ESF Tidal Exchange, Fall 2020

Tidal Exchange newsletter of the elkhorn slough foundation

fall 2020

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands As John Muir famously wrote in My First Summer in the Sierra: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”

As we reach out to our neighbors in these trying times, we have seen the interdependence between the health of the land and waters of Elkhorn Slough and our larger community — profound connections linking families, education, farming, and conservation.

For so many people in our community and around the world, 2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges. The pandemic continues to threaten public health and disrupt the rhythms of our lives, separating us (Continued on page 4) (cover) Fresh organic produce from the farms of Jesus Calvillo and Javier Zamora; (above) Pajaro Valley Middle School Nutritionist Sandra Sanchez distributes produce to students’ families.

Elkhorn Slough Foundation board of directors Anne Olsen President

Robert Hartmann Vice President

C. Michael Pinto Treasurer

Bruce Welden Secretary

Judith Connor Past President

Gary Bloom Ed Boutonnet Terry Eckhardt Sandy Hale Emmett Linder Kent Marshall Hon. Susan Matcham Murry Schekman Laura Solorio, MD Tara Trautsch 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 www.elkhornslough.org Tidal Exchange Scott Nichols, Editor printed on recycled paper © 2020 Elkhorn Slough Foundation

enhancing your visit to the slough

Welcome Developments When the pandemic compelled the closure of many public lands, including those of the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, our colleagues at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began long-awaited improvements to Reserve facilities for the enjoyment and safety of visitors, as well as for the health of the surrounding habitat.

When you return, the first change you’ll see is the new approach and parking area. The new design allows schoolchildren and groups to safely board and disembark from their buses at a loading zone near the Visitor Center, without needing to cross traffic in the parking lot. In addition to improving safety, the design frees space by parking empty buses in a designated lot away from more convenient spots.

The new parking areas feature permeable materials that collect and naturally filter rainwater for our beautiful native landscaping, as well as for the plants and wildlife in the Visitor Center pond.

Among other changes you may notice are new staging areas and pathways — adorned with imprints of native plants and paw prints — a covered outdoor learning area, and a new outdoor amphitheater, for hosting programs and events for students and visitors. While the Reserve was closed, aging roofing was replaced and other features of the Reserve’s existing buildings improved. Still more enhancements are in the works, including a multimedia kiosk that will share the history of the Elkhorn Slough and its surrounding lands. Our hats are off to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for the transformative work at the Reserve.

So much has changed in the past few months, and we all appreciate your patience and support as we work together to enhance your experience at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. We look forward to welcoming you back soon! n

tidal marsh restoration continues

Building Resilience at Hester Marsh Elkhorn Slough features the most extensive salt marshes in California south of San Francisco Bay and has been recognized as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention, our planet’s oldest environmental treaty. Yet at least half of our salt marshes had already been lost by the 1930s, largely due to diking and draining to create land for farming and grazing. Once drained, the soil compacted and the former wetlands subsided to elevations too low to support marsh vegetation.

Without restoration, these wetlands are projected to drown within 50 years due to sea level rise.

The current project at ESNERR’s Hester Marsh is reviving one of these lost marshes. Soil addition is raising the elevation to a level that allows salt marsh plants to return so that, hopefully, the marsh plain can keep pace with sea level rise.

Building on the success of the first phase of restoration at Hester Marsh, the Elkhorn Slough Reserve Tidal Wetlands Program has begun moving earth for Phase II, which will raise an additional 58 acres to an elevation that allows marsh plants to return and keep pace with projected sea level rise. When the

Reserve Manager Dave Feliz scans Hester Marsh while Tidal Wetlands Program Director Monique Fountain outlines the second phase of marsh restoration.

Hester Marsh restoration project is complete, we will have restored 119 acres of tidal marsh habitat.

