lands) free of invasive species. Bobcat
photo
by Ken Collins.
Invasive
species : A species of plant or animal not native to
an area that crowds out native species. Only 10% of non-native
species are considered invasive. In the Elkhorn Slough watershed,
pampas grass (jubata) is particularly threatening to the
maritime chaparral plant community.
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It
is impossible to thank everyone who makes our work possible,
and impossible even to thank one person enough. Everyone
who contributes to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation is part
of the web of support for our work, just as every part of
an eco-system plays a role in its functioning. That said,
we’d like to acknowledge some of our major financial
partners who play critical roles in different components
of our work.
Our acquisition this year of 1100 acres was possible only
because of the support of the California Coastal Conservancy
and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Other key contributors
to our Acquisitions Fund are the California Water Resources
Control Board (which directed mitigation funds from the
Moss Landing Power Plant to ESF), the Wildlife Conservation
Board, CalTrans, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
NOAA also provided funding for our recently published book,
Changes in a California Estuary, as did the Patricia Price
Peterson Foundation.
ESF
members on a guided walk at Brothers Ranch in April.
We
received a grant in May from the Bella Vista Foundation
to support restoration work on our lands. We also received
in May a bequest from the estate of Elsie Triebig in honor
of the Triebig and Washburn families.
As it has for many years, PG&E helped fund the free
Mother’s Day activities at the Reserve this year.
We also initiated this year a Stewardship Circle for those
contributing $1000 or more annually to support our ongoing
stewardship work. We are grateful for the support of 51
members of the Stewardship Circle.
We cannot thank these generous supporters enough –
nor can we thank the hundreds of members who have generously
supported ESF this year. In one year we’ve increased
the amount of land we protect from 2000 to more than 3000
acres – a 50% increase. Our members have stepped up
their support as well – with membership donations up
57% so far this year. As we acquire more land and more responsibility,
we rely more than ever on the generosity of those who are
not strangers, but true.
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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The
Elkhorn Slough Foundation has acquired more than 1100
acres of land during the last year, highlighted in yellow
crosshatching. Click here
for a larger view of this map in a new window.
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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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