Santa Lucia Conservancy Brochure

SANTA LUCIA CONSERVANCY

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Whether it be pristine habitats or our rangelands and working farms, land is lost to competing human interests every day.

Saving these special places takes vision, intentionality, and perseverance. An integral part The Santa Lucia Preserve’s one-of-a-kind Conservation Community, our success is based on enduring relationships with residents, members, and partnerning institutions. A deep passion for the land is what binds us together and moves us to take action.

The result of the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s work is a legacy that will outlive us all. A legacy of healthy streams, forests, and grasslands, of residential development that is gentle on the land, and a community invested in its care. We do this not only for ourselves, but for those who come after us, that we may learn and pass on what it means to live in communion with the land.

Jamison Watts Executive Director

A red-tailed hawk rides a rising thermal, photo by Adam White

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.

Who We Are

2.

An Extraordinary Setting

3.

The Preserve Design

4.

A Conservation Community

5.

Adaptive Land Management

6.

Building Wildfire Resilience

7.

Abundant Wildlife

8.

Conservation Grazing & Restoration

9.

Scientific Collaborations

10. Environmental Education 11. Rumsen Ohlone Heritage 12. Historic Rancho San Carlos

Field of shooting star flowers, photo by Adam White

WHO WE ARE The Santa Lucia Conservancy is an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit land trust established in 1995. Our mission is to steward and protect in perpetuity the unique natural, cultural, and aesthetic resources of the Santa Lucia Preserve and to promote communities that are ecologically sensitive.

Using the vast natural laboratory of the 20,000-acre Preserve, we test and adapt cutting-edge strategies to advance the practice of conservation through fire and climate resilience, adaptive land management, community engagement, and environmental education.

We envision a place of enduring wild beauty and resilient biodiversity, actively cared for by a thriving community for the benefit of all.

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Fog rolls in on The Santa Lucia Preserve, drone photo

AN EXTRAORDINARY SETTING The Preserve lies within one of the world’s great ‘biodiversity hotspots,’ globally recognized as a place of exceptional ecological value.

The Santa Lucia Mountain Range includes The Preserve, the Ventana Wilderness, Big Sur, Garland Ranch Regional Park, Garrapata State Park, and a significant portion of Los Padres National Forest, forming a contiguous area of protected land that serves as an important wildlife corridor from the mountains to the sea.

At the intersection of coastal and inland climate gradients, The Preserve contains a variety of habitats: maritime chaparral and coastal scrub, oak woodlands and coast redwood forests, grasslands and oak savannas, riparian areas and wetlands, streams, and ponds. As the Conservancy studies and manages this remarkable landscape, we share best practices and lessons learned outside The Preserve’s gates to help inform and foster conservation far beyond our boundaries.

A coyote pokes its head out of the grass, photo by Rodrigo Sierra Corona

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THE PRESERVE DESIGN Over 90% of The Preserve is permanently protected. Woven into the landscape is a vibrant community of people who are actively engaged in its conservation. It is this integrated design that sustains the land’s rich ecological mosaic.

WILDLANDS

Preserve Lands: 18,000 acres of The

Preserve that are permanently protected, including: • Wildlands: 10,000 acres owned by the Conservancy and permanently protected • Openlands: 8,000 acres owned by individual Preserve landowners and protected by conservation easements held by the Conservancy

HOMELANDS

OPENLANDS

Settled Lands: 2,000 acres of The

Preserve zoned for development, including: • Homelands: the residential building envelopes, which maximize privacy and opportunities for viewing wildlife • Rancholands: the collective amenities including the Ranch Club and Golf Club facilities and roads

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The Preserve Design, watercolor by Karen Jacobsen

A CONSERVATION COMMUNITY The Conservancy practices cutting-edge science through a pragmatic, humanistic approach.

We work with landowners and design teams to accomplish development goals, while undertaking ecological research and restoration activities to adaptively manage wildlife habitats and sustain the health and beauty of The Preserve Lands.

The most powerful element of the Preserve’s rich design is partnership.

The shared responsibilities of the landowner, other Preserve entities, and the Conservancy offer a unique opportunity for each to be an active steward of the land.

In addition to owning 10,000 acres and holding conservation easements on another 8,000 acres, the Conservancy serves as a guide and resource for habitat restoration, fuel and weed management, and living with wildlife on The Preserve.

Jenna Allred consults with a Preserve landowner, photo by Serena Lasko

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ADAPTIVE LAND MANAGEMENT Collecting ecological data across The Preserve’s diverse habitats allows the Conservancy to evaluate the effectiveness of our on-the-ground management over time, including wildfire resilience, conservation grazing, and invasive weed management.

With in-house staff ecologists responsible for conducting scientific research and monitoring through our Conservation Science Program, we track the conditions of our ponds, grasslands, and forests, as well as populations of key indicator species.

Findings from our surveys and research test the sustainable development model of The Preserve and create a feedback loop, allowing us to adapt our land management efforts to focus on those that have the greatest biological outcomes.

This process is known as science-guided adaptive management.

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Conservation Ecologist Dr. Brian Woodward conducts a raptor survey, photo by Alix Soliman

BUILDING WILDFIRE RESILIENCE The Conservancy seeks to mitigate wildfire risk while protecting the beauty and biodiversity of The Preserve. Working closely with fire experts to implement fuel management practices, our proactive wildfire resilience efforts include prescribed burns, a Preservewide fuel management plan, and lotspecific fuel management plans for individual homeowners, as well as our Conservation Grazing and Restoration Programs which reduce fuels and promote native plants that are adapted to drought and fire.

