Planting native trees at Tolay Creek Ranch

Sonoma Land Trust and Conservation Corps North Bay planted more than 700 native oaks, buckeyes, coffee berry, elderberry and other plants at our Tolay Creek Ranch this week. This is another step in our multi-year effort to replant more than three miles of Tolay Creek to provide homes for native birds, rodents and other critters. All the plants were collected from Tolay Creek Ranch. Happily, the recent rains came at the perfect time to provide moisture to keep the roots healthy until the spring days trigger new growth. If the weather cooperates, we'll be doing more planting of native willow trees next month.

Pitkin Marsh on display at statewide conference

Plant enthusiasts and scientists throughout California got a glimpse of the Land Trust's efforts to boost the sole population of endangered white sedge at Pitkin Marsh in a poster presented by our staff at the California Native Plant Society conference in San Diego earlier this month. The conference, attended by Kara Doolin, Shanti Wright and Ingrid Stearns — and 800 other scientists, university professors, students, conservation advocates and botanists — offered more than 200 talks on the latest trends in research, policy and conservation practices. Pictured here is stewardship assistant manager Kara Doolin with SLT's poster.

Read about expansion of white sedge population

Volunteer accomplishments in 2011

Thank you to our fantastic corps of volunteers who did so much to help us take care of Land Trust properties last year, such as:

• Planted willows in riparian areas at the Baylands.

• Maintained trails at Glen Oaks Ranch, Laufenberg Ranch and Little Black Mountain.

• Removed pampas grass, broom, Douglas fir seedlings and thistles at the Jenner Headlands, Glen Oak Ranch and Live Oaks Ranch.

• Completed cabin renovation work at Little Black Mountain.

• Cleared dairy site debris from the Jenner Headlands.

• Installed burrowing owl boxes at the Baylands.

• Collected grassland monitoring data and native grass seed at the Estero Americano Preserve.

• Provided bird census data at the Jenner Headlands.

• Winterized an erosion site and maintained water bars at the Estero Americano Preserve.

• Successfully monitored more than 6,000 acres of SLT's conservation easement properties.

• Worked on dozens of land stewardship projects at the Jenner Headlands, Glen Oaks Ranch, Live Oaks Ranch, Little Black Mountain, Estero Americano Preserve and the Sears Point Baylands.

• Guided numerous outings and made Glen Oaks Ranch available to hikers and picnickers.

We sure couldn't do all this without our dedicated volunteers!

Two volunteer workdays are being scheduled for February to install two more burrowing owl boxes on Sears Point Ranch, where we're seeing considerable activity. Check our Outings Page for details next week.

January 2012

YOU DID IT!
Thank you to everyone who donated to our $50,000 match

Longtime Sonoma Land Trust donors Pete and Patty Mattson matched the first $50,000 that was donated in December for a total of $100,000. These donations will boost our efforts to protect forever the wild and beautiful lands of Sonoma County and help to ensure that Sonoma County will always be the beautiful and special place that we love. Thank you Pete and Patty and to all who contributed!

Up in the sky!

Two raptor-themed hikes with raptor magnet Larry Broderick are planned for late winter in the Baylands: Sat., Feb. 25 at Tolay Creek Ranch and Sun., March 11 at Sears Point Ranch. Hikers will observe the overwintering population of birds of prey, learn about the natural history of raptors and hone their ID skills.

More info here

Ken Freeman joins Board

The Sonoma Land Trust welcomes new board member Ken Freeman, an executive with Harbert Management Corporation in San Francisco. Also proprietor of Freeman Vineyard & Winery in Sebastopol, Ken says about his new role with the Land Trust: "The Sonoma Coast is a remarkable and beautiful part of the world, and as excited as I am to be growing Pinot Noir here, I am just as excited to be preserving the diversity of the Sonoma Coast."

Your Land Trust
in the news

If you missed these recent stories, you can read them here:

• San Francisco Chronicle, January 16: Sonoma County's Cedars a rare geologic wonder

• San Francisco Chronicle, December 30: Land conservation benefits from economic downturn

• Bay Nature, Interview with Ralph Benson, Sonoma Land Trust executive director