Tidal Exchange
Making Connections
Linking Lands from Ridgeline to Tideline
A significant part of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s work as a land trust involves making connections. By linking conservation lands we create corridors that help native plants thrive and wildlife roam freely. At another level, ESF builds connections through community outreach, place-based learning, and volunteer programs that inspire conservation. By bringing local youth and their families to explore the wild places in their own backyards, ESF inspires a sense of connection to the land and links a legacy of land conservation to the future. People rely on these watershed lands to sustain the fisheries, farms, and ranches that support our economy and feed us. We rely on the land to replenish our drinking water, to spark our imaginations, refresh our spirits, and to quench our thirsts for exploration and adventure. Likewise, the land relies on people — those of us who live and work here, who visit for inspiration and recreation, and who explore and enjoy its diverse habitats and wildlife. Successful conservation starts when we recognize people as a part of the land, not apart from it. Our actions and decisions directly impact the health of these watershed lands, for better or worse.
Carneros Creek Outdoor Classroom
Your support of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation helps conserve nearly 4,000 acres, spanning from the ridgelines to the tidelines. The following highlights illustrate a 3-mile stretch of ESF-conserved land — part of an area we call the Northern Crescent — wrapping around Elkhorn Slough and its freshwater source, Carneros Creek. While ESF occasionally acquires properties in pristine condition, most of our lands require considerable restoration and time to heal — and all require thoughtful long-term stewardship to ensure they remain protected now and for future generations.
Porter Ranch: A Walk through History
Located in the northern region of ESF-protected lands, the 330-acre Porter Ranch embodies the history of California and the West. Cattle graze the rolling coastal prairie as they have since the time of Mexican land grants, decades before 1864 when Monterey Customs Officer John T. Porter purchased a substantial part of the Rancho Bolsa de San Cayetano land grant from the family of General Mariano Vallejo. (continued on page 4)