Fifth graders held "rapt" at SLT's Estero Americano Preserve

Thanks to a new collaboration between SLT, LandPath's In Our Own Backyard (IOOBY) program and SunRidge Charter School, a class of fifth-grade students visited the Estero Americano Preserve in early October for a day of exploration and discovery. Fun-filled activities of the day included raptor migration viewing with raptor expert Larry Broderick, a presentation about shorebirds and waterfowl with IOOBY volunteer "Duck Dave," and a coastal prairie botany sketching exercise at "sit-spots" on the knoll overlooking the tidal estuary. Many thanks to all the parents, teachers and LandPaths IOOBY staff who made this mind-opening day possible!

Learn more about LandPaths' education program

See student sketches of coastal prairie plant specimens

Local land trusts oppose breaching of conservation easement for Roblar quarry

Troubled about "the integrity of the overall system of conservation easements and land protection in Sonoma County and beyond," Sonoma Land Trust executive director Ralph Benson and Marin Agricultural Land Trust executive director Bob Berner sent letters urging the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors not to permit a modification of the conservation easement on an adjacent property to accommodate a haul road for the proposed Roblar Road quarry. While SLT did not take a position on the proposed gravel quarry, we were "very concerned" about the alternative calling for running the access road through a property protected with a conservation easement. Benson wrote: "The promise of conservation easements — a promise to the taxpayers who fund the purchases and to donors who gift easements — is that they are permanent … We believe that approval [of the road] would do incalculable harm to the integrity of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and SLT's efforts to protect land with conservation easements." The supervisors chose not to modify the easement.

Read SLT's complete letter here

Please donate a special
year-end gift!

By now, you have received a request in the mail for a year-end donation. Your support makes our conservation work possible. In this era of tight government budgets, your donations are more important than ever. Currently, we are working on purchasing the 862-acre Bohemia Ranch located near Occidental. This purchase, with your help, will turn this property into our next regional park. These are the ways in which we use your gifts, so please give generously. Thank you.

Volunteer celebration headlined by photographer Stephen Joseph

On September 30, SLT's community of volunteers gathered in the backyard of our Bolton House office for a celebration of their many achievements. Attendees included conservation monitors, "Go-to Gang" members, stewardship volunteers, botanists, birders, event helpers and partner organization staff who collectively contributed thousands of hours toward the success of SLT's projects and properties in 2010. Guests enjoyed a spectacular slideshow by landscape photographer Stephen Joseph, which included myriad new images from the Jenner Headlands, Estero Americano, Bohemia Ranch and Lower Pitkin Marsh. A BIG thanks to all of our volunteers for their ongoing efforts to keep Sonoma County a great place to photograph, hike and live!

Visit Stephen Joseph's Web site

Safe passage for wildlife at Tolay Creek Ranch

More than five miles of fencing has been installed at SLT's Tolay Creek Ranch along Tolay Creek to better manage the livestock, restore the creek and maintain the grasslands. Of course, the fence is "wildlife friendly," which is no easy feat for a barbed wire fence! But this one is low enough for deer to jump over with a bottom strand of wire that is smooth and barb-free. The fence is also high enough off the ground to allow wild critters, but not calves, to pass through. Again, a challenge. While doing the final inspection on the fence this past weekend, we got to see our ideas in action: A doe and a fawn were crossing the road. One look at us and the fawn was under the smooth bottom wire — and while the doe thought about jumping over the fence, in the end, she decided to go under as well. It works!

Watch video of Tolay Creek Ranch

Next step toward restoring Sears Point wetlands

The fact that the Sears Point Restoration Project will restore and enhance habitat for rare, threatened and endangered species, as well as the more common ones, does not exempt it from the behemoth regulatory process known as 'permitting.' Baylands program manager Julian Meisler recently moved us a major step forward in this process by gathering representatives from federal, state and local permitting agencies for an on-the-ground introduction to the project. The day went very well and our goal of teasing out any remaining issues was accomplished. Now we can move forward on the permit applications with confidence.

October 2010

Hawks abound at the Headlands

Fall is the time of the Pacific Coast raptor migration and many hawks, kites, falcons, eagles, vultures, osprey and harriers can now be seen soaring high on thermal updrafts and hunting for prey along the coastal grasslands. Led by local raptor enthusiast, Larry Broderick, a small cadre of volunteers with expertise in raptor identification has been collecting data on the raptors that frequent the Jenner Headlands. From a prominent overlook atop the Headlands, they have documented more than 12 species — a good indication that the Pacific Coast raptor migration is in full swing. These volunteer-led surveys provide us with important biological information that will help guide management decisions on the property and add to our overall knowledge of raptor migration along the Sonoma Coast.

Friend us on Facebook to follow the raptor study

$16 million loan for Jenner Headlands repaid

SLT celebrated the closure of Phase Two of the Jenner Headlands transaction last week when the State of California disbursed the $16 million that had been conditionally granted to SLT by the State Coastal Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Board. SLT used this long-awaited disbursement to repay the bridge loans provided by The Wildlands Conservancy, Save the Redwoods League and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation that enabled us to close on the $36 million Jenner Headlands last December.

Vote “YES” on Prop. 21

One of the many reasons the passage of Prop. 21 is important is that it will enable land trusts to protect more land by increasing State Parks' capacity to accept new parklands and open them to the public. Please vote "YES" on Prop. 21 — and give our parks a stable and adequate funding source.

More information

Helping our mighty oaks

Few plants are more prominent in California's natural and cultural history than oaks. Under the right conditions, oaks can live for hundreds of years, providing bountiful habitat for wildlife and stellar views for us. At Glen Oaks Ranch and Pitkin Marsh, we hope to encourage a return of oak woodlands in areas where oak germination rates are high. We're now aiding the process by protecting oak saplings from excessive browsing with deer-proof cages. Someday, these saplings will be tall and regal, and we'll be able to enjoy the scenic beauty of Sonoma County from the shade they provide.

Fall newsletter
available now

Read about our chance to protect Bohemia Ranch and the rare plants at Pitkin Marsh!

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