Tidal Exchange newsletter of the elkhorn slough foundation
fall 2021
"Back to Sustainability" Dash Dunkell, ESF Stewardship Director
Sometimes habitat restoration projects don't look like much in person – an area of weed removal, installation of baby plants in the ground, drip irrigation tubing. Other times they may be very impressive, changing an entire landscape and benefiting hundreds of species. This is the case at ESF's Elkhorn Highlands Reserve where, after much careful planning, several false starts, and plenty of hard work, the vast majority of the non-native blue gum eucalyptus trees have been removed as part of a broader, ambitious habitat restoration project that will span over a decade. Where once a nearly solid wall of 5.5 acres of eucalyptus (the equivalent of about five football fields) was all to be seen, now a beautiful oak-filled valley has emerged. Cutting down trees is something that we would never undertake lightly; yet, the blue gums were encroaching into wetlands utilized by threatened California tiger salamanders and other amphibians, and extremely rare maritime chaparral habitat. It was obvious that action was desperately needed. (Continued on page 4)
Photo by Ken Collins / ESF