Tidal Exchange N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e E l k h o r n S l o u g h F o u n d at i o n winter 2012
Working For the Best Tomorrow
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation recently celebrated a landmark event – the largest transfer of protected lands in the history of the area. Surrounded by good friends, good food and acres of beautiful land, we reflected back on how this property came under our ownership and protection. The Nature Conservancy first began conserving lands in Elkhorn Slough more than four decades ago. Over the years they acquired 850 acres of rare and threatened assemblages: maritime chaparral, oak woodland, fresh and salt water wetlands, coastal prairie, riparian forest – all habitats that the Elkhorn Slough Foundation targets for protection today. In 1992, when the Nature Conservancy asked the Elkhorn Slough Foundation to manage their conservation portfolio in the Elkhorn Slough area we agreed and assumed the day-to-day responsibilities of protecting and restoring these places. Later, when the Nature Conservancy began looking for someone to take over ownership of these remarkable lands, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation was a natural choice. “It fit into our mission,” says Mark Silberstein, ESF Executive Director. “These are key lands whose protection safeguards the Elkhorn Slough. We know the ‘ins and outs’ of managing them better than any other organization.” The importance of this land transfer is obvious to ESF Stewardship Director Kim Hayes, who has managed these properties for years. “This is more than just a contiguous protected area for us to own and manage,” she explains, “it is a biodiverse, rich land that provides a multitude of services for humans and wildlife alike—land highly valuable to all kinds of animals—from birds to deer to bobcats. It’s truly a community treasure.” Although these 850 acres of grasslands, wetlands, chaparral, dunes and oaks are now under the Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s careful guard, the connection to the Nature Conservancy will remain. This land is the Nature Conservancy’s Elkhorn legacy, and TNC has contributed to an endowment that will help fund future maintenance and restoration work on the properties. ESF will continue building the stewardship endowment to ensure these lands receive the care they deserve, today and always. “Our shared vision is to ensure that the needs of people and nature are balanced and that the extraordinary natural values represented by the slough persist for generations to come,” said Mike Sweeney, The Nature
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