In addition to providing rare and invaluable habitat for countless species — and acting as a nursery for birds, fish, and marine mammals, including threatened Southern sea otters — studies show that tidal salt marshes can effectively capture and store carbon indefinitely. With protection from sea level rise, Hester Marsh will continue to absorb carbon dioxide, provide habitat, and sustain the shores of our estuary for years to come. n

New Hope for Olympia Oysters The only oyster species native to Elkhorn Slough and the entire West Coast of North America, the Olympia oyster filters the estuary’s waters and provides habitat and food for many other species. Yet largely due to human activity in the past 150 years, native oyster populations have been in steep decline. Elkhorn Slough Reserve is committed to restoring Olympia oysters and their habitat.

In a recently published paper in the journal Biological Conservation, the Reserve research team shares promising results from a collaboration with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories to restore Olympia oysters in Elkhorn Slough with the aid of aquaculture —the first effort of its kind in California.

“This was a small-scale proof-of-concept project but it doubled our population of Olympia oysters,” says Reserve Research Coordinator Kerstin Wasson. “We provided a new generation of young oysters and now hope we can scale up dramatically to restore the estuary’s population to a sustainable size.” n tidal exchange

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Photo by Paul Zaretsky

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands

Elkhorn Slough Foundation is excited to be part of this year’s Monterey County Gives! campaign — hosted by the Monterey County Weekly, Community Foundation for Monterey County, and Monterey Peninsula Foundation — to support critically important land stewardship caring for more than 4,000 acres under our protection.

From November 12 through the end of the year, when you give through Monterey County Gives, your gift will help us meet a generous challenge and be boosted with a percentage match.

When you and your friends support us with a contribution through Monterey County Gives, you’re taking local action to address global challenges, by helping to protect and restore sensitive habitat that supports bountiful local biodiversity.

Elkhorn Slough has earned multiple acknowledgments for its conservation importance. It’s up to our community to protect and restore these vital and rare habitats, and conserve the biodiversity of our region.

So, whether you’re a new member or just want to leverage your year-end gift, visit

www.montereycountygives.com/elkhorn to learn how you can support ESF’s important land restoration and stewardship work in the Elkhorn Slough watershed. n 4

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(Continued from cover)

from friends and colleagues, and drastically altered our daily routines. Wildfires raged on the Central Coast and across the West, displacing friends and loved ones, and darkening the skies. Compounding these challenges for many families, food insecurity — an unavailability of affordable, quality food — looms as another cloud on an already dark horizon.

Yet amid these hardships, we see bright rays of hope, Connie Norris, Food Service Supervisor at Hall generosity, and District Elementary School flanked by farmers Jesus solidarity. Each week, Calvillo (left) and Javier Zamora (right) our partners in the Healthy Lands, Helping Hands initiative — a collaboration between the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, local farmers, and area school districts — team up to combat food insecurity by distributing boxes of fresh, organic produce to children and families in need, as well as recipes for

preparing nutritious meals. To date, the partnership has delivered over 20 tons of produce, amounting to meals for approximately 500 families through the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the North Monterey County Unified School District each week.

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands has not only benefited the families receiving boxes of produce, the program supports each of our partners in the initiative. Farmers like Javier Zamora and Jesus Calvillo, who cultivate organic farmland protected by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, have added a market for their produce in a time of flux, and have leapt at the opportunity to support the communities where they live and work.

The school districts have been able to expand the number of children and families that they support, which means their students are well-nourished and better able to concentrate on schoolwork, hopefully relieving at least one concern for themselves and their families.

As we help sustain local farms and families, Healthy Lands, Helping Hands enables us to connect even more deeply

with the people we serve. This initiative had its roots in the partnership between the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and Hall District Elementary in Las Lomas, where we mentor The students we mentor at our Carneros Creek the next generation Outdoor Classroom and other outreach programs of stewards and are the future of conservation science. scientists at ESF’s Carneros Creek Outdoor Classroom. We recognize these enthusiastic students as the future of conservation and, while we miss our monthly classes beneath the spreading oak tree, we are heartened to continue developing this important bond with them and their families.

