December 2001

Now More Than Ever We Need Your Support - From the Director
Welcoming New Staff
Docent is Honored
Terning Things Around
Land Trusts Gather
Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program
Zoe Ann's Legacy

From the Director
Now More Than Ever We Need Your Support

The incomprehensible events of September 11th have affected us all. This day is a pivot point in history with an uncertain new trajectory. In stark contrast to the horror of that day is the stunning response of the spirit of the nation’s people. A common and serious threat is a uniting force and we have seen remarkable resolve and unanimity from all quarters of America.

In the wake of that day, we at the Foundation have reexamined our work and goals and feel more strongly than ever that the protection of the American landscape is fundamental work. Our mountains, rivers, prairies, oceans and estuaries help shape and feed the spirit that we have felt so palpably in the last months. We will continue to move with deliberation, dedication and resolve to insure that the natural heritage of our country remains intact.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation is finalizing acquisition of two key properties in the upper slough that total nearly 400 acres. These will be added to the 900 acres we have protected in the last three years. We have been able to assemble an acquisition fund that will help us in our quest to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed. We are working with a number of landowners in the watershed to implement easements or acquisitions on strategic lands critical to the long-term health of the slough.

Now, more than ever, we need the encouragement and support of our members. Our challenge is to raise funds for the restoration and stewardship of targeted properties and to provide the staff support for completing transactions in a timely way. In another article, we highlight and honor Zoe Ann Orr, who’s bequest will provide ongoing support for the conservation and care of the slough. We ask you to consider how you can help insure that the precious natural resources of Elkhorn Slough are here for all times. This is a legacy that will continue to nourish our spirit.

Welcoming New Staff

ESF hires Natural Resource Geographer

Elkhorn Slough Docent is Honored

Linda Jordan (pictured right) is among the remarkable group of folks who volunteer their time and talent to support conservation, education and research in Elkhorn Slough. Linda was honored by the National Association of Interpreters this year with the Distinguished Volunteer Interpreter Award for the Western Region. For the past six years, Linda has been a volunteer tour leader at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve where she has led hundreds of people on explorations of this remarkable place and has also assisted in monitoring Elkhorn Slough Foundation easements. Linda, who also volunteers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is an outstanding interpreter of the natural and cultural history of the slough and has a dynamic and effective style for engaging visitors of all ages.

Linda joins long-time volunteer Marilyn McLoughlin in sharing the Distinguished Interpreter Award. Last year, Marilyn, currently President of the Volunteer Guides Association, was honored by the National Association.

The National Association of Interpreters is an organization of professional interpreters with over 3600 members in fifty states and 22 countries. They are dedicated to instilling the highest standards of teaching in non-formal education settings and are active in museums, visitor centers, parks and community programs throughout the world.

We congratulate Linda and Marilyn for this outstanding achievement and feel privileged to work with such a talented group of volunteers.

Turning Things Around
Caspian Terns successfully breed in Elhorn Slough

After the devastating raccoon predation of the Caspian tern colony in Summer 2000, in which 50 or so chicks were killed shortly before they would have fledged, the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and Elkhorn Slough Foundation vowed to better protect them in 2001. To our delight, we can now report that over 60 Caspian tern chicks have successfully fledged this year from their South Marsh island.

In April, the terns arrived to inhabit a small island in the South Marsh of the Reserve. By mid-May, hundreds of adults were on the island, beginning to lay and incubate eggs in over fifty nests.

At the end of May, Nina D’Amore (pictured right) began work as a summer research assistant. One of her assignments was to monitor the tern colony, and she quickly became committed to attempting to save them from predation. When the first downy nestlings were visible in late June, she began patroling the adjacent railroad tracks in the evenings, hoping that the human presence would discourage raccoons from foraging in this area, and from heading out to the island for a meal of tern babies. She also began spraying predator (bobcat, fox, coyote) urine along the tracks to give raccoons the impression that vicious predators were active in the area. She even concocted a hot pepper melange and applied it at intervals along the railroad berm. These mock-predator efforts continued for the following month and may have helped deter raccoons from the area.

Nevertheless, one morning in late June, after a few nights without patrols, Nina discovered raccoon tracks along the railroad, right across from the island. She began nightly patrols, but needed help to sustain the effort. Fortunately, the Slough Crew of the California Conservation Corps (CCC ) volunteered to participate. For almost all of July, nightly patrols took place either by CCC volunteers or by Nina and her friends and family. These nightly patrols successfully kept raccoons from foraging near the tern colony.

As July progressed, the 80 or so chicks on the island continued to thrive on the diet of fresh fish brought in by their raucous parents. The nestlings lost their down and grew feathers, and then began practicing using their wings. In early August, the first birds began to fledge. By mid-August, all but a few late-comers were gone from island.

The sight of dozens of newly fledged Caspian terns flying around the Slough has not been seen since 1994. DDT contamination in 1995 caused catastrophic breeding failure, and subsequent years were plagued by low reproductive efforts and/or heavy predation. Hopefully it will be a common sight again in coming summers!

Nina D’Amore returned to Berkeley in the fall to complete her undergraduate degree. The successful fledging of Caspian terns is due largely to her own dedicated efforts and her ability to mobilize the assistance of others. We will miss her joyous spirit, efficient competence, and keen thinking.
Since Nina’s departure, we are happy to announce that Susie Fork has started as our new research assistant. A superb natualist, Susie recently completed a Masters at UC Santa Cruz, investigating cowrie behavior. She is now eluciating Reserve insect diversity, developing benthic invertebrate monitoring programs, and analyzing shorebird data collected by volunteer Sue Shaw over the past decade.

For more information about the Caspian Terns in Elkhorn Slough Click Here

Sharing a Common Goal

Regional land trusts gather at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve

August 17th was a historic date for land trusts on California’s central coast. For the first time seven regional land trusts came together to celebrate their successes and share future land conservation goals. Over 70 board members and staff from Big Sur Land Trust, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Open Space Alliance, Land Trust of Santa Clara County, San Benito Agricultural Land Trust, Monterey County Agricultural & Historical Land Trust , and the Elkhorn Slough Foundation gathered in the early evening for a barbeque dinner and social at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Collectively, these groups have protected nearly 30,000 acres of critical conservation lands. These protected lands include many of the diverse landscapes that make up the central coast region: redwood groves, agricultural land, coastal wetlands, oak forests, and other “working landscapes” such as Elkhorn Slough.

Preserving the precious landscapes of the Monterey Bay Area takes the diligence and hard work of many land trusts. Working in concert with these other organizations will ensure that the beauty and ecological health of this area will remain for generations to come.

Table of Contents