When many people think of protected species at the Elkhorn Slough, the rst critters that come to mind are charismatic Southern sea otters. Yet the Elkhorn Slough supports more than 75 federallyand state-listed species, including more than 15 endangered or threatened species — from delicate amphibians, like the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, to the unassuming yet ephemeral Yadon’s rein orchid pictured above.
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(cover) ESNERR Stewardship Specialist Mary Paul surveys endangered Yadon’s rein orchid (Piperia yadonii) growing amidst manzanita and golden brodiaeas at ESF’s Elkhorn Highlands Reserve.
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
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
Kent Marshall
Murry Schekman
Anne Secker
Laura Solorio, MD
Tara Trautsch
Mark Silberstein
Executive Director
e 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
SAT U R DAY, SEPTEMBE R 2 8, 2019
J n the celebrati at the ELKHORN SLOUGH RESERVE OPEN HOUSE & NATIVE PLANT FAIR
Scott Nichols, Editor
This year marks the 40 th anniversary of the establishment of Elkhorn Slough as a National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Reserve will be hosting several events to commemorate this historic occasion — including the Reserve Open House & Native Plant Fair on Saturday, September 28.
Throughout the year we will recount forty years of highlights, memories, and accomplishments — and we hope that you, too, will re ect on and share your memorable experiences at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve.
Not Out of the Woods: Protecting an Endangered Amphibian
One of the most endangered terrestrial vertebrates in North America, the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander ( Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum) inhabits just a few restricted areas of southern Santa Cruz County and Monterey County. e Santa Cruz long-toed salamander forms what ecologists call a relictual population — one that now occurs in a restricted area, but whose original range was far wider during a previous geologic epoch.
Researchers and local landowners discovered breeding populations near Aptos in the early 1950s, and the salamander was placed on the rst Federal Endangered Species list in 1967, amid concerns of habitat loss from development and landscape alteration.
For threatened and sensitive wildlife, conserving diverse habitat is critically important. Santa Cruz longtoed salamanders breed and metamorphose in freshwater ponds, yet spend most of their adult lives below ground, in the abandoned burrows of ground squirrels and other small mammals. At di erent stages in their life cycles, the salamanders rely on seasonal ponds and spring-fed seeps, as well as on adjacent grasslands or woodlands.
At the Elkhorn Slough, the Reserve and Foundation are embarking on exciting restoration work in the coming year to create and enhance a network of freshwater breeding sites for salamanders and other amphibians on our protected lands.
Science-based restoration and stewardship is key to protecting these endangered animals. ough building yearround ponds might seem a reasonable solution for creating salamander habitat, invasive bullfrogs thrive when water remains standing late into the season. Endangered amphibians — including Santa Cruz long-toed salamanders, California tiger salamanders and California red-legged frogs — are devoured and out-competed by the voracious invaders, which decimate native populations.
Conservation scientists and wildlife managers have devised a response to this challenge. Bullfrog tadpoles require two years to mature, so by ensuring ponds and freshwater seeps dry down in autumn — after native amphibians successfully breed, hatch, and metamorphose — they prevent bullfrogs from devastating native populations.
Research and monitoring allow us to measure the results of our work. Reserve ecologists have been able to conduct more extensive surveys in the past years thanks to a generous anonymous donation for amphibian science, and with this extra support they have detected salamanders at new sites this spring, including adults coming in to breed, and a new metamorph leaving Upper Cattail pond.
“To our delight, sightings of Santa Cruz long-toed salamanders have been documented at the Reserve since the 1990s,” reports Reserve ecologist Susie Fork, who leads regular amphibian monitoring on Reserve and Foundation lands. “Since those early sightings, we have observed these salamanders sporadically at the Reserve and surrounding watershed, while doing intensive pond surveys and yearly dipnetting surveys.”
To share what we learn, the Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program convenes wildlife managers, professional stakeholders, and government agencies to exchange the latest knowledge about conservation and recovery of endangered ecological communities and species, including the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander. In a similar way, the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, through its visitor and education programs, brings stories and explorations of our land, water, and wildlife to visitors, neighbors, students, and our community.
e Santa Cruz long-toed salamander is not yet out of the woods, so to speak, but together — through conservation, restoration, research, training, and education — our Elkhorn Slough conservation partners are working to protect the tiny endangered amphibian, and the larger legacy it represents, now and for future generations. •
Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, photo by Corey Hamza
Endangered Slough
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One reason the Elkhorn Slough and its surrounding lands support such diversity of rare and threatened species is the availability of a wide range of habitat types in our watershed, including protected lands that support sensitive ecological communities. Coastal prairie, maritime chaparral, coastal dunes, tidal salt marshes, and seagrass meadows — each faces threats of development, fragmentation, and habitat degradation in California and elsewhere. In 1997, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation became a land trust to protect and restore these vital lands in our watershed.
One of the most imperiled of these habitats, maritime chaparral, thrives in the coastal fog and nutrient-poor soils of the sandstone ridges above the slough. eir ridgeline locations often feature sweeping views that make them prime candidates for development. If cleared, the slow-growing native chaparral plants face an uphill struggle to recover, particularly since many germinate e ectively only in the presence of re.