From the ridgeline to the tideline, from farm to table, and from the outdoors to the classroom, we are grateful to be connected with our community. n ESF Board Vice President Bob Hartmann, Board member Dr. Laura Solorio, and Denise Danisch prepare produce boxes to distribute at Pajaro Valley Middle School.

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands Manos Amigas, Tierras Protegidas This fresh, organic produce was locally grown by JSM Organics and Calvillo Farms on lands protected by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. We are pleased to sponsor this distribution of food through the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the North Monterey County Unified School District to support healthy families, farms, and lands.

Este producto fresco y orgánico fue cultivado localmente por JSM Organics y Calvillo Farms en tierras protegidas por Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Nos complacemos en patrocinar esta distribución de alimentos para el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Pajaro Valley y el Distrito Escolar Unificado del Norte del Condado de Monterey con el fin de fomentar la salud de todas nuestras familias, granjas, y tierras.

(far left) Hall District Elementary School staff helper Tiffany Ventura displays a rainbow of fresh produce; (left) organic farming and native habitat at ESF’s Brothers Ranch; (above) a produce label describes the Healthy Lands, Helping Hands partnership.

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Porter Ranch, photo by Kiliii Yuyan

Fighting Wildfires Before They Start With more than 4,000 acres of conserved land under its protection, ESF takes the threat of wildfire seriously. Before and during the fire season, our land stewards mow fire breaks around fence lines and structures. The team also reduces fuel loads by clearing brush and non-native vegetation. Through managed grazing on ESF’s Porter Ranch, cattle naturally reduce excess grasses on a stretch of coastal prairie adjacent to the town of Las Lomas.

We also communicate closely with local fire and emergency service agencies, sharing information and identifying potential risks and resources on ESF lands.

“Drawing on the technical expertise of GIS mapping specialist Charlie Endris, the Foundation has developed an online map to share with North County Fire and other first responders,” says ESF Stewardship Director Dash Dunkell.

“The map features up-to-date locations of key infrastructure (left, clockwise from top) Managed grazing reduces excess grass at Porter Ranch; from a fire break, ESF Land Acquisition Manager Kevin Contreras looks out over Elkhorn Highlands Reserve, where eucalyptus threaten maritime chaparral and seasonal wetlands; Elkhorn Slough Reserve has removed more than 300 eucalyptus to restore native habitat.

Taking Out the Trash Our land team often says that the lands we acquire range from “the best of the best to the worst of the worst” — some are in relatively pristine condition, while others take significant work to restore to health. ESF’s newly protected Banez property — nestled between El Chamisal and Blohm Ranch, overlooking Porter Marsh — fell toward the latter end of the spectrum.

With the help of several stalwart volunteers, ESF land steward Ken Collins and conservation specialist Connor O’Hara-Baker removed more than 75 tons of trash from the property. We accomplished the cleanup with our tractor, an excavator, plenty of hard work — and the generous support of members like you.

Now that the trash has been taken out of the property, we can attend to healing native habitat by removing invasive plants and clearing old barbed wire fences to allow wildlife to move safely between our conservation lands. n 6

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like roads, gates, wells, and buildings, as well as locations of potential elevated fire danger, like stands of eucalyptus.”

Eucalyptus pose especially high fire risk — the non-native trees are highly flammable, containing volatile oils that can burn in explosive flares, spreading wildfire at ground level as well as through the canopy. Eucalyptus generate substantial leaf litter and are exceptionally thirsty, siphoning off groundwater and competing with native plants for moisture.

