Impact Report
SLOUGH FOUNDATION
Bobcat by Rikk Kvitek
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
board of directors
Hon. Susan Matcham
President
Tara Trautch
Vice President
David Warner
Treasurer
Becky Suarez
Secretary
Gary Bloom
Judith Connor
Terry Eckhardt
Emmett Linder
Mi Ra Park
Anne Secker
Laura Solorio, MD
Bruce Welden
Mark Silberstein
Executive Director
The mission of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation is to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed.
We see Elkhorn Slough and its watershed protected forever— a working landscape where people, farming, industry, and nature thrive together. As one of California’s last great coastal wetlands, Elkhorn Slough will remain a wellspring of life and a source of inspiration for generations to come.
PO Box 267, Moss Landing California 95039
tel: (831) 728-5939
fax: (831) 728-7031 elkhornslough.org
Tidal Exchange
Ross Robertson, Editor
© 2025 Elkhorn Slough Foundation
UP TO US
2024 was a year of significant growth at Elkhorn Slough. We have much to celebrate, from securing more resources to scale our conservation work to expanding our community engagement efforts and welcoming new staff, volunteers, and two new Board members. As always, we are grateful for the support of our community. You are essential in carrying out this important work, especially as federal investment in conservation appears increasingly uncertain.
Since 2023, Elkhorn Slough Foundation has been in the “quiet phase” of Elkhorn Forever, our first conservation campaign, a brief but intense effort to raise substantial resources quickly. This was the top priority for 2024, and in April 2025, we kicked off the final and most important phase of the campaign, where we invite the community to get us across the finish line. I’m humbled to share that, as of this writing, we have raised $9.5M of our $12M goal.
Elkhorn Forever establishes a $9M Rapid Response Fund so that we can move “at the speed of real estate” to secure high conservation-value properties as soon as they become available. The campaign also establishes a $3M Stewardship Fund to support habitat restoration efforts on new and existing conservation lands.
If you’re able, please consider supporting Elkhorn Forever in addition to your annual membership gift, which remains vitally important for our ongoing work. While Elkhorn Forever campaign gifts are dedicated to land acquisition and stewardship, our annual fundraising is critical to maintain ongoing operations.
At the risk of inviting the events of 2025 to overshadow the accomplishments of 2024, I would like to close by saying that the Moss Landing battery plant fire and the uncertainties swirling around future federal funding only serve, in my mind, to validate the critical importance of conservation at Elkhorn Slough and the responsibility we collectively bear to care for places like this.
No one is coming to the rescue to do this important work for us. It’s up to us, and we’re grateful that you share this vision and feel the same sense of urgency. I have no doubt that these will be challenging times, just as I have no doubt that we will prevail.
Mark Silberstein
Executive Director
PARTNERS PROTECTING ELKHORN SLOUGH
THANKS TO OUR DONORS
In 2024, we received $1.5 million from 1,887 donors (private gifts, not including public grants). This year, we’ve moved our donor recognitions online. To see the full list of donors who gave $35 or more between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, please visit elkhornslough.org/thankyou.
To everyone who supported Elkhorn Slough Foundation in 2024—thank you for your generosity, and for sharing our vision of protecting Elkhorn Slough and its watershed for generations to come. We could not do this work without you.
As always, we are grateful to the Community Foundation for Monterey County, MC Weekly, and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation for hosting Monterey County Gives. During the final two months of 2024, this partnership raised $14,278,798 for nonprofits across the Monterey Bay Area, including $268,766 for Elkhorn Slough Foundation.
Finally, with our first-ever multimillion dollar conservation campaign in full swing, people have been reaching out to ask whether Elkhorn Forever should take the place of their annual membership gift this year. So we wanted our community to know that both are important, and regular annual membership gifts remain vital to our work. Funds raised by Elkhorn Forever are dedicated to land acquisition and stewardship, whereas our annual fund is essential to ESF’s ongoing operations.
Members kayaking slough waters with ESF’s Dash Dunkell.
CONSERVING LAND
Elkhorn Slough Foundation protects 4,200 acres in the Elkhorn watershed, preserving unique natural areas, restoring degraded properties, and enhancing agricultural sustainability.
Completed largest pond restoration to date on ESF-protected lands
Spread tens of thousands of endangered Yadon’s rein orchid seeds in rare maritime chaparral
Began field trials of biochar soil amendment on ESF-protected organic farmland
Awarded $1.8M in NOAA grant funding for eucalyptus removal
Planted more than 1,000 live oak acorns on degraded former farmland
Began hazardous fuel management to reduce wildfire risk on 44 acres near Las Lomas
Removed 4,800 pounds of trash from the Elkhorn Slough watershed
Purchased a new excavator to enhance ESF and Reserve stewardship work
Photo by Ken Collins
Welcomed more than 200 ESF members to events and volunteer projects around the slough
Expanded family programs from 50 to 137 families
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Elkhorn Slough Foundation continued to expand community engagement efforts in 2024, inviting families living in Las Lomas and neighboring communities on kayaking trips, hikes, and opportunities to explore their own backyard.
Served 150 local elementary school students and 50 CSUMB students through our monthly Outdoor Classroom program
Published Listening Closely in Program Evaluation: Children’s Ecological Narratives of Place in collaboration with Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB)
Collaborated on 11 community events including Monterey Bay Festival of Birds, Semillitas Outdoors, and Latino Conservation Week
ESF’s protected lands are home to freshwater ponds and rare native habitats (left). They are also a place for families to explore and deepen their relationships with nature.
Received CSUMB Service Learning Institute’ s 2024 Marian Penn Partnership Award
Photo by Juan Ramirez
Awarded $4.2M in federal funds for marsh restoration
6,350 hours contributed by 80 volunteers
Completed ADA-accessible overlook with new signs and spotting scope s
Conducted 11 workshops for 525 environmental professionals
Hosted the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band for oyster restoration and other stewardship activities
Co-authored 5 scientific publications, making national headlines with a paper showing that sea otters control invasive crabs
Planted 10,000 marsh plants and 20 million native seeds at Hester Marsh
Hosted 3,500 students and 19,000 visitors
Kalipay Somosot, Nursery Production Specialist at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, conducts a survey for plant species.
Photo by Andrea Woolfolk
“On a recent Sunday morning my husband Bob and I tested out the Reserve’s new all-terrain wheelchair. Because of Bob’s mobility issues, it had been a long time since we hiked the slough together. The sun was shining and the water sparkling. We spotted egrets and a great blue heron. There were cormorants and pelicans, busy insects and butterflies. We reached the Parsons Slough overlook and enjoyed the magnificent view together. By preserving and restoring Elkhorn Slough, and ensuring accessibility, all in our community can enjoy this magnificent ecosystem.”
Susan Matcham President, ESF Board of Directors
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Post Office Box 267
Moss Landing, CA 95039-9988
ELKHORN FOREVER
One of California’s last great coastal wetlands, Elkhorn Slough is still under threat. Learn more about how you can preserve and restore Elkhorn Slough for generations to come.
A special wish left by school children at the Carneros Creek Outdoor Classroom.
Photo by Nicole Bonello