Your support helps the Foundation protect maritime chaparral at properties like Blohm Ranch, Brothers Ranch, Sand Hill Farm, and the recently acquired Elkhorn Highlands Reserve. ese properties sustain three species of threatened manzanita, and several plant species found virtually nowhere else on earth but the Monterey Bay area, such as the endangered Yadon’s rein orchid, Eastwood’s Goldenbush, and Monterey spine ower. Similarly, your support protects a large, undeveloped stretch of coastal prairie at ESF’s Porter Ranch, which supports artist’s popcorn ower and one of only 20 remaining colonies of endangered Santa Cruz tarplant.
(right) Federally threatened Monterey spine ower (Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens); (above, clockwise from top right) threatened California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii); threatened Western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus); threatened manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.) in maritime chaparral at ESF’s Brothers Ranch; state endangered Santa Cruz tarplant (Holocarpha macradenia) on coastal prairie at ESF’s Porter Ranch.
ESF is the only nonpro t land trust dedicated exclusively to protecting the Elkhorn Slough and its surrounding lands. We cannot perform our critical land-saving work alone. We stand shoulder to shoulder with a host of supporters, stakeholders, and partners, who also value the land, water, and wildlife of this endangered place.
Our most integral and longstanding collaboration is among the triad of conservation partners that form the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. e Foundation works closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which owns and manages the 1,700-acre Reserve and its educational and visitor programs, and with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, which oversees and funds the research, monitoring, and training initiatives of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). is partnership, coupled with enthusiastic support from our community, has accomplished something powerful in the forty years since the creation of the Reserve.
From our perspective, our most powerful ally in protecting the land, water, and wildlife of Elkhorn Slough is you. We thank you for your continuing support — whether as a volunteer, Legacy Circle member, land donor, or as a member of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. e protection of Elkhorn Slough for generations to come is your legacy. But we still have much to accomplish — and we’re counting on you! •
Maritime chaparral at Brothers Ranch, photo by Paul Zaretsky
Western snowy plover, photo by Lisa Szuch
In looking at our financial report, you may have noticed this past year the Foundation received more than $5 million in land transfer and mitigation fees. This represents a non-recurring, first-of-its-kind mitigation transfer of land and endowment from the California Department of Transportation offsetting environmental impacts of the Prunedale Improvement Project, which provided needed safety improvements along a dangerous stretch of Highway 101. Elkhorn Slough Foundation accepted the 167-acre Elkhorn Highlands Reserve as mitigation for this project, in addition to an endowment from the state for land restoration and stewardship. We are thrilled to protect and restore this property, which is home to many of the endangered species you have read about in this issue.
While you likely won’t see this slice of the pie in next year’s report, one thing does not change from one year to the next: your support is what protects the Elkhorn Slough for generations to come. The endowment for Elkhorn Highlands Reserve is restricted to be used only for that property, and most of the revenue we accept comes with very specific requirements as to its use. As you know, the needs here in the watershed are many, and there is not nearly enough grant funding to meet them all. Without the support of donors like you there would not be 4,000 acres under protection and active restoration. This is your success and legacy, and we are honored to share it with you. •
ESF’s Elkhorn Highlands Reserve (above) features breeding habitat for the threatened California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), and maritime chaparral that supports several listed plant species, including endangered Yadon’s rein orchid (Piperia yadonii).
California tiger salamander, photo by Dave Feliz
A Living Legacy
ESF’s Conservation Education Scholarship — e Les Strnad Award — granted funds to bring a dozen young people to the Elkhorn Slough with Camp SEA Lab (Photos courtesy of
“I became captivated by Elkhorn Slough more than 50 years ago as a student at Moss Landing Marine Labs,” says ESF’s Mark Silberstein, re ecting on his rst visit to the watershed. “As Executive Director, I have watched the community come together to make a lasting impact on this rare and special place. When Elkhorn Slough Foundation became a land trust, I set a personal goal to leave our properties in better condition than when we acquired them, preserving in perpetuity this last vestige of the central coast upland and wetland habitat.”
Forty years and 4,000 acres later (and counting), generous members of our community continue to exercise a tremendous impact in protecting and restoring the Elkhorn Slough watershed. If you wish to extend your impact and help conserve the Elkhorn Slough for generations to come, consider
joining ESF’s Legacy Circle, by including Elkhorn Slough Foundation in your will, trust, or other estate plans. Bequests or planned gifts of any amount have an out-sized impact on our ability to acquire and restore lands, and protect the slough for wild and human life alike. For more information, please contact Director of Development & Communications Taylor Honrath at (831) 728-5939, or taylor@elkhornslough.org.
If you have already included Elkhorn Slough Foundation in your estate plan, please inform us so we can thank and recognize you for your meaningful commitment. We would be honored to include you in our Legacy Circle (anonymously, if you prefer), and invite you to special events and outings here at the slough. •
Camp SEA Lab)
Coast live oak, photo by Paul Zaretsky
Elkhorn Slough & You!