Unchecked, the high fuel loads and dry conditions created by eucalyptus pose a problem in themselves. And as eucalyptus drain water from surrounding habitat, they also threaten seasonal pools that provide critical habitat for endangered amphibians — a key reason the Reserve has already removed 300 eucalyptus trees, and the Foundation is working to remove invasive eucalyptus and restore sensitive wetlands on properties like ESF’s 167-acre Elkhorn Highlands Reserve. n

(l to r) Denise Danisch, ESF Vice President Bob Hartmann, Executive Director Mark Silberstein, and Board member Dr. Laura Solorio distribute produce at Pajaro Valley Middle School.

slough view

Acting Locally

Mark Silberstein, ESF Executive Director

As an antidote to the challenges that have characterized 2020, I want to share with you some developments that serve as my wellspring of hope — the conservation work you make possible, inspired by the values we share.

In the past year, ESF has conserved three new properties with the support of our members, ranging from the ridgeline to the tideline. On one of the properties, our stewardship team wasted no time removing seventy-five tons of abandoned trash accumulated over decades, and native habitat restoration is now underway.

I am also excited to share that the second phase of the Tidal Wetland Program’s Hester Marsh restoration project has begun. When completed, the effort will have restored 119 acres of sunken wetlands — formerly diked and drained for farmland and grazing — to self-sustaining salt marsh, invaluable habitat for countless species and an especially effective carbon sink.

In this issue, you read about our Healthy Lands, Helping Hands initiative. I never imagined that our environmental education partnership would find us working with local schools and farmers to provide our neighbors with more than 20 tons of food, but we are gratified by the opportunity to help. We developed these relationships and programs with your investment and support — without you, this initiative would not have happened.

These are challenging times, yet your investment in local conservation has a global impact. While the obstacles we face may not be resolved quickly, collectively we are rising to the occasion — I know, because I see it every day. n tidal exchange

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Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Salinas, CA Permit #14

Elkhorn Slough Foundation P.O. Box 267 Moss Landing, CA 95039

Don’t Miss Out!

Elkhorn Slough Reserve trails will re-open to the

The Summer 2020 issue of Tidal Exchange was published exclusively online. We plan to share future issues online as well as in print, so make sure to visit our website to keep tabs on what’s new at the Elkhorn Slough!

Check out these events happening LIVE on the Reserve’s Facebook page (facebook.com/elkhornsloughreserve):

Saturday, November 7, 1pm ❧ Weaving Yesterdays Dive into local history as Reserve naturalists share vignettes of the Slough's past. @elkhornsloughreserve

Thursday, December 10, 5:30 pm ❧ Woven through Time: Cultural and Ecological History of Elkhorn Slough Explore the

Tidal Exchange newsletter of the elkhorn slough foundation

pubilc beginning November 4, from Wednesday through Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm. We hope you’ll join us for a visit. For more information, visit elkhornslough.org/reserve-reopening-details

summer 2020

Elkhorn Slough’s rich history with Reserve Stewardship Coordinator Andrea Woolfolk, and celebrate with us at a virtual ribbon cutting for a new exhibit! @elkhornsloughreserve

Sunday, December 13, 8:30 am & 4pm ❧ The Ups & Downs of King Tides Witness the highest and lowest tides of the year virtually in a special ONWARD & UPWARD

two‑part live presentation! @elkhornsloughreserve

NEW FOUNDATIONS FOR A HISTORIC STRUCTURE

(cover) The Porter Ranch house gets a boost for repairs; (above) situated on the upper Elkhorn Slough not far from ESF’s Outdoor Classroom, Porter Ranch has been a working ranch since the 1800s

Whenever the Elkhorn Slough Foundation has opened its historic Porter Ranch house to the community — as a venue for Arts Habitat open studios, a quick stop before an ESF wildflower walk, or a staging area for a plein air sketching workshop — enthusiastic visitors invariably exclaim, “I had no idea this place was even here!”

In the coming years we hope that will change.

Lately, though, things have been a bit up in the air Earlier this spring, ESF’s Porter Ranch house got a long-awaited boost. Expert contractors raised the 150 year-old building from its foundation and lifted it 7 feet above the ground. Through the years, the foundations of this historic building have been shifting, sinking, and deteriorating. Only by lifting the whole building could we build a new foundation for this historic structure.

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