In addition to facilitating Wildland Firefighter Type II certifications for staff, the Conservancy partners with the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association to assist with prescribed burns in the region.

The Conservancy’s history of taking measurable actions to develop wildfire resilience has made us a model for how other communities living in the WildlandUrban Interface (WUI) can stay safe in a fire-prone landscape.

Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association members assist with a prescribed fire, photo by DMT Imaging

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ABUNDANT WILDLIFE Alongside a thriving human community, the Santa Lucia Preserve is home to more than 300 wildlife species. While some species live here full-time, others pass through during migration or use this protected wildlife corridor to travel between the ocean and the mountains.

We monitor populations of raptors (birds of prey) and grassland birds, as well as several rare and protected species including the Smith’s Blue butterfly, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, and tricolored blackbird.

Our Where the Wildlife Wander community science project has offered intimate glimpses of even the most elusive wildlife through remote cameras deployed on trails. From bobacts and coyotes to black bears and mountain lions, we seek to understand how our private land conservation model affects populations of mammals on The Preserve.

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A juvenile bobcat captured on a trail camera, photo by Luciane Coletti

CONSERVATION GRAZING & RESTORATION California’s grasslands depend on disturbance to thrive. Our innovative Conservation Grazing Program works to restore the health of more than 5,000 acres of grasslands through managed disturbance. Using portable fencing and water troughs to continually move the herd across the land, low-intesity regenerative grazing supports nutrient cycling, native plant growth, and fuel reduction on our grasslands.

Our Restoration Program tackles invasive species and brush encroachment to encourage our native habitats to thrive.

Each year, our seasonal restoration crew removes the worst of the weeds and the impact of their efforts can be seen in the rolling fields of wildflowers, the abundance of wildlife that depend on native plants for food and shelter, and babbling brooks that would dry up if water-intensive invasive plants were left to proliferate.

Cows graze the San Francisquito Flats at the heart of The Preserve, photo by Alix Soliman

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CONSERVATION SCIENCE With a goal to use ecological science to answer management questions that will benefit the health of The Preserve ecosystem, our Conservation Science Program practices Applied Ecology.

Our staff scientists conduct independent research and collaborate with universities and other institutions to better understand The Preserve’s complex habitats and species – from banding endangered tricolored blackbirds and tracking Sudden Oak Death within coastal forests, to seedbanking rare native plants and understanding the lifecycle of coast redwoods.

In addition, students come to the Conservancy to gain critical field experience that has a profound impact on their professional development.

We are honored to host graduate and undergraduate interns from California State University Monterey Bay, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Stanford University, and other academic institutions.

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Dr. Marie Antoine conducts research on coast redwoods in Trapper’s Loop, photo by Dr. Steve Sillett

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION As part of our commitment to educate the future stewards of the land, our renowned Environmental Education Program serves over 3,000 students each year, ranging from preschoolers to young adults in college.

Our educators teach at two sites, one in the mixed redwood and oak forest of Potrero Canyon and the other in the wide open space along the Carmel River at Rancho Canada. Each site provides a hands-on, place-based learning experience that encourages youth to be curious about the world around them and to “think like scientists.”

Students from across Monterey County visit us to learn about the Carmel River Watershed, art and poetry, Rumsen Ohlone history, mammals, insects, birds, redwoods, and more. We offer this service for free, and 43% of our students come from underserved schools. Our program is consistent with California’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Students circle up with Environmental Educator Matt Buonaguidi before a hike, photo by Kirsten Stember

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RUMSEN OHLONE HERITAGE For at least twelve centuries, Carmel Valley was home to the Rumsen Ohlone.

The village of Echilat was located at the heart of what is now the Santa Lucia Preserve, near the Hacienda, and the village of Tucutnut was located along the Carmel River along what is now Rancho San Carlos Road.

Traces of the Rumsen lifestyle are scattered across the landscape. Burnscarred redwoods grow in perfect groves, bedrock grinding stones used to pound acorns into flour can be found at multiple sites, and native plants traditionally used for basketry grow along streams.

Today, Rumsen Ohlone tribal members visit ancestral sites on The Preserve to gather acorns, hold ceremonies, and harvest native plant materials for weaving traditional baskets.

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A map of the Rumsen Villages in the Carmel area, illustration by Linda Yamane

HISTORIC RANCHO SAN CARLOS In 1771, the Mission San Carlos Borromeo was established by Father Junipero Serra just three miles from what is now the Santa Lucia Preserve. In 1821, the Mission Lands were secularized and the 20,000 acres of what is now the Santa Lucia Preserve were distributed as two Mexican land grants named El Potrero de San Carlos and San Francisquito.

These two land grants were then acquired by the Sargent brothers in 1857 for cattle ranching. George Gordon Moore purchased the property in 1924, renaming it Rancho San Carlos. Under Moore’s ownership, the ranch was a playground for celebrities and businessmen. Sold in 1939 to Arthur Oppenheimer, the land again became a working cattle ranch.

In 1990, The Preserve founders purchased the land and established The Santa Lucia Preserve you see today, built upon a community model to ensure the permanent protection of the land.

The center of Rancho San Carlos circa 1930, archival photo

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The Conservancy’s logo was designed by Michael Cronan in the early days of The Preserve and adapted with his permission by Jessica Gray. The six intertwined poppies represent the different aspects of Preserve life, reflected today in the Ranch Club, Golf Club, Community Services District, Santa Lucia Preserve Association, Preserve Company Board, and the Santa Lucia Conservancy.

5240 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel, CA 93923 www.slconservancy.org (831) 626-8595