Do you remember the excitement of your rst visit to the Elkhorn Slough? Perhaps you recall the anxious anticipation of launching your kayak, watching crabs skitter across the marsh into muddy hiding places, or marveling at the of life in a drop of water beneath the microscope? ese formative experiences inspire us to appreciate and protect our wild places.
Every year, ESF’s Conservation Education Scholarship — e Les Strnad Award — introduces underserved local youth to the wonders of Elkhorn Slough, as lasting tribute to local conservationist Les Strnad and his work to protect the treasures of the Monterey Bay for future generations. is summer, ESF’s Les Strnad Award helped a dozen day-campers from CHISPA community housing visit the estuary through Camp SEA Lab’s “Elkhorn Slough and You!” week-long summer program — hiking, kayaking, restoring habitat, and exploring science through activities and games.
If you would like to help fund the Strnad Award — or the James Rote Scholarship for Coastal Science and Policy, which supports CSUMB graduate work to promote coastal conservation — simply indicate you want to support the scholarship fund when making your gift. ank you! •
Adopt-an-Oak
Of the 150 young saplings planted to restore oak woodlands on the Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s Elzas property, fewer than 20 remain to be adopted through ESF’s Adopt-an-Oak program.
When you virtually adopt an oak, you’ll receive a Google Earth link that shows the tree assigned to you, along with a “Virtual Oak Adoption Certi cate.” You can view the progress of your adopted tree with every Google Earth image update, knowing that your oak is protected on the conserved lands of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Learn more at www.elkhornslough.org/ adopt-an-oak.
Virtual oaks were adopted in the following names between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018:
Abigail Melchor
Colette Starling Gambuto
Emely y Josue
Erica and James
In memory of James M. Paxton
Jack Jackson
Jamie and Doug Dwyer
Jo Kitz
Lisa Sorensen
Matt & Darcy Talistu
Michael Strunk
Mike & Erin Monroe
Philip Sarasqueta
Ruben Magaña
Ryan Johan Rooke
In memory of omas James Alton, Jr. ora
SLOUGH VIEW
See you at the Slough
Taylor Honrath, Elkhorn Slough Foundation Director of Development & Communications
A jaunt through the natural world is much more than an opportunity to stretch the legs and get some fresh air. As a lifelong hiker and amateur ecologist, the more I get out, the more I fall in love with the bountiful diversity of life with which we share the world.
Since joining the Elkhorn Slough Foundation in May, I’ve been repeatedly impressed with the extent of conservation and restoration championed by dedicated volunteers and sta here at the Monterey Bay’s most important protected lands. e world-class research conducted here each day by dedicated and brilliant scientists (professionals, students, and volunteers alike) not only informs our conservation e orts for Elkhorn Slough, but also joins the canon of best practices for conservation across the globe.
is work is made possible by you and other generous members of our community, who have the foresight and vision to recognize how important and invaluable this place truly is. As Director of Development and Communications, I’m honored to work with you to continue protecting and restoring this gem of the central coast, so that each of us — and future generations — can nd the peace, humility, and patience that are just three rewards of time well spent in the natural world. •
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
P.O. Box 267
Moss Landing, CA 95039
Elkhorn Slough Reserve is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm. We hope you’ll join us for a visit or an event. For more information, visit www.elkhornslough.org.
Every Saturday & Sunday: Reserve Tours
Join knowledgeable docents for tours of the Reserve at 10 am & 1 pm
Elkhorn Slough Foundation works to conserve and restore this incredible place and its opportunities for adventure, discovery, education, and inspiration.
First Saturday every month, : am: “Early Bird” Walks
With local birding expert Rick Fournier. Meet at the Reserve at 8:30 am
August 15, pm: Evenings at the Estuary: Sea Otters
Enjoy the beauty of the land, water and wildlife we protect each day with a 2019 Elkhorn Slough Wall Calendar!
Learn about sea otter recovery at the slough from Michelle Staedler (Monterey Bay Aquarium), Melissa Miller (CDFW) and Ron Eby (Elkhorn Slough Reserve)
www.elkhornslough.org
August 24: Sunset Saturdays
Looking for a nice space to watch the summer sunset? e Reserve will be open until 8pm the fourth Saturday of July and August.
September 28: Reserve Open House & Native Plant Fair
Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Elkhorn Slough Reserve on National Estuaries Day — with walks, talks & activities including our Native Plant Fair!
Elkhorn Slough Foundation works to conserve and restore this incredible place and its opportunities for adventure, discovery, education, and inspiration.
Enjoy the beauty of the land, water and wildlife we protect each day with
Photographers — The Elkhorn Slough 2020 Calendar photo contest needs you! Submit your favorite photos of the lands, water and wildlife of the Elkhorn Slough watershed for a chance to have your shot featured in the 2020 Elkhorn Slough wall calendar. Learn more or enter today at: elkhornslough.org/calendar-